#126: How To Prepare And Export MIDI Files For Mixing

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If you want to make your life easier when mixing, give yourself more quickly available options in the mix without headaches and tedious setup work, or make sure that your mixing engineer can get the most out of the tracks you deliver, then you need to prepare and export your MIDI tracks correctly.

Unfortunately some DAWs make it pretty difficult to export MIDI properly and it’s also different for every DAW. Plus, exporting and importing MIDI is often not as straight forward as doing the same with audio tracks, which can lead to all kinds of errors in the process. 

As a result of that, mixers like us often get MIDI files delivered that we can’t easily use. Sometimes they’re not usable at all and other times we spend a lot of time to get them to work, only to figure out that there’s still some mix-up somewhere in the files.

It’s very hard to tell you how to exactly export and prepare things in your DAW, because they’re all different, but we can tell you what to watch out for and what mixing engineers typically expect you to deliver. It's gonna be pretty easy for you then to figure out the specifics of your DAW, once you have that info.

This will also be super helpful if you’re mixing yourself, because there are a few concepts and techniques around using MIDI that will drastically improve your own mixing workflow and give you more creative options quickly, such as triggering phase accurate drum samples off of MIDI, opening gates, creating key spikes, etc.

Some of the things we cover in this episode:

• Understand that MIDI is not audio
• Include a MIDI map, or at least understand the concept of mapping MIDI notes and tell collaborators which map and sampler/instrument you used.
• Make sure the start and end points are correct, as well as the tempo and time signature (these things will often get exported and then re-imported with MIDI)
• Label everything correctly
• Double check that everything lines up correctly
• Understand that a mixer might not be running your MIDI in real time. They might print the samples at some point. So be intentional and commit to your production. 
• Understand that different samplers and instruments will react differently to your MIDI. This is important when you decide to switch to a different instrument. You might have to adjust things before you can use the MIDI in the mix.
• Adjusting MIDI and printing samples/instruments is production work, not mixing. It can serve as a safety net in the mix and adding drum samples, for example, is definitely common when mixing, but adjusting the performances, choosing and committing instruments, etc. has to be done before mixing or added on top of the mixing package you booked, which should be discussed before you start the project.

For full show notes go to: https://theselfrecordingband.com/126

If you have any questions, feedback, topic ideas or want to suggest a guest, email us at: podcast@theselfrecordingband.com