M3 and Interaction with My PC -- Basic Questions

[74cbell]

Hi everyone.

I am fairly new to this stuff, so my apologies if any of these questions seem very basic.

I purchased my M3 last week (just for fun) and so far have been able to create some great sounds, interact with the unit via my PC (with both the software that came with it along with Anvil Studios freeware), upgraded the firmware, and have even made a few MP3 files from WAV files that I have created with the system.

Here is where I am stumped:

1) When I save a sequence as a MIDI file and play it on my PC it sounds strange. How do I get it to send across the appropriate sounds from the M3 to make it sound right? It almost sounds like every sound has been converted to a basic piano sound.

2) When I play the MIDI file it sometimes just sounds like one channel is playing. Am I doing something wrong when I save the file?

3) What I would like to find is a basic music editing program that will easily interact with the M3. I simply want a way to save the tracks on my PC, and then be able to manipulate them (i.e. drop-and-drag, copy, etc.) I am not interested in a lot of bells and whistles since this is just a fun hooby of mine that I am learning more and more about. What simple program should I look at trying?

Thanks!

Charles

[Synthoid]

When I save a sequence as a MIDI file and play it on my PC it sounds strange. How do I get it to send across the appropriate sounds from the M3 to make it sound right? It almost sounds like every sound has been converted to a basic piano sound.

A MIDI file is data only, not audio (no samples are saved with it).......so it will sound different on your PC. You can't "send" the M3 sounds to your computer.

You can record a sequence in the M3, save that as a WAVE file to a USB stick, and then load that into your computer for manipulation.

[74cbell]

When I save a sequence as a MIDI file and play it on my PC it sounds strange. How do I get it to send across the appropriate sounds from the M3 to make it sound right? It almost sounds like every sound has been converted to a basic piano sound.

A MIDI file is data only, not audio (no samples are saved with it).......so it will sound different on your PC. You can't "send" the M3 sounds to your computer.

You can record a sequence in the M3, save that as a WAVE file to a USB stick, and then load that into your computer for manipulation.

Thanks! That information helps.

Per my other question, do you have any advice on software that I should purchase for the PC that is fairly basic?

[tritex4]

can record a sequence in the M3, save that as a WAVE file to a USB stick, and then load that into your computer for manipulation.

You can also record directly from the M3 to your PC's sound card.
A free program like Audacity has a sound recorder built into it's software.

But quite frankly, I and many others do it the way that Synthoid suggested.
You can use the sequencer to mix and pan.
There's only so much you can do with the finished wave file. Panning and adjusting
parameters is not applicable.