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. ...
- 20.9k
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....
- 77.7k
16
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. ...
- 1,537
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. ...
13
votes
Accepted
How to decode this CSV from a MIDI file?
I've used this before and I know there is a ton of documentation for this program.
If you scan the documentation you can find out what the results of each event means. This is directly from the ...
Dom♦
- 46.1k
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 ...
- 172k
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 ...
- 26.8k
11
votes
Why does software-synthesized MIDI music sound so bad?
MIDI is not sound. The MIDI specification does not dictate what any instrument sounds like, it's up to the synthesizer to generate the sound. Free synths sound like crap, but good ones can sound as ...
- 21.2k
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 ...
- 50.9k
11
votes
Generating triads from a MIDI note number
As I understand it the fifth is generated by always adding seven to the MIDI note number, and the third is generated by adding four.
Correct - even more specifically, the perfect fifth is generated ...
- 45.6k
11
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 = &...
- 3,021
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....
- 1,819
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) // "...
- 24.1k
9
votes
Accepted
Two consecutive midi note-on of the same pitch misbehaving
That's pretty common. My synth does that, too.
Overlapping notes is a grey area in midi.
But most synths do perform an implicit noteoff when a noteon comes along on that channel.
If you want it to ...
- 6,053
9
votes
Accepted
Why does software-synthesized MIDI music sound so bad?
MIDI is only a specification for what instrument (patch) to use, what notes to play, how long and loud to play a note and other things like tempo, time signature and text lyrics. The concept is very ...
- 446
9
votes
Accepted
Understanding MIDI Files
(I'm asking about something like this segment: 3/4 ^G,3/4 [^D3^D,3/2]
=G,3/2 [c/4C,/4] C/4 [d3/8^A,/8] G; taken straight from A Little Fight Mewsic by Homestuck)
You seem to be confused about what ...
- 20.2k
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 ...
- 1,537
9
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 ...
- 24.1k
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). ...
- 7,064
8
votes
Accepted
Production techniques for adding electronic elements to rock
Seems that you are new to the whole synthesis thing and you are looking for specific sounds found in other songs, so I recommend you to start with a software synthesizer that has a big and good ...
- 15.9k
8
votes
Accepted
What's the purpose of the key signature information in a MIDI file?
It won't go out the midi port to your keyboard, but the midi sequencer programs that display notation need it if they're going to show the music in standard notation. It's also helpful if you're a ...
- 6,053
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) ...
- 45.6k
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 ...
- 17.5k
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 ...
- 921
7
votes
Accepted
MIDI: How do I refer to (and search for) software that will play audio from a MIDI piano?
if you want to record and do professional stuffs you go for : DAW (digital audio workstation) , music sequencer or midi sequencer.
if you want just play your instrument easily without recording and ...
- 400
7
votes
Why does software-synthesized MIDI music sound so bad?
MIDI is just a stream of instructions, like:
"Tell channel 1 to turn on note 60"
"Tell channel 2 to turn off note 72"
"Tell channel 3 to set parameter 1 to value 231"
There is a set of conventions ...
- 35.7k
7
votes
Accepted
What's the purpose of time signature information in a MIDI file?
The specification says that MIDI files
may also include time signature information, so that the bar number may be derived
For actual MIDI playback, the time signature information is not needed.
- 1,537
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible