Recording notes into Composer

[Sherry C]

Hi friends,


I have a musician at our helpdesk who wants to use Composer for recording in two-hand piano compositions. They're a bit concerned because sometimes notes need to be shifted from one staff to another, or the notation looks different between recordings of the same piece.

I am not a keyboard player by nature - I do "bang in" rhythms and adjust pitches at times for compositions, but that's about the extent of my keyboard skills.

I know the tools that Composer has for getting good sheet music, but it's often enlightening to see how our "field musicians" are using them. I've learned a few tips and tricks myself just from listening and learning from them.

So I am asking for you folks who compose via keyboard recording into Composer - what are some of your tips and tricks to get the best and cleanest sheets with the minimal amount of effort?


Thanks in advance for sharing!
Sherry

[dj]

Hi, Sherry:

Well, transcription is an art in and of itself, isn't it?

The basic truth about music notation is that it is always a compromise and the artist then interprets that compromise to make their art. The human ear is extraordinarily good at making sense of those compromises and following, anticipating and even predicting them.

Unfortunately, computers are very bad at both art and compromise. If the purpose of the transcription is to create something that another artist can interpret to create their art, then the creation of the transcription necessarily entails that the performer make their own compromises so that the computer doesn't have to make its own.

Attached are a couple of quick bits that I recorded for this post.The upper one is the first few bars of Beethoven's Fur Elise and the lower is just a little noodle that I did quickly. I am, by no means, a master keyboardist, much as I'd like to be. I have to work at it.

As simple as the little noodle is (Midi performance transcription Composer 4.jpg), I had to play very carefully. The result is unedited, but, very basic.

A little more complicated is the Fur Elise snippet (Midi performance transcription 2 Composer 4.jpg). The first few bars came out pretty well (after I looked up what time signature Fur Elise was in -- it's been a long time), but I got cocky by bar 7 and rushed ahead in the right hand. My computer doesn't know about cockiness. The computer also didn't know that the final notes in the left hand in bars 3, 4, 7 and 9 are supposed to be 16th notes, especially since I held them down too long.

This is not a problem with the Notation Composer software. I also have Cakewalk, MuseScore, Samplitude Music Studio, even the mighty $1,200 Sibelius on my computer, and none of them can create a "finished" transcription without needing editing. That's just the nature of the compromises that software must make to interpret human interaction, musically.

Notation Composer has some tools that can help with transcription. Under Setup/Transcription Options, select "Remove Rests Smaller Than 16th Rest" if your music doesn't include 32nd rests. Also de-select the Transcribe Ornaments boxes (3 of them), unless you're sure of your fingerings on them -- Composer has tools to re-transcribe ornaments later. And, finally, when selecting your Time Signature, make sure the Beam Groups option agrees with how you want each bar to be beamed -- just type in the groupings you want.

I believe that, in doing MIDI transcription, Composer is hard-coded to place everything above G#3 (G# below Middle C) on the treble staff -- usually. Yet, in my Fur Elise example, it correctly kept the A3s with the left hand figure. I am thinking there must be something there that tries to follow the flow of the musical line in doing the transcription. However, sometimes, you do have to do some movement of notes between staves when doing piano arrangements.

Also, consider slowing the tempo when you record. Even if you are an accomplished keyboardist who can play anything at lightning speed, your poor computer has a LOT of calculations to do with each note.

I'd have to say that the most important thing about creating usable transcriptions from live MIDI performance is to remember that you and your ear are smarter than the computer and the software. (The very first computer manual I ever read had the comforting line: "You are smarter than your computer. So is your budgie.") Precision and strict adherence to the metronome give your best results. You can then add your "art" to the piece afterward, with rubato, fermatii and so on.

There are several pieces of software out there that try to be "free-form", interpreting whatever is played in without metronome or adherence to bar-lines. I point out that none of these has ever caught on and become popular. There are just too many variables for even the fastest computer.

The instrument that the piece is being played on really doesn't make that much difference. I have a weighted-key 88-note digital grand that is my main keyboard, but I can get results as good with the $300 Casio that sits on the rack just above it. Horses for courses, really, which is why a pipe organ keyboard is not the same as a piano keyboard is not the same as a harpsichord keyboard is not the same as a synthesizer keyboard. However, familiarity with the instrument is important.

I suppose, in the end, that you get good notation from MIDI input the same way you get to Carnegie Hall: practice!

I hope that helps.
Stay safe.


David

[Sherry C]

Hi David,


I'm wondering if for the "holding notes too long" issue if using a different instrument like a horn (eg. trumpet) might be helpful in giving better feedback to the user while recording. Piano is a percussive instrument and while it does "hold" notes, it's not as obvious if it's held too long as maybe a trumpet or organ sound would be.

I am thinking there must be something there that tries to follow the flow of the musical line in doing the transcription.

This is correct. In fact, it used to bother Mark to no end that people wanted a definitive split at some particular note pitch. He worked really hard to have Composer be "more intelligent" in splitting the hands, even though he knew it was not perfect.



Thanks for the insights!


ttfn,
Sherry

[dj]

Originally Posted by Sherry C

Hi David,

Piano is a percussive instrument and while it does "hold" notes, it's not as obvious if it's held too long as maybe a trumpet or organ sound would be.

Exactly. There have been questions on this forum about "stuck" notes, which turn out to be simply notes being held by the sustain pedal but, when changed from a piano sound to organ or trumpet, suddenly seem to be stuck on. The piano sound, of course, dies away, while the organ continues to sound as long as the 12-year old boy pumps the bellows.


David