M3 — MIDI & Sequencing I
Status: Outline; Article 01 drafted. · Weeks: 3–4 (with M4 in the same sprint) · Domain 2: MIDI & Sequencing · Sprint 1: Collaborative Groove (collab)
Purpose
The first creative domain after signal flow. MIDI is data, not audio — programmable, editable, shareable. Students learn piano-roll literacy, drum programming, and how to divide parts across a group before the Sprint 1 WIP (Sun Sep 27) and final (Sun Oct 4).
Builds on M2: Controllers & MIDI Input introduced the routing; Article 01 here is the conceptual home for MIDI itself and links back rather than repeating the setup.
Monday lecture (Wk 3): MIDI & sequencing I — piano roll, drums, note entry, collab roles.
Calendar alignment
| Week | Monday | Wednesday | Reading | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Sep 21 — MIDI I | Sep 23 — Sprint 1 kickoff (group studio) | 01–04 before Wednesday; skim 05 | WIP + async feedback (Sep 27) |
| 4 | Sep 28 — MIDI II (M4) | Sep 30 — Group studio finish | M4 articles 06–09 | Sprint 1 due (Oct 4) |
Articles
| # | Title | Type | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | What MIDI Is (and Isn’t) | Concept | Audio vs. data; note on/off, velocity, pitch bend, CC; why MIDI persists; “notes are instructions, not sound” |
| 02 | The Piano Roll | Concept | Pitch, time, length, velocity lane; draw vs. play-in vs. step entry; grid and snap; move/trim/split/transpose |
| 03 | Programming Drums | Concept | Drums as MIDI one-shots; the roles in a groove (kick pulse, snare backbeat, hat motion); step sequencer vs. piano roll; building a one-bar cell |
| 04 | Working Together on MIDI | Process | Divide the groove (drums / bass / harmony+melody); one session vs. stems; handoff hygiene; one canonical team post; agree tempo and key first |
| 05 | Sprint 1 Brief — Collaborative Groove | Sprint brief | The artifact spec, WIP and final checklists, ✦ Exceeds |
Sprint 1 deliverable — Collaborative Groove
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Length | 8–16 bars, loops cleanly |
| Parts | Drums + bass + harmonic/melodic — all MIDI instruments |
| Craft | Intentional quantization and velocity choices (deepened in M4) |
| Collab | Each member ≥1 part; Contributors and Notes credit who did what |
| WIP | Rough loop, any two parts, by Sun Sep 27 |
| Final | One team post by Sun Oct 4 |
| ✦ Exceeds | Dynamic variation, fills, or a B-section |
Assessments
- Quick checks per article
- MIDI & Sequencing Review — one 10-question quiz covering M3 and M4 together, due with the Sprint 1 final
Teaching approach
Every procedural article ends with an Ableton Live · Logic Pro · Reaper table. Two small interactive widgets are planned for this module — a minimal piano-roll editor and a 16-step drum grid — so students can try the idea in the article before opening their DAW.