{"id":85617,"date":"2021-05-27T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-27T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/?p=85617"},"modified":"2021-11-26T17:41:28","modified_gmt":"2021-11-26T17:41:28","slug":"how-to-make-midi-piano-sound-more-natural","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/how-to-make-midi-piano-sound-more-natural\/","title":{"rendered":"How to make MIDI piano sound real"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Banish robotic keyboard melodies in your DAW piano roll with these 7 tips on how to make digital piano sound realistic. <\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, a computer mouse is a musical instrument. Whole albums<\/a> can be made from clicking or typing MIDI<\/a> notes into the piano roll of a DAW.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But without careful afterthought the digital result can sound robotic, because a little bit of spontaneous human feel is lost when a physical instrument isn\u2019t being played.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether you\u2019re not fully confident playing a piano keyboard, or don\u2019t have access to hardware like a physical MIDI keyboard<\/a> to play into your DAW,<\/a> making your piano part sound natural can be a tricky task. Things like tiny subtleties in the timing and how hard fingers press down piano keys make a big difference to the feel of the track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what\u2019s the best way for beginner producers<\/a> to make sure the notes programmed into their DAW piano roll sound like a real piano, not just lines on a screen? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advice on making MIDI notes sound realistic can be applied to other keyboard sounds, not just a grand piano part \u2013 from baroque harpsichord to an emotive synth track. Read on for some tips and tricks on how to make MIDI piano sound more natural.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Choose a good piano sound<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re adding a grand piano track to your song, make sure you find a good quality plugin<\/a> with an authentic sound. Digital instruments sound ridiculously close to the real thing,<\/a> but some free VST pianos have a tinny sound that\u2019s more like a cheap keyboard than a nice acoustic piano. The wonderful thing about MIDI is you can try out different sounds on your track, until you find one you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Shift the timing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When imputing notes into the piano roll remember you\u2019re trying to emulate human hands hitting a piano keyboard and bear in mind that even the most precise pianist will occasionally play a tiny bit behind or in front of the beat. Moving the positioning of the notes on the piano roll ever so slightly will give a more natural feel than leaving them directly on the beat, especially with chords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On FL Studio,<\/a> Alt + mouse click (or Left\/Right on keyboard)<\/strong> moves selected notes by very small increments rather than snapping to the grid<\/em>. Hit Ctrl+A to select all.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Play your MIDI keyboard like a real keyboard<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Recording a piano track using your MIDI controller?<\/a> Make sure you\u2019re really emphasising how hard you play the keys. Putting the emotion of the song into the notes will come through in the velocity of the MIDI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, don\u2019t worry about regimented playing that\u2019s fully on the beat \u2013 play with the same personality and dynamics you would if you were playing a piano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Reverb is your friend<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Applying effects is a great way to make digital piano sound humanized.<\/a> A bit of reverb<\/a> will lend emotion and broaden the sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Use sustain<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Pianos have a sustain pedal, which holds down previous notes as you continue to play. Many MIDI keyboards let you plug in a footpedal, but otherwise make sure you\u2019re not editing notes too sharply \u2013 let them continue just a little to overlap into the next note, emulating that sustained feel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Velocity advice<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Inputting into the piano roll automatically means all the notes will play back at the same volume and intensity \u2013 which can get real boring, real fast. Luckily you can manually change the velocity of your notes to get varied and more realistic dynamics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A pianist will often accentuate the beginning of the beat, for example. Most DAWs let you randomise note velocity for a human feel, which speeds up the process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n