Logistics & Setup
During this course, you will be using your own resources as you gain an artistic understanding of how to compose music through software and hardware environments. The technology requirements for completion of the course are (1) a laptop with internet access and (2) software for music creation via MIDI].
The preferred setup is a Mac Laptop and Logic Pro.
Preferred Technology Requirements
- Mac Laptop running macOS 12.3 or later and 6GB of available storage (preferred) - NOTE: you will need an Apple ID to get and use the trial...
- Logic Pro (free 90 day trial available at http://www.apple.com/logic-pro/trial)
- MIDI Controller (external MIDI device) for note entry - NOT required but highly preferred!
Here are some examples of MIDI controllers that are each less than $100 (as of Nov 2024) - Provided as suggestions search keyboards = "MIDI Controller" or "MIDI Keyboard"
If you do not have access to the preferred, the following options will still allow you to complete MUSC 282.
Mac/Windows Laptop running a DAW that can record, edit, and export MIDI content.
DAW options that include MIDI
- Mac Only - Logic Pro (our preferred DAW) - (free 90 day trial available at http://www.apple.com/logic-pro/trial)
- Mac or Windows - Pro Tools Intro https://my.avid.com/get/pro-tools-intro NOTE: you will need to create a free account to download the trial...
- Mac or Windows - (FREE!) MuseScore (music notation software that supports midi import/export and editing via notation) - https://musescore.org
You may already have purchased software for audio production - here are features that would be necessary for MUSC 282...
MIDI Requirements
Your software needs to be able to...
- Export a project as a standard midi file (ending in .mid or .midi) - note this will NOT export audio information
- Import a midi file into a project
- Create MIDi tracks where instruments can be changed (different from audio tracks!)
- Have a collection of software instruments, especially the General MIDI patch set
- Be able to edit any MIDI region in a project (including quantize, panning, volume, velocity, patches)
- MIDI event list/editor - allows ability to see specifics of any MIDI event
- MIDI Transpose
- MIDI Transform (ability to make quick changes over an entire region)
Download and Setup for Pro Tools Intro
ProTools Info is a free DAW and will supply the basic tools needed for MUSC 282. NOTE: you will need to provide an active email address and create a free account for download and installation.
- Step 1: Download the app at: http://avid.com/pro-tools/intro
- Step 2: Download the Virtual Instrument Content (see screenshot below) (Windows users will see different file names)
- Both steps are necessary since you'll be creating MIDI (rather than audio) based content.
Musical Instrument Digital Interface - protocol for representing musical content (pitch, duration, timbre, dynamics, etc.) via numbers in a range from 0-127.
Digital Audio Workstation - a software and/or hardware environment to record, edit, and produce audio files. While all DAW's will handle audio, not all will have MIDI capabiities.