MIDI Power! [Paperback]

Robert Guerin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1929685661 | ISBN-13: 978-1929685660 | Publication Date: September 19, 2002 | Edition: 1

From how MIDI works, to how to connect devices through it, to how it integrates into a computer environment, "MIDI Power!" is a comprehensive reference guide to MIDI. You will get an in-depth look at MIDI, its messages and protocols and acquire the information you need to navigate it with comfort and ease. Whether you’re a beginner who just wants to make sense of MIDI or a veteran wanting to realize its full potential, "MIDI Power!" will help you produce professional music now and in the future.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robert Guérin is author of the popular "Cubase SX Power!" (Muska & Lipman Publishing, 1929685858), "Cubase Power!" (Muska & Lipman Publishing, 1929685459), and "MIDI Power!" (Muska & Lipman Publishing, 1929685661).
As a composer for the past 14 years, Robert has worked on different personal and commercial projects such as feature & short films, television themes, educational and corporate videos. Composing, arranging, playing, recording, and mixing most of his material, he has developed working habits that allow him to be creative without losing the sense of efficiency.
As a professor, Robert has teaches courses covering a wide range of topics, such as: computer software for musicians, digital audio technologies, sound on the web, sound in multimedia productions, hard disk recording, and many more. He has been program coordinator at Trebas Institute and a part time professor at Vanier College both in Montreal. Robert has developed online courses on sound integration in Web pages and has written numerous articles for audio and music related online magazines. He has also published three successful titles on Cubase, a fourth book on MIDI (MIDI Power) and is currently collaborating on several other music-technology related educational products.
As an entrepreneur, he has developed many skills necessary in today's cultural world. Robert has expanded his knowledge and expertise to ensure his business survival by adopting new multimedia and web related technologies since 1994.

Product Details

• Paperback: 376 pages
• Publisher: Course Technology PTR; 1 edition (September 19, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1929685661
• ISBN-13: 978-1929685660
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 7.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,419,589 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exactly what I was looking for!, October 10, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: MIDI Power! (Paperback)

In the end, when a shopper decides to look at the user reviews, he/she usually does so not to see the average opinion (that is reflected by the averaged rating at the top of the page). Instead, the shopper is looking to see if the reviewer had similar needs when they originally bought the book and whether or not these needs were satisfactorily met.

So, without going into the book itself too much, let me just start by telling you what needs I had prior to buying this book.

I am an electronic composer (think Stockhausen not Chemical Brothers...if you don't know who Stockhausen is, you probably aren't coming from my perspective - although that's not a bad thing) who only recently began building a studio. In addition to studying electronic and acoustic composition at the collegiate level, I also have studied film scoring. Naturally, my review could very easily apply to you if you aren't this type of musician (I will try to assess the book's usefulness to other types below).

I currently own a few hardware synths (naturally with MIDI capability), a nice laptop, Sibelius notation software, a PA system, a midi port, and Cubase SX 1.0.

I initially bought this book to solve a multitimbralilty issue I was having with Cubase (which I had just purchased). Although I had learned audio/midi sequencing on ProTools at school, I was using different synths and found it difficult to achieve similar control over my synths at home.

Although this book didn't quite help me figure out my problem (I probably needed Cubase SX Power! instead), it did give me a great foundation for MIDI knowledge.

The book covers everything from a mildly technical description of MIDI (even through the specifics of System Exclusive messages) to different types of hardware and software. Fortunately, this book also addressed some audio quality issues I was curious about (low-latency, sampling and bit rate, etc...).

I definitely would recommend this book to anyone looking to understand MIDI. This applies to beginners (it reads easily) as well as people with a moderate amount of MIDI info. I would not recommend this book to a MIDI pro looking for really detailed specs.

Concerning your background, I think the book pretty much applies to all types of musicians who might intend to use MIDI. The book is technical in content, not in its communicative style (i.e. although there are some professional things to learn here, they're presented in a layman-friendly way). This book doesn't ever go into specific detail about any one software application or piece of hardware...instead it makes generalities concerning types of software/hardware. For example, statements concerning audio/midi sequencers apply equally to Cubase, Logic, Digital Performer, ProTools, etc...

One complaint I have is that because music technology is evolving so quickly, the book is already showing its age (even though it was written in 2002). With the advent of USB 2.0 surpassing firewire connections and certain other advancements, some statements have to be taken with a grain of salt.

Overall, a great buy! You should check this book out!

2.0 out of 5 stars Quality of figures disappointing, July 18, 2005

By 

Vbj Maybury (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: MIDI Power! (Paperback)

Robert Guerin's MIDI POWER! is a well written text with clear explanations and good content. Unfortunately the quality of the figures is very poor, many of them being so small and dark that they are impossible to read. If the poor reproduction of the figures is due to the publishers Muska & Lipman than I'm sorry for the author. In future additions of this otherwise excellent book I hope author and publisher will get together an resolve this problem.