Film Scoring/Butchering MIDI Files/Importing Starwars into GarageBand

{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0em 0em 1em 0em; width:100%" Importing Starwars music into GarageBand
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A second example

 * Here is another example of borrowing music from Midi files.


 * For the movie "Seduced by the Dark Side!", I want pieces of music that sound like Starwars.


 * Therefore, I start with actual music from Starwars. Later, I butcher this so it not longer is anything like the original but still has the same feel.


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Step 1 - Locate the file on the Internet

 * There are a large number of midi files on the Internet from Starwars.  I am interested in the music from the first Starwars movie.  The name of this file is "swtheme.midi". Use Google to find this file and download it to your computer.


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Screen shot of searching for the file
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Step 2 - Clean up Midi file

 * GarageBand will not accept this Midi file. Therefore, I open the midi file in QuickTime Movie Player and export it as a Midi file which cleans the file up.


 * In the picture to the right, you see the file open in QuickTime Pro's Movie Player. It is being exported as a Midi file (to a different location or with a different name.)


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GarageBand with the midi file click on picture to enlarge
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Step 3 - Drag to GarageBand

 * After I cleaned up the midi file, I drag the icon of the midi file from the Finder to GarageBand.


 * Note : The Finder rarely looks to good. I cleaned it up and simplified it for this example.


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Dragging Midi file to GarageBand click on picture to enlarge
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{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0em 0em 1em 0em; width:100%" Step #4
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Step 4 - importing into GarageBand

 * GarageBand creates multiple tracks during the import.


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The import feature is totally automatic click on picture to enlarge
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Step 5 - Fully imported

 * When completed, the import of the midi file looks like this.


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A track can be broken into regions click on picture to enlarge
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{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0em 0em 1em 0em; width:100%" Step #6
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Step 6 - Locate the start of the desired theme

 * Now I need to find and then isolate the notes I am interested in. I do this because otherwise the file is too large and awkward to work with.


 * I select all the tracks and put the play marker before the notes I want. Then I select SPLIT from the menu.


 * Don't worry about accuracy. If I get extra notes included in the section, I can eliminate them later.  Better to have too many than not enough.


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All the tracks can be broken into regions click on picture to enlarge
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{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0em 0em 1em 0em; width:100%" Step #7
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Step 7 - Locate the end of the desired theme

 * Now I need to find the end of the notes I am interested in.


 * I select all the tracks and put the play marker after the notes I want. Then I select SPLIT from the menu.


 * Don't worry about accuracy. If I get extra notes included in the section, I can eliminate them later.  Better to have too many than not enough.


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I split the tracks again after the theme click on picture to enlarge
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{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0em 0em 1em 0em; width:100%" Step #8
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Step 8 - All the regions before I begin deleting

 * After I have broken the song into regions, I am ready to delete the unwanted regions at the beginning and the end of the midi file.


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<div style="border-bottom:1px solid #abd5f5; background-color:#d0e5f5; padding:0.2em 0.5em 0.2em 0.5em; font-size:110%; font-weight:bold;">The same tune reduced to a few chords
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click on picture to enlarge
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{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0em 0em 1em 0em; width:100%" <div style="border-bottom:1px solid Gold; background-color:#ffffaa; padding:0.2em 0.5em 0.2em 0.5em; font-size:110%; font-weight:bold;">Step #9
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Step 9 - Select the first batch of regions

 * After I have broken the song into regions, I must first select the ones I do not want so I can delete them.


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<div style="border-bottom:1px solid #abd5f5; background-color:#d0e5f5; padding:0.2em 0.5em 0.2em 0.5em; font-size:110%; font-weight:bold;">The same tune reduced to a few chords
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click on picture to enlarge
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{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0em 0em 1em 0em; width:100%" <div style="border-bottom:1px solid Gold; background-color:#ffffaa; padding:0.2em 0.5em 0.2em 0.5em; font-size:110%; font-weight:bold;">Step #10
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Step 10 - The remaining notes

 * I delete the unwanted regions at the beginning and then I must select the ones at the end I do not want so I can delete them.


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<div style="border-bottom:1px solid #abd5f5; background-color:#d0e5f5; padding:0.2em 0.5em 0.2em 0.5em; font-size:110%; font-weight:bold;">Preparing to delete more unwanted regions
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click on picture to enlarge
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{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0em 0em 1em 0em; width:100%" <div style="border-bottom:1px solid Gold; background-color:#ffffaa; padding:0.2em 0.5em 0.2em 0.5em; font-size:110%; font-weight:bold;">Step #11
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Step 11 - The remaining notes

 * After I have deleted the both unwanted regions, this is all I have left. Now it is a manageable size.


 * Now I need to move the remaining notes much closer to the beginning of the song.


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<div style="border-bottom:1px solid #abd5f5; background-color:#d0e5f5; padding:0.2em 0.5em 0.2em 0.5em; font-size:110%; font-weight:bold;">The same tune reduced to a few chords
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click on picture to enlarge
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{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0em 0em 1em 0em; width:100%" <div style="border-bottom:1px solid Gold; background-color:#ffffaa; padding:0.2em 0.5em 0.2em 0.5em; font-size:110%; font-weight:bold;">Step #12
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Step 12 - All the regions before I begin deleting

 * I see that some tracks have not notes. So I highlight the tracks and delete them.


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<div style="border-bottom:1px solid #abd5f5; background-color:#d0e5f5; padding:0.2em 0.5em 0.2em 0.5em; font-size:110%; font-weight:bold;">Select and delete the empty tracks
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click on picture to enlarge
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{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0em 0em 1em 0em; width:100%" <div style="border-bottom:1px solid Gold; background-color:#ffffaa; padding:0.2em 0.5em 0.2em 0.5em; font-size:110%; font-weight:bold;">Step #13
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Step 13 - Listen to all the tracks separately

 * This is all that I have left after trimming the unwanted notes at the beginning and end of the song and then deleting all empty tracks.


 * Next, I need to listen to each track individually to see if I like the notes or not.


 * In my example, this is all I have left.


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<div style="border-bottom:1px solid #abd5f5; background-color:#d0e5f5; padding:0.2em 0.5em 0.2em 0.5em; font-size:110%; font-weight:bold;">Some of these tracks are too noisy
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click on picture to enlarge
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{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0em 0em 1em 0em; width:100%" <div style="border-bottom:1px solid Gold; background-color:#ffffaa; padding:0.2em 0.5em 0.2em 0.5em; font-size:110%; font-weight:bold;">Step #14
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Step 14 - Isolate the good tracks

 * First I listen to the tracks separately and find the interesting tracks. Then I play just the interesting tracks with the ugly sounding tracks turned off.


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<div style="border-bottom:1px solid #abd5f5; background-color:#d0e5f5; padding:0.2em 0.5em 0.2em 0.5em; font-size:110%; font-weight:bold;">The tune sounds better with some tracks turned off.
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click on picture to enlarge
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{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0em 0em 1em 0em; width:100%" <div style="border-bottom:1px solid Gold; background-color:#ffffaa; padding:0.2em 0.5em 0.2em 0.5em; font-size:110%; font-weight:bold;">Step #15
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Step 15 - The good tracks

 * After importing, cropping, and thinning the Midi file, this is what I end up with.


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<div style="border-bottom:1px solid #abd5f5; background-color:#d0e5f5; padding:0.2em 0.5em 0.2em 0.5em; font-size:110%; font-weight:bold;">The tune simplified.
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click on picture to enlarge
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{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0em 0em 1em 0em; width:100%" <div style="border-bottom:1px solid Gold; background-color:#ffffaa; padding:0.2em 0.5em 0.2em 0.5em; font-size:110%; font-weight:bold;">Authors name (Your Name) or section heading
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The next steps

 * I have successfully reduced the Starwars music to a simple theme.


 * Now I must turn this into a film score.


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<div style="border-bottom:1px solid #abd5f5; background-color:#d0e5f5; padding:0.2em 0.5em 0.2em 0.5em; font-size:110%; font-weight:bold;">Simplify more
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Even after all I have done, the music is not simple enough. And it is not clean enough.
 * The music is not simple enough
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<div style="border-bottom:1px solid #abd5f5; background-color:#d0e5f5; padding:0.2em 0.5em 0.2em 0.5em; font-size:110%; font-weight:bold;">Solve the copyright problem
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Because this is not classical music (old music), I cannot use the exact music. I must butcher it more to make it copyright free.
 * Not classical music
 * }

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The next page

 * Continue this lesson on Simplifying Starwars in GarageBand


 * }