Midi Maker is a free tool that helps you create new music quickly and easily.
There are many ways to start a new composition; you can start with the melody, a harmonic progression, a specific rhythm, etc. To help in that aspect, Midi Maker is a free tool that helps you create new music quickly and easily.
The way you start, in certain ways, influences, if not dictates, how everything that comes after will go. For example, harmony and structure will guide melody, rhythm can guide phrasing, and vice versa.
Some musicians swear that a specific approach is best, and ultimately (and obviously), whatever works for you is best. I’ve always tried to avoid thinking of a particular approach and let the chips fall where they may, even as far as not being too strict on the genre of personal projects.
The upside is more creative freedom, but the downside is that too much freedom often leads to creative block (like when I spend more time browsing movies on Netflix than watching Movies on Netflix) or reduced productivity compared to a more structured method.
In some cases, complete freedom isn’t an option anyway because we already have guidelines to follow, and a tool like Midi Maker could be a huge help.
Midi Maker randomly generates new music using polysynths, drum machines, and chord patterns according to user-defined characteristics. The generator allows you to select the core elements of your song, like genre, structure, tempo, and key, before setting some more advanced parameters.
Once you have the fundamentals, you can choose how many chords, melodies, etc. you want. If you have multiple chords, you can define harmonic development as Static, Sectional, or Progressive. You can also adjust the number of variations per section.
Once you’re ready to generate some music, Midi Maker takes you to the next page, where you can preview the creation and adjust the polysynths (melodies, bass, and chords), drum machine, and chord patterns.
Each element offers various features and parameters to tweak, such as Envelopes, Density, Timing, and Velocities. You can make changes on the fly and hear the new results in playback within seconds.
Despite having so many settings to play with, generation is entirely based on randomness (in the context of your settings) rather than AI and machine learning. The benefit of randomness is that you’ll always get something unique and less generic.
When you’re happy with your results, you can download the MIDI file and drop it into your DAW/software for further development.
Midi Maker has two versions: Free (one download per month, 4/4 time) and Premium (£19.50 per month with unlimited downloads, any time signature, and Motif Creation).
If you sign up now, you can get 50% off your first three months. Anything that helps get an idea in motion is great, especially for people who consistently need to produce a lot of material.
I had fun with Midi Maker, and honestly, it did more than I expected. It’s an interesting way to kickstart the creative process, and I imagine it will get bigger and better over time.
If I had one concern, with prices generally being too high across the board, the Premium version will face stiff competition in convincing users to allocate funds its way rather than elsewhere, but time will tell.
If you’re a Windows user who hasn’t checked out the latest freebie from Variety of Sound, epicCLOUDS, do it!
It’s way too late to say Happy New Year without being laughed at, but since this is my first post of 2024, I want to wish everyone well and say it’s good to be back.
Check out the deal: Midi Maker (FREE version / Premium version – £19.50 per month)
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12 Comments
MRG
on…or just let your cat roam around the keyboard… it’s free, and definitely random.
Tomislav Zlatic
onLOL
Blues-mcdc
onAnd my hedgehog runs in a certain rhythm. And in its space, it produces more interesting sound variations.
Blues-mcdc
onBut, without laughing, thank you very much to the creator of this blog!!! A lot of useful and, most importantly, educational information. This is my first time writing, but I’ve been reading for several years. Thank you very much!!!
Tomislav Zlatic
onHey, you are very welcome. Thank you for reading BPB! :)
Phil H
onI have to agree – these developers come up with a good idea and think it’s made out of gold, or that the big boys and girls won’t clone it and offer it as a condiment to their gear. We’ve seen it happen quite a few times over the last year. I say good luck to them, but they need to be realistic. I mean it’s not like they’re doing any work after compiling the things.
Brenny C
onUnlike the downers in the comment section, I was rather impressed by what it can do. If I was someone who buys MIDI packs on the regular, MidiMaker would be a better alternative.
But $20 a month is a huge ask for a niche product like this and I much prefer to come up with my own melodies and rhythms else I feel like I’m cheating. Midimaker just doesn’t work with my regular workflow and bank account enough to justify subscribing; besides, I hate subscription models with a passion and I can say with confidence that that will never change.
I have to admit that if the product was a one-time, reasonably priced payment I can see myself considering it for those times when (as mentioned in the blog post) I’m creatively blocked and needing some inspiration, or if I’m bored and want to mess around in my DAW for a couple hours.
I hope the dev considers changing the pricing and mixing the subscription model – or at least offers another option. Either way, I wish him well! He has a good product here!
MRG
onInspiration can come from anything, I’m not one to judge the material. The sound of rain, a MIDI pack in a genre you weren’t familiar with, a generative piece of code. Whatever floats your boat. Or should I say whatever meows your cat? Mmm… Anywho, far from me to poo-poo on what obviously results in some amount of work. I’ve relied on CodeFN42’s RandARP or Transition way too many times to deny the appeal of constrained randomisation as a primary source of inspiration. Brilliant helping tools.
As for the subscription model, I get that some people get used to it, but …I just can’t even. :)
Hope the dev finds his public. Perhaps a third pricing slot in the middle (full capabilities but one per day, or sumtin…) would help attract more users, to see if they -really- need it. Competition is fierce. :/
CoopMusic247
onI mean, Orb plugins do this. Captain plugins do this. Harvest does this. And a lot of others. Atlas, XO, etc. Subscriptions for this kinda stuff sucks.
Coopmusic247
onI thought I said this, but maybe my comment didn’t go through. There is Atlas, Captain Epic, XO, Harvest, Phrasebox, Orb Plugins, etc. that do this kinda of thing without a subscription. Bad move. Might be cool, but I won’t waste time on something I can outright buy for about the same price.
Legally Lee
onSometimes starting a new song is difficult, especially if you are not in that creative mood. Midi Maker seems to be a nice tool that allows an abundance of creation to fall into your lap, or DAW. I will be using this for a couple future projects too see how capable this software really is. This article is inspiring me to make music via Midi Maker.
James, I am curious, how many projects are you starting with this?
Gordon
onMade the mistake of buying 3 months before trying. A complete waste of money. A Toy.