JPF Home Page Forums Musician Gear and Techniques Recording Studio and Gear Forum A question about Protools and MIDI

Hello all,

Can anyone who's a Protool user help me with this? I'm thinking of upgrading my system from a Cakewalk Sonar/M-Audio Fast Track/Soundblaster Live to a Protools 7.3/Mbox 2 Pro system...and I don't have a MIDI keyboard, I just use MIDI that is programmed through Finale...

Normally, I will "orchestrate" my song through Finale, export as a MIDI file, then upload the file in order to attach patches (Soundfonts) to the MIDI to create better sounds than what General MIDI generates...

So my question is this...would this process still be possible if I'm only using Protools and the Mbox 2 Pro, without the use of a MIDI keyboard attached to the Mbox 2 or using my Soundblaster card to generate the MIDI Soundfonts?

Thanks!

-Karen

Karen:

M-Box 2 is a great way to enter Protools-
Be forwarned of a long and timely install with Protools M-Box.
This takes HOURS and is a pain -But WORTH IT

If you are going with the M-Box 2 Pro make sure you get the-(I think Digidesign just updated the M Box 2 Pro-look for that one.)
-Digidesign Mbox 2 Factory Bundle Audio/MIDI Interface -
--You get extra plug ins--
Digidesign Mbox 2 Factory Bundle Plug-Ins:
Moogerfooger Analog Delay
JOEMEEK SC2 Compressor
JOEMEEK VC5 Meequalizer
Maxim
Cosmonaut Voice

Take a look into getting a M-Audio 02 for 99 $ or a M-Audio Keystation 49e for the same price.
Here is what I am talking about
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/search.php?s=maudio+midi&tt=1

The BEST place to get Alot and ALL of your questions answered and talk to the same person -EVERYTIME- is Sweetwater.
http://www.sweetwater.com/shop/pro-tools/
1-800-222-4700
Contact name is -Luke- extentsion 1236
I spend hours talking with this guy he is -Cool-
Luke will match prices with anyone and does not mislead you-with ordering and then its on backorder.
I talked with him today and told him (Karen) might be calling-just say Deward told me your # and ext. he will know who you are.
He will be around for about 3 more hours today.

Good Luck in your quest.

Take Care:

Hello Dude Absher,

Thanks so much for your help! I'll check out Sweetwater and give Luke a call tomorrow, thanks again!

-Karen

Here's a bit more info:

1. You can certainly import standard midi files into Protools (from Finale, for example).
2. I know you can't use your Soundblaster card for audio i/o with Protools, but you MAY be able to use it as a soundfont player. Possibly the guy at Sweetwater would know the answer to that. I use a Mac so don't use Soundfonts (they're pretty much PC-only).

If you don't have a General Midi synth in hardware, another option is to purchase a plug-in from Native Instruments called "Bandstand", which is a high-quality General Midi module.

http://www.native-instruments.com/index.php?id=bandstand

Hello Larry,

Well, I got Protools...and according to the manual, Protools comes with Xpand, which is Protool's version of a General MIDI synth...but I'm still trying to figure out how to work it...I think it's gonna take a few more days...

Thanks again for the help!

-Karen

Karen:

Do not know if this will help but I find myself jumping around alot learning as I go. :~]

Pro Tools Accelerated Videos

http://www.digidesign.com/index.cfm?langid=100&navid=159&itemid=23396&ref=PTAV-F

Home / Support
http://www.digidesign.com/index.cfm?navid=54&langid=1

Take Care:

Xpand! is a great plugin synth. The fact that it's free with Protools is pretty amazing. It's as good as anything that ships with Logic or Sonar or Cubase.

However, it's not really a General Midi instrument because the sounds are not mapped to the General Midi spec. With the GM spec, Patch #1 is always an Acoustic Piano, and Patch #25 would always be a Nylon String Guitar. Instrument #57 would always be a trumpet, and so on through all 128 Patches.

Expand! doesn't work like that so you'd have to manually locate a patch that matched closely the patch number assigned in the SMF format.

Here's a listing of all 128 GM instruments and their numbering:

http://jedi.ks.uiuc.edu/~johns/links/music/gm.htm#Patch