Well, you can take 2 directions in writing MIDIs without a keyboard.. There's the hard way, and the easy way. Each has benefits, each also has problems. Read both of them through and decide for yourself.
The easy way can be done by anyone with even the most rudimentary knowledge of a piano keyboard. It is done by using a program called "Music Sculptor" (To get it, do a search for "Music Sculptor" on www.shareware.com.) Say you want to do a simple MIDI of Row, Row, Row Your Boat. What you would do, is put the cursor on track 1, choose an instrument, choose a volume, and press record. Then you play the top row of letter keys as if they were piano keys. Press stop, and then you can play your newly made composition. Would you like an accompaniment? Click on track 2, choose your instrument and volume, and press record. Then add your accompaniment. The problem with this way though, is what you can play is limited. It's easy, but it's not as versatile and powerful as the hard way. |
| The hard way can be done with a variety of programs, the best of which being Cakewalk (get it here), and requires intense knowledge of musical notation, a good portion of which can be learned in our tutorial, The Note Book. What it takes to do MIDIs the hard way, is to set up the MIDI the same way as the easy way, but instead of playing it on the keyboard, you use the mouse to place the notes on the staff. It's more time-consuming, and irritating, and it takes getting used to. But it will ultimately be much more versatile than The Easy Way, with the addition of multiple octaves, and various other effects. The rest can be learned fairly easily through the program. |