Hey guys, in this video we’re going to look at how to use a MIDI input device like a keyboard
or drum pad in Presonus Studio One.
This is part of our Studio One series, and in previous videos we went over audio recording
and working with MIDI on the piano roll.
Before we get started, make sure to subscribe to the channel so you can follow the series.
The first step to working with a MIDI device is connecting it to our computer.
Most of the newer MIDI devices available will connect over USB, but there are some that
will also connect over MIDI inputs and outputs from the audio interface with traditional
MIDI cables.
Connect your device before starting up Studio One to avoid any problems.
In this video, I’m using an AKAI MPK249 MIDI keyboard as my controller.
This is a 49 key keyboard with 16 pad drum pads, 8 faders, and various other features.
This is a great MIDI controller that’s very versatile in the home studio, and you can
check it out at the links in the video description, or through our review on this channel.
Once the software is opened, we’ll go back to our virtual instrument track that we created
in the last video.
For the MIDI device to work, make sure this is a virtual instrument track and that you
have a virtual instrument added like we did last time, that way sound can be produced.
Go to the dropdown that says all inputs.
It’s the second dropdown on that track.
Select Configure to bring up the settings to add a MIDI device.
In the bottom left, press Add.
We can select to add a new keyboard, instrument, or control surface at the top, or choose one
of the presets instead of adding it manually.
My MIDI device is selectable from this dropdown.
Then we can go to the Receive From and Send To dropdowns and choose the input and output
from our computer as shown.
Then just click ok and go back to our project.
With the MIDI device setup, we have to use the dropdown again and select the Akai MPK249,
or whatever MIDI device you use in your case.
Similar to the audio tracks we used with a microphone, you do need to arm the track for
recording by pressing the circle button on the track.
Now we can hear the instrument when we press buttons on the keyboard.
Before actually recording, I really recommend setting up the metronome in Studio One.
We covered this in the first video.
Using the metronome will allow you to time everything with the project, that way it locks
together and we can adjust the timings after a lot easier.
With that all setup, go to the beginning of the project, press record and hit some notes
on your keyboard.
Then stop it when you’re done and we can look at how to edit everything with the MIDI.
The great thing about MIDI compared to recording a microphone for an instrument is it’s just
telling a synthesizer to start an event at a certain time.
There’s no saved sound in the MIDI clip itself and everything is generated in the
computer, so you can make a lot of adjustments after, particularly if you mess up a note
or timing.
This can all be fixed.
Let’s look at how we can adjust everything manually first.
Click on the MIDI clip to open the piano roll like last time.
Within the piano roll we can see all the MIDI events for the notes we pressed.
Using the draw tool, we can add new notes in, or delete them.
We can also select notes and change their timing, or adjust the velocity.
Editing MIDI manually like this can be time consuming, but there is an automated quantization
tool we can use.
The quantization tool will automatically snap the MIDI events to the project time.
This helps to get all of them in time with each other, because that can sometimes be
a little tricky with MIDI and it will make all your different tracks lock together nicely.
To get all these options up, press the Q button along the top.
We’ll leave it in grid mode and select 1/8 notes.
This is a straight tempo with no swing for this beat.
As you can see there’s a lot more options for quantization to experiment with.
Once you’re ready to apply it, press the Apply button on the right.
Now we can see all the MIDI events are snapped to the grid.
If there’s any problems, we can undo this and start over.
Or we can manually select the MIDI events and snap them if they go in the opposite direction
for some reason.
Thanks for checking out this video on using a MIDI device with Presonus Studio One.
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