Creating Digeredoo sound via MIDI interface

[Guest]

I am new to MIDI and appologise if my question doesn't make sense.

I have a keyboard with a MIDI port and a notebook computer with USB ports.
I learned from the groups that it is possible to purchase "low-cost" USB to
MIDI interfaces.

What I want to learn is that if it is possible to connect my MIDI keyboard
to my notebook via USB-MIDI interface AND generate DIGEREDOO sound on the
computer when I play on the keyboard?

If this is possible can you recommend
(A) which (set of) SW programs I have to purchase,
(B) which USB-MIDI interface(s) work with these SW
(C) from where I can order the SW and USB-MIDI interface (I'm in
Australia)?

Thx

 

[Netmask]

The Didgeridoo doesn't exist as a standard protocol midi instrument.
If you have a soundcard that supports soundfonts (Creative Audigy range)
then you could load a didgeridoo soundfont into it and use it that way -
that's what I do. I am currently working on a concerto for Dig, strings and
percussion. As a rough and note very rough cheat a muted trumpet played way
down out of register doubled with a tuba can work if it's buried a bit under
other instruments. The first thing to do is to obtain some good quality
samples and then use a program called Vienna 2.3 (freeware at
http://www.soundfont.com/downloads.html ) to construct your sound. For
contractual reasons I cannot make available any of my soundfonts but it's
pretty easy to do. Other software you will require is a sequencer program
like Sonar or Cakewalk. There are a range of shareware and freeware
sequencer programs available. Just do a search on the net for
midi sequencer programs
or midi programs
for soundfonts
check out
http://www.sf2-files.com/index.php
http://www.prorec.com/prorec/prorec.nsf
http://www.soundfonts.it/
http://www.geocities.jp/shansoundfont/
Check out the creative site for info on Audigy USB model. As far as I know
the only other soundcard that supports soundfonts is the EMU recently
released. There are a number of shareware programs that can enable
soundfonts on non soundfont cards but unless you have a high end computer
that is very fast and heaps of memory the latency problems are not
acceptable for serious musical work - but explore and you will find!

 

[Barry Graham]

What I want to learn is that if it is possible to connect my MIDI keyboard
to my notebook via USB-MIDI interface AND generate DIGEREDOO sound on the
computer when I play on the keyboard?

If this is possible can you recommend
(A) which (set of) SW programs I have to purchase,
(B) which USB-MIDI interface(s) work with these SW
(C) from where I can order the SW and USB-MIDI interface (I'm in
Australia)?

Where in OZ?
Venue Music 72 Druit St. Sydney sells the MIDISPORT USB interface $99AUD.
(If you are elsewhere try a Google search for "Midisport 1x1 USB" in OZ)

What OS are you running on the notebook?
Unfortunately the soundcards built in to notebooks usually only support of
the Microsoft Wavetable sounds that aren't so hot and wont include a Dig
anyway.
And most shareware soft synths with have some "latency" (lag between
keypress and sound output) that will drive you mad and I'm not sure you will
find a Dig sound in them anyway.

Creative have just released the Audigy ZS Notebook PCMCIA card for
notebooks.
It "seems" that you can use soundfonts with this card but you had better
check with Creative to confirm that - it's not clear in their specs.

As mentioned by NoteJam there are plenty of Dig soundfonts out there try his
links or try a Google search for "Didgeridoo soundfont" and see what turns
up. (But get the spelling right).

You can use a sequencer like he suggested but if you only need the sound
output and don't need to create sequences the MIDIOX free MIDI monitor from
www.midiox.com may be all you need.

Hope that helps.

 

[nap]

Yes. You need a decent doo sample though. Since the digeredoo is an
instrument that has an attack and notes that can be HOURS long and notes are
generated as changes in a drone.. A cheezy sample will only frustrate you.

I have a good doo sample in my EIIIxp library which is about ten years old.
You may want to search for the best sample. Then contemplate the best way to
go about playing it on the computer or an external MIDI sampler.

For an instrument which is simply a tube it does present a sampling
challenge.