Mixdown midi and vocal to an audio file possible?

[danskemusik]

Hi Metro friends

I am trying to make the upgrade from Garageband to Metro and am having some diffculty understanding if I can do what i am trying to do.

I understand that the former does not do Midi out, so what we hear when we combine Midi and microphone tracks is an AIF file.

On the other hand, entering a piece in Metro we have Midi (input by my midi keyboard) and AIF files (input by my microphone). So I hear my keyboard onboard synth playing the midi and my audio system playing my voice. This is fine but I wonder if i can get the equivalent of what Garageband does, produce the Midi and vocal as a single AIF or other sound file.

My question concerns this page.
http://www.sagantech.biz/support/MetroFAQ.shtml


It says we can mix down to create a CD or MP3 file.

Am I correct that I can thereby take a vocal track (aif), with maybe some effects like reverberation, plus a couple of midi tracks and thus end up with an MP3, or an AIF that contains all 3 tracks?

Would the MIDI sounds be those of my computer (as opposed to those of my keyboard).

I tried it but it did not seem to work. It only managed to do ONE track, the vocal track.

I do not have a mixer, so I skipped that suggestion.

I found the link to LAME MP3 outdated (or no longer valid), so I went to the last.

The last says "simply Export (with the using Quicktime option) the newly recorded track directly to MP3 and you are done. Otherwise Export the track to some place on your hard drive where you will be able to find it later. This will write an AIFF file. Then in iTunes, or other CD
or MP3 making application you can either burn a CD or convert the resultant AIFF file to MP3."


Maybe this is where I am having trouble as i am trying to take Midi and vocal and mixdown to a single audio file.

The above instruction refers to a single track and does not specifically address whether I can take a couple of midi tracks plus a vocal
track and mixdown, sort of getting the equivalent of what Garageband does, giving you a single AIF file.

If I misread, can you explain what i need to do.

Thank you.

Jens

[GSpro]

Hi danskemusik,

Everything you have asked it's very easy to do in Metro.
If your onboard synth is what you want to ear, you need to run the Left/Right output of your synth to a stereo track in Metro.
It's the same thing you did with the vocal track.
Then you want to bounce both of those tracks to disk to create an stereo aif file.
Now for MP3's? I really don't use it a lot and really don't know if the LAME framework is outdated or not since I'm on a new Mac. When I do need it I just convert through iTunes.

Do you have an audio/midi interface?
If you tell us about your setup, we'll get you there faster.

GSPro

[danskemusik]

Thank you GSpro.

My setup is pretty basic. I do not have any interface. I have a Midi keyboard with built in sounds. It is connected to a Macbook Pro via midi-in and midi-out to one of the computer's USB ports. I have an H2 Zoom microphone plugged into the other USB port. So far I just have the keyboard tracks playing back through the keyboard and the voice playing back through the Zoom microphone's audio out. Or I think I can equally use the Mac's external output. as the Mac has audio out going to speakers.


For Midi, when you say "run the left/right output to a stereo track", I think that is what I have. Quite simply, I record the track with my keyboard and, unless I change the instrument via the keyboard or the program, I hear the keyboard play back what I input when playing Metro.


When you say bounce both tracks to a disk, I am not sure what I need to do. Actually I don't really worry about Mp3. Just that it was in the FAQ.

I am happy to take my stereo midi tracks and my stereo vocal track and just get something that I can send to people who do not have a Midi keyboard (in other words, what I can already do with Garageband). The difference for me is, if I can do both with the same program (keeping the Midi and audio in Metro's proprietary format for myself; sending friends an AIF version--I guess using Quicktime instruments?) then it will be perfect.

Garageband's limitation is the reverse-it cannot play back my Midi keyboard.


Thank you.

[danskemusik]

While waiting for a reply, I hit upon an idea. To get midi (my own keyboard sounds!) AND vocal as a single aiff file, maybe one way is to send all the my computer and then use Audio Hijack to create an audio file? That has not been mentioned, but it seems possible.

Is this a good way?

[Jerm]

No, In order to get a single .AIF file you need to get the audio output of your MIDI device into your computer as an audio file (.AIF).

The lame MP3 links were indeed re-broken however I did find a link that should work and I have subsequently updated the MP3 announcement page with this new link.

[danskemusik]

Great. Thank you, Jerm.

Meanwhile I did a no-no. I reinstalled Audio Hijack pro (which includes Soundflower audio inputs, whatever they are). And since then, Metro crashes when I try to move it from internal microphones to H2 (my Zoom USB mic).

I am not certain if Sunflower/Audio Hijack Pro is the cause. In fact, I tried connecting my H2 into the internal mic jack (it works both ways). And now, no matter how I use it, Digital Audio setup remains stuck in built in microphone and rescanning also crashes.

I tried downloading a fresh install of Metro and the same thing happens, meaning for the time being I can only record via the internal microphone.

I got rid of Audio Hijack Pro but the Mac still sees its Soundflower inputs. And a search of the Mac does not reveal how to get rid of them, assuming they are a cause of the trouble.

I wrote to support for Audio Hijack to see what they suggest.

Ah well. Should have waited before trying Audio Hijack Pro.

Jens

[Jerm]

Jens,

I have heard reports of soundflower/hijack crashing. I believe a more recent update they did addressed that issue. You have no reason, from this forum thread at least, to install either of them. Simply uninstall them (whatever that entails). Re-installing Metro will have no affect since it isn't Metro crashing.

[danskemusik]

Thank you. I have been unable to find the company during a brief search, but hopefully the Audio Hijack people will help me figure out how to uninstall it, as it does not even show up anywhere in the system except to announce itself that it is there. Once I get rid of it, I can go back to enjoying Metro.

Jens

[Jerm]

Hereis the website for Audio Hijack. I am not sure if there is an uninstaller or not. Did you try running the installer to see if they include an uninstall option?

Contact them directly, it should be fairly straight forward to uninstall it.

You could also try installing the latest version, since it may have the bug you've discovered fixed. Check the version number first though so you don't re-install unnecessarily.

[danskemusik]

Thank you. Have contacted AH and will await their response.