Getting better sounds inexpensively

Hi Sherry,

I am a new Composer user. Is there a way to get better playback sounds with Composer? When playing the same midi file with Composer vs. Finale Notepad, the music sounds richer and fuller with Notepad than it does with Composer. I don't think this is a matter of soundfonts, since everything else is the same but the program used to play back the midi file. I am not interested in playing the file back with different software - I want to watch the notes scroll by with Composer as I hear the playback, particularly since Composer has such an excellent transcription of the music.

Thanks,
Bob

[Sherry C]

Hi Bob,

Originally Posted by keyboard_bob

I am a new Composer user. Is there a way to get better playback sounds with Composer? When playing the same midi file with Composer vs. Finale Notepad, the music sounds richer and fuller with Notepad than it does with Composer. I don't think this is a matter of soundfonts, since everything else is the same but the program used to play back the midi file. I am not interested in playing the file back with different software - I want to watch the notes scroll by with Composer as I hear the playback, particularly since Composer has such an excellent transcription of the music.

Thanks,
Bob

Actually Finale has it's own internal (and proprietary) soundfont set and audio engine, so the difference you're hearing is indeed between a soundfont (Finale's) versus your computer using the generic GS Wavetable (Notation's default), which is included in all Windows machines. The bonus for using Composer, though, is that you can easily use any MIDI device for playback, so it can be as good as you can afford

One of the easiest ways to incorporate soundfonts into your setup is that listed below regarding SynthFont (www.synthfont.com - free/donation).
Please also see the other information that I referred to - there's a lot there and hopefully something will prove helpful

ttfn,
Sherry

[Krypton17]

Originally Posted by Sherry C

Hi Bob,



Actually Finale has it's own internal (and proprietary) soundfont set and audio engine, so the difference you're hearing is indeed between a soundfont (Finale's) versus your computer using the generic GS Wavetable (Notation's default), which is included in all Windows machines. The bonus for using Composer, though, is that you can easily use any MIDI device for playback, so it can be as good as you can afford

One of the easiest ways to incorporate soundfonts into your setup is that listed below regarding SynthFont (www.synthfont.com - free/donation).
Please also see the other information that I referred to - there's a lot there and hopefully something will prove helpful

ttfn,
Sherry

I'm new to this as well. Does it matter which sound font or program I use when converting midi to mp3? I convert my midi to mp3 so I can plug my usb into my stereo system for playing along since those speakers are much better than my laptop. I have a free midi to mp3 convertor program and finale make music. I don't see an export to mp3 option in my Composer software. Does SynthFont have option to convert to mp3? I do seem to notice that playing the midi file though my yamaha keyboard sounds better than off the stereo mp3 files, but alas the yahama only holds about 8 songs at a time.

Best,

Mike

[Sherry C]

Hi Mike,

Originally Posted by Krypton17

I'm new to this as well. Does it matter which sound font or program I use when converting midi to mp3?

You could think of the difference in soundfonts and other sound sources (eg. synths, sound libraries, etc.) this way. Let's say you have the sheet music for Beethoven's Fifth. You take that sheet music and give it to your local elementary school for their fifth and sixth grade band to play. It may sound ok, but it's no great shakes. You then take the same sheet music to your local high school band. Sounds better. Take the same sheets to the local symphony orchestra (we're talking the folks with day jobs) and it sounds lots better. Now take the same sheets to the nearest professional orchestra (eg. paid to play always musicians) and it will sound fantastic. They were all playing from the same sheets, but the difference in sound quality is tremendous

In the above analogy, the sheet music is like the .not file in our software (or the .mid that you can export). The GS Wavetable is like the local elementary band - it gets the relative sounds out, but typically sounds more mechanical, lower quality, and no timbre changes and so forth. Soundfonts (aka, the high school/local symphony) can vary in quality of the sounds and "tweaking" capability (eg. whether you can add some "breath" to wind instruments or not, plucking noise for guitars, etc.) Really good libraries, like EastWest or Garritan (aka, the pro symphony), allow you to add a lot of nuances to the performance to bring it more life-like during playback.

I convert my midi to mp3 so I can plug my usb into my stereo system for playing along since those speakers are much better than my laptop. I have a free midi to mp3 convertor program and finale make music.

Most free MIDI-to-mp3 converters use either the GS Wavetable or their own soundfont, which isn't typically a very high quality one.
[QUOTE} I don't see an export to mp3 option in my Composer software. [/QUOTE} It's not there - yet

Does SynthFont have option to convert to mp3?

Yes - Kenneth explains what you'll need to do to set up mp3 conversion for free on your computer on his website (www.synthfont.com)

I do seem to notice that playing the midi file though my yamaha keyboard sounds better than off the stereo mp3 files, but alas the yahama only holds about 8 songs at a time.

It might be worth checking to see if your Yamaha will record a wav file for you of what it plays. You may be able to put that on a memory stick or disk to then convert to mp3 using a free wav - to - mp3 program.

ttfn,
Sherry

[Krypton17]

Originally Posted by sherry c

hi mike,

sherry,

thank you for the quick and informative reply. I have enjoyed playing along with the elementary band but will try to step it up a level or two

while i have you what is the difference between using a midi and a .not file? And xml is a whole other format as well? I imagine there advantages and disadvantages to each. My latest challenge is getting the repeats into the midis i don't print 5 pages for a part. I assume i'll find that soon. Just cut and insert repeat bars somehow? I have not seen any repeats in any of the midis i've downloaded.

Mike





you could think of the difference in soundfonts and other sound sources (eg. Synths, sound libraries, etc.) this way. Let's say you have the sheet music for beethoven's fifth. You take that sheet music and give it to your local elementary school for their fifth and sixth grade band to play. It may sound ok, but it's no great shakes. You then take the same sheet music to your local high school band. Sounds better. Take the same sheets to the local symphony orchestra (we're talking the folks with day jobs) and it sounds lots better. Now take the same sheets to the nearest professional orchestra (eg. Paid to play always musicians) and it will sound fantastic. They were all playing from the same sheets, but the difference in sound quality is tremendous

in the above analogy, the sheet music is like the .not file in our software (or the .mid that you can export). The gs wavetable is like the local elementary band - it gets the relative sounds out, but typically sounds more mechanical, lower quality, and no timbre changes and so forth. Soundfonts (aka, the high school/local symphony) can vary in quality of the sounds and "tweaking" capability (eg. Whether you can add some "breath" to wind instruments or not, plucking noise for guitars, etc.) really good libraries, like eastwest or garritan (aka, the pro symphony), allow you to add a lot of nuances to the performance to bring it more life-like during playback.

Most free midi-to-mp3 converters use either the gs wavetable or their own soundfont, which isn't typically a very high quality one.
[quote} i don't see an export to mp3 option in my composer software. [/quote} it's not there - yet
yes - kenneth explains what you'll need to do to set up mp3 conversion for free on your computer on his website (www.synthfont.com)
it might be worth checking to see if your yamaha will record a wav file for you of what it plays. You may be able to put that on a memory stick or disk to then convert to mp3 using a free wav - to - mp3 program.

Ttfn,
sherry

111111

[Sherry C]

Hi Mike,

while i have you what is the difference between using a midi and a .not file?

MIDI (.mid) is the performance data for the song. It gives the note pitches, durations, and instruments (along with some other "tweaks") for the performance of a song. You can read more about it if you're interested at our "What is MIDI?" page.

NoteSoft(.not) files are the file format that Notation Software uses to include all the .mid data, as well as any annotations (eg. titles, free text, etc.) that you've put on the sheet music, as well as repeat markings, their performance, and other such "sheet-music-specific" aspects of the file.

And xml is a whole other format as well?

Yes - MusicXML is the "in the works" file format that is intended to enable folks who use various software programs to be able to share all the scoring and performance aspects of their respective scores with each other without everyone having to own lots of different software packages (or all the same one ).

My latest challenge is getting the repeats into the midis i don't print 5 pages for a part. I assume i'll find that soon. Just cut and insert repeat bars somehow? I have not seen any repeats in any of the midis i've downloaded.

MIDI files don't have repeat barlines - that is one of the shortcomings of the MIDI file format. To have a MIDI repeat a verse, it has to have all those notes again in the file. If you're using Notation Composer to import a .mid file and want to cut out the extra notes and have repeat barlines instead, you'll need to:

1. Identify the regions (spans of measures) that is the repeated sequence.
2. Edit the first barline of the first region to be a "begin repeat" barline (just click or click-swipe it to select it, then choose the "begin repeat" barline from the palette)
3. Edit the last barline of the first region to be an "end repeat" barline (same process)
4. Select the extra repeated bars in the file, and use "Measure/ Delete" to remove them from the file.
5. If you need to, you can edit the repetitions in Perform/Edit Repetitions table to get the file to perform as you want it to.

You can read more about the steps involved in Help/Users Guide and use the Index to look up "barlines", "measures" and "playback", and the various subtopics for those.


There are also some Tutorial Videos at this other thread which you might find helpful.


Enjoy
Sherry

[Krypton17]

So it appears what I want is 3 copies of each song? a midi, a .not and the best quality mp3, wav or wma file I can come up with. I'll definitely check out the videos.