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Thread New to MIDI, have many questions

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1 New to MIDI, have many questions
I have been recording my (mostly acoustic guitar and electric bass) songs for about 5 months now. I started out with a Tascam 2488 portastudio.
Then I moved on to an Mbox with Pro Tools LE, which worked much better for my needs. I would like to add some different stuff to my songs to make them interesting, like maybe some sampled acoustic instruments, like violin, cello, mandolin, piano, organ, etc...
I think Pro Tools LE is able to import these kind of samples into tracks via ReWire.

I have never used any MIDI instruments before, and I don't play the piano although I could play single note lead solos and simple chord rhythms and stuff like that.

I assume I need a MIDI controller before I can do any of this, right?

I am looking into this keyboard:
M Audio Keystation 61es USB MIDI Controller Keyboard (61 Keys)

It's only $169.00 and I think it will do what I need to begin with. Plus it has a USB converter built in, so I don't have to buy an external one.

Is this an OK controller? I know they sell better ones, but I don't want to spend too much on my first one.

Also, will I need any extra sampling software besides what came with Pro Tools LE?
How does sampling software work? Is it just a plug-in for Pro Tools?

If the MIDI controller doesn't plug into the Mbox, (which it doesn't) how does Pro Tools take it as an input?
Does another program take it as an input and then go into Pro Tools through ReWire?


Please help

Thanks in advance.
2
I think that is good midi controler. You'll need some vst plugin like gigasampler or etc. You do not need to work in revire mode with it because it work like vst. And you need sampled sounds to use with it. It must be in giga format to use it with gigasampler. You can do with halion sampler too, but than you'll need halion format samples. But most good samples are in giga or akai format. (akai can be transformed to giga with translator program)

You could look for sampled sounds on www.soundsonline.com (how many times I wrote that allready? :)

Your midi controler can have usb or midi input. I prefer usb. And M Audio Keystation 61es has it. Than you just select yout midi device for midi in in protools and it must work.

Have fun!
3
Thanks.

One more question.
You mentioned using USB for the MIDI controller.
I'm using a Toshiba laptop for this. It has three USB ports.
Currently I have an external hard drive in the first one (for recording to), my Mbox in the second one, and a mouse in the third one. If I add any other USB devices I will have to buy a USB hub. I don't mind buying a USB hub, but I just wonder if all that stuff on USB will slow down how fast my Mbox communicates with the computer.
Is this a problem, or does it matter how many USB devices you use?
I read in the Mbox manual that they don't recommend connecting the Mbox to a USB hub, but they didn't say if you use a hub for other devices if it would affect the Mbox's performance.

Also, how much is plenty of RAM for running Pro Tools LE, Gigastudio and other plug-ins at the same time?
My computer will stop in the middle of a song sometimes and give an error message. I can start the song again and usually it will play the second time.
Right now I have 512Mb I was thinking of upgrading to 1Gb or possible 2Gb. Would this help at all, or is that even the issue.
4
One more question.
I looked on that website Sounds Online, and they offer a format called
AIFF, and it say Pro Tools beside it. Can this format be used with Pro Tools without buying any additional software like gigasamples?
Is there any reason not to do this?
Are AIFF samples not as good as Giga?
Which ones are the best?
5
Ok I lied, that wasn't the last question.
I have another.

If I bought a MIDI guitar pickup like this one:

Roland GK3 Divided Pickup for Guitar

Would I be able to use my guitar as a MIDI controller just like a keyboard or do those only work through those guitar MIDI modules?

This would be a much better way to do MIDI for me, since I already play the guitar.

I just wonder how well it would work.

Has anyone ever used one of these?
6
I don't know about usb hubs.

About ram: yes you will need at least 1gb ram to do with sampled sounds.

I think AIFF format is as good as giga or halion but I don't know which sampler suports it. Try Vsampler 3.

I think you could guitar midi pickup for midi device. I'm guitarist too but I prefer keyboard. :)