Soft sampler/synth with midi sequencer?

[Krys666]

Hi all.

I've looked for ages to try and find a soft sampler/synth but which also has a midi sequencer. I'm sort of a noob at this stuff so I'll explain what I'm after abit more.

I like to rearange music in Guitar Pro, but midi sounds so awful so I would like to know if there are any soft samplers/synths that will cater for my midi sequencing skills, ie, a program with a midi-controller/sequencer built into a sampler/synth...

I sound so much of a noob with all this dont I? lol

Anyway, thanks in advance.

[OverCoat]

You mean like... Any of the programs in this list?

[phoenixdk]

I hear Bandstand is designed to do exactly that - take a midi file with a pretty standard setup of instruments, and well... un-midi it. I haven't tried it though, and the little bits I've heard are kind of awful, since it tries to replicate real instrument sounds with mediocrely sampled ones.

Reason is always a winner, especially if you're used to handling synthesizers and similar hardware... it's built up in a rack kind of way, with cables and so forth.

[Yoozer]

Hi all.

I've looked for ages to try and find a soft sampler/synth but which also has a midi sequencer.

Why would you want to make this so complicated?

I like to rearange music in Guitar Pro, but midi sounds so awful

MIDI does not make sound, the General MIDI soundset in your soundcard does. This is not nitpicking and leads to confusion on the level of "lol java and javascript are the same amirite?".

The problem is that Guitar Pro doesn't support VSTs (probably too expensive to build in and too complicated for most users) which is sort of a bummer. The latest version has a better bunch of samples for the guitars at least, but if the other instruments suck you're still out of luck. In that case you have to suck it up, export to MIDI when you're done, then use something better.

I sound so much of a noob with all this dont I? lol

To use an apt analogy: you're putting the cart in front of the horse

Synthesizers don't contain sequencers, unless:

- the original instrument has an idiosyncratic way of making melodies (e.g. part of "that" sound is the sequencer). Example: TB-303 (check the example halfway the page). A 303 without sequencer doesn't sound like one.

- the instrument the software mimics is a modular synthesizer of sorts

In both cases the sequencers are almost always pattern-based - e.g. a loop of max 16 notes where you're not supposed to change the note lengths.

In almost all cases guitar is recorded straight as an audio track; so you can compose in Guitar Pro, print out the sheet music, then play it back yourself with an actual guitar and record the result of that. Can't change a note halfway, but you can record in steps which allows you to play a chunk of the song differently.

Bandstand is a sound library of "regular" instruments (piano, guitar, strings, brass). Most other software plugins either aim to specialize (several gigabytes of orchestral instruments) or don't imitate regular instruments at all (pure synthesizers). Getting a good jack of all trades isn't so much a problem (Steinberg Hypersonic, IK Multimedia Sampletank), but the issue lies in the fact that your favorite sequencer doesn't know how to shot web with those.

A good e-guitar will cost you $600 - but sounds pretty rad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqGJ8y67SU8

The full version of Kontakt 3 adds another $400, but that gives you a lot of great sounding instruments and an awesome guitar. Better however is to just record your own playing; can't beat the realism of that.