34
votes
What is `Roland's pitch` and `Yamaha's pitch`? and How to convert notes to them?
Middle C, the C written below the treble clef and above the bass clef, has MIDI note 60. Conventionally, this note is referred to as C4. However, Yamaha refers to MIDI note 60 (middle C) as C3. ...
- 21.4k
24
votes
What is the rationale of electronic keyboards having the voices that they do?
Yes, MIDI is primarily a communications protocol. But it also includes specifications for the General MIDI sound set. 128 sounds. Here they are, with their Program Change numbers.
https://en....
- 90.4k
22
votes
Accepted
Will recording as MIDI lose the quality of a WAV?
MIDI is textual descriptions like a book. Letters and numbers. C#5, E4, G3. Instructions that can be read and misinterpreted in any way imaginable. Channel 2, channel pressure 45.
WAV is an audio ...
17
votes
Accepted
Synthesizer: why playing a second time the same note shut down the first one?
The MIDI specification says:
If an instrument receives two or more Note On messages with the same key number and MIDI channel,
it must make a determination of how to handle the additional Note Ons. ...
- 1,587
15
votes
Accepted
Difference between MIDI tracks and channels
A track (or track chunk in terms of the official MIDI spec) is a block of MIDI events in chronological order. Channels are a way to assign different instruments/programs to groups of notes and related ...
- 380
14
votes
Accepted
What is the rationale of electronic keyboards having the voices that they do?
Yes, it's correct that there is a MIDI standard which relates to your question, but what you are talking about predates MIDI and has more to do with the history of sample-based keyboard instruments. ...
14
votes
Can Lilypond change MIDI instruments during a piece?
Fortunately there is (as you've noted) midi instruments for both regular trumpet and muted trumpet.
You can change between them just by placing:
\set Staff.midiInstrument = #"trumpet" or
\...
- 12.4k
13
votes
One note of chord not part of scale
I'd love to find who it is spreading this 'theory' that notes need to conform to the particular key or scale a piece is in!
When learning about music theory initially - in the early stages - it makes ...
- 190k
13
votes
Accepted
Is the polyphony limit on a Digital piano tied to the sound engine?
A VSTi will have its own polyphony limit, completely separate to that of the generating instrument.
This usually comes into play when you're using a lot of pedal. The notes on/off are still generated, ...
- 27.6k
12
votes
Accepted
Mac vs PC for music production
This has been a raging debate for the past 30 years or so. There has been a healthy competition between the two platforms in an effort to corner a large segment of the market share.
In the ...
- 27.2k
12
votes
Accepted
Lilypond: define MIDI output file name
You're on the right track for sheet music title and midi file title, but you should use \bookOutputName to control the resulting filename:
\header {
title = "File title"
midititle = &...
- 3,350
12
votes
Why is MIDI gain based on a factor of 40?
I don’t know the reason but a bit of math gives a reason.
First, a note: how a sound generator responds to a CC value is entirely up to the manufacturer or developer of the generator. What I found ...
- 56.1k
11
votes
Accepted
Did people use DAWs or Trackers first in the 90s?
People did use DAWs in the 90s, but in the early to mid 90s, the few DAWs that existed were generally only used by professionals. That is because the processing power of computers was not enough to ...
- 56.1k
11
votes
What can a modern DAW do with analog sounds?
All the sounds in a DAW are digital, not analog. What you're working with is a digital recording of your analog sound source (guitar, voice, whatever). Every digital effect can be used on every ...
- 7,423
10
votes
Accepted
In Lilypond, silence parts of midi output
This can be achieved by using tags (see the documentation), for example as follows:
\version "2.18.2"
myMusic = {
\relative c' {
c4 d e f |
\tag #'printonly {
\override NoteHead....
- 1,969
10
votes
Accepted
Why do MIDI note off messages have velocities?
Note-off velocity means the speed with which a pressed-down key is released back up. This information can be used for at least Rhodes electric piano sounds, so that the keys make a different release ...
10
votes
Synthesizer: why playing a second time the same note shut down the first one?
This is too long for a comment, so I'll make it an answer. Let's say you have a round-robin sample program that plays a different speech sample every time. You play this:
NoteOn(1,40,100) // "...
10
votes
Accepted
Why is MIDI gain based on a factor of 40?
This definition of MIDI volume appears in the General MIDI Level 2 specification, on the bottom of PDF page 10 and top of PDF page 11 (printed pages 6 and 7):
Regarding the curve of volume change ...
- 409
9
votes
Black MIDI: Add 1/256 note in midi file?
MIDI (SMF) files specify a PPQ (ticks per quarter note) value, which is used as the base for all timestamps.
Many programs use a value of 96 or 192 by default. The specification allows much larger ...
- 1,587
9
votes
Accepted
MIDI count in with Lilypond
Yes, you can make a count-in that you can hear in the midi file, but doesn't show up in the pdf score. The trick is actually to make two score blocks (one with the count-in and one without). ...
- 12.4k
9
votes
Mimic special midi reverb event that gets quieter the higher it is set to
The reverb doesn't change. That's just the wet/dry balance changing. First is entirely dry [100% signal, 0% reverb], last is entirely wet [0% signal, 100% reverb].
The reverb itself I'd call a ...
- 27.6k
8
votes
Cheap way to make sound from a MIDI keyboard, without PC
Firstly, does your USB keyboard have MIDI out (DIN) sockets as well...
...or is it USB only?
If it is USB only, then it is possible to get a hardware converter (from USB to traditional 'DIN' MIDI) ...
- 45.9k
8
votes
Cheap way to make sound from a MIDI keyboard, without PC
If you're willing to do it DIY, single board computers like a Raspberry Pi have enough processing oomph to act as (simple) synthesizers. They come with a USB and sound ports, it's just a matter of ...
- 17.8k
8
votes
Accepted
\unfoldRepeats and \repeat with midi output in lilypond
To get repeats to display in proper notation in the PDF, but to also unfold in the MIDI, you will actually need to make two score blocks.
One score block with a \layout{}, and one with a \midi{}.
Put ...
- 12.4k
8
votes
Does converting MIDI files to MP3 files require creativity?
In theory, perhaps just about if it was a simple performance eg. solo piano, and you got very very lucky with the sample set you paired to the midi.
However, bear this in mind, even if you have a ...
- 1,679
8
votes
Accepted
How is a small MIDI keyboard mapped to a bass guitar strings?
From your comment:
when hitting these with the mouse on the DAW as in the pictures, I do
not hear the same sound, hence the question.
So, the problem is not knowing about how a bass guitar works, ...
8
votes
Accepted
Better midi playback on mac
Midi is not some kind of audio format, midi is a protocol that tells a synthesizer or sampler what notes to play. So it is quite expected that different synthesizers will produce different sounding ...
- 18.7k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible