Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2002 22:41:31 +1100 From: Sue Blake <sue@welearn.com.au> To: Conrad Sabatier <conrads@cox.net> Cc: freebsd-multimedia@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: can I do this with a midi program? Message-ID: <20020214224131.A535@welearn.com.au> In-Reply-To: <XFMail.20020208113909.conrads@cox.net>; from conrads@cox.net on Fri, Feb 08, 2002 at 11:39:09AM -0600 References: <20020208195041.A60024@welearn.com.au> <XFMail.20020208113909.conrads@cox.net>
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Reporting back...
On Fri, Feb 08, 2002 at 11:39:09AM -0600, Conrad Sabatier wrote:
>
> On 08-Feb-2002 Sue Blake wrote:
> > I have some tunes as midi files that I want to edit.
>
> I should start by saying that, unfortunately, MIDI editing software for
> Unix is by and large vastly inferior to anything existing on other
> platforms. Are you prepared to use the dreaded Windows? :-)
>
> > Each note has to have its length altered slightly,
>
> Adjusting lengths is fairly simple in MIDI (given a decent editor).
>
> > and some
> > notes need to start soft and get louder, others start loud and
> > get soft, or have a loudness bulge in the middle then fade off
> > to inaudible. Like a fancy singer might do.
>
> This is difficult, if not impossible, to attain in MIDI, due to the
> limitations of the MIDI format. It's possible to specify a velocity for a
> note (essentially "how hard to hit it"), but modifying the volume of a
> currently playing note is only possible if you adjust the volume of the
> entire MIDI device, meaning ALL voices are affected.
Great, now I know how not to spend time trying to do the impossible,
and concentrate on what can be done :-) For example, I can probably
fudge it for a solo melody line instrument, which has occasional use.
Thanks Conrad and the others who replied privately with suggestions.
I haven't yet managed to get midimountain to run, and I have a
love-hate-crash relationship with rosegarden, but meanwhile I
went back to another port I'd discarded as unfathomable, tclmidi.
Not being a programmer's bootlace, I had trouble working out what it
could do and how, but eventually discovered I can use it to convert
midi->text->midi (where text is some kind of source code but that
doesn't matter). Wow, all those events listed out where they can
be searched and replaced, no X required, it's a bloody miracle!
When I get the hang of the non-event parts, it'll save me 90% of
the time it took to edit them one by one with a wrist-breaking GUI.
And they say that daily mental arithmetic delays onset of Alzheimers.
Hmmm... sed, makefile, timidity... it's gonna end up too easy :-)
Now I have to go elsewhere to find a way to learn about whatever it is
that tclmidi is doing so that I can subvert it at will, but I wanted to
reply to the list in case anyone turns up with a similar need in future.
Oh, I also discovered tkseq, which silently craved a change of the
first line to "#!/usr/local/bin/wish8.3 -f" (where 8.3 is whatever
version of wish you have) to make it work. A small simple light weight
no frills GUI editor, perfect for a check and overview of the midi file
that gets made (despite its piano being upside down). Midimountain
might have some extra features useful for a final touch-up, if I get it
going.
So much for midi editing software for unix being inferior! It must
depend on what you're used to and what you want. If you think unix, not
midi, and work closely with the machine, it's all there for the asking
once you break through the hackerbabble.
--
Regards,
-*Sue*-
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