You can make MIDI music without any live instruments.
Your computer keyboard is useful for typing letters and numbers, but with the right configuration, it can also input MIDI data. MIDI involves the act of typing musical notes using a "controller" (like a MIDI keyboard or a drum machine). Just like you connect your computer keyboard to your computer, you can connect your MIDI controller to a sound module, computer or music sequencer and click the keys (like "C," "C#" and "D") to play sound on the receiving device. If you do not own a MIDI controller, you can save a lot of money by using your PC keyboard.
Instructions
1. Install a digital music recording program that allows for local MIDI control. Many programs, like Ableton Live, GarageBand, FL Studio, LMMS, Logic and Reason, support this feature. Basically, the feature allows you to designate your computer keyboard as a MIDI controller, with musical notes assigned to specific keys.
2. Open your software and optimize it for MIDI performance/recording. To do this, simply create a MIDI track. In audio recording, a "track" is just a layer. For example, if you have ever heard a song where the lead singer's voice overlapped with itself, such as for a vocal harmony, the engineers achieved this affect by recording two vocal sessions on separate tracks and aligning them together. A MIDI track serves the same purpose, but for digital note input. Scan your menu bar options and look for the command that reads "Create Track" and "New Track." When promoted to choose a track type, click "MIDI."
3. Assign an instrument to your MIDI track. Once again, MIDI is just data, and it processes notes but not raw audio. So in order to produce sound, you must choose a virtual instrument. If you select a trombone, your inputted notes will sound like a trombone. If you select a guitar, your notes will sound like a guitar. You can select an instrument by locating the list of instrument options on your menu bar, on your main project window or on a separate "Mixer" window (under "I/O," or "Input/Output").
4. Select your MIDI control option. Many programs, like Ableton Live and FL Studio, feature a small image of a piano right on the main project window. You can access your MIDI control feature by clicking the little piano. Other programs, like GarageBand, feature the option on the menu bar at the top of the screen. Other programs are trickier. For example, Logic requires you to click "CAPS" on your keyboard, but you would not know that without reading the documentation. If you cannot find the local control option on your own program, consult your documentation.
5. Play the keys on your keyboard. After you designate your keyboard as a MIDI device, a virtual guide should appear on your screen. It may look like a piano but feature a letter on each key (corresponding to a key on your keyboard), or it may look like a computer keyboard with music notes written on each key. For example, the "A" key on your keyboard often corresponds to middle C. So if you click "A," you will hear a C key on your PC. With this configuration, you can use your computer MIDI device for recording or even for live performance.
