Guild of Writers

My brother composes music as a hobby and I asked him to make a song for the Age I'm designing. However, the software he uses can only produce MIDI files. Is there anyone who can turn a MIDI file into a good-sounding mp3 with better instrument samples, etc.? I can give you a link to the file if you're interested.

does it necessarily have to be converted to mp3 files. would window media player files be okay.

Yeah, that would work. Ideally it would be an .ogg file, but I recognize not all programs can save to that format. I figured .mp3 would be the most common.

Shoggoth wrote:Yeah, that would work. Ideally it would be an .ogg file, but I recognize not all programs can save to that format. I figured .mp3 would be the most common.

it kind of is and kind of isn't. [shrug shoulders] Anyway I will see if I can find a converter program for you. What was the file type that you are trying to convert?

Oh, I can convert it directly on my own. Conversion of just the file type is not a problem. It's actually taking the MIDI file and using it to sequence an mp3 that I'm not very good at. I tried Mixcraft 4, but the instrument samples aren't the best and the trial version expired before I had a chance to really learn to use it properly. If anyone is a composer and experienced with using music software, that'd be great.

Yeah, MIDI is more of a device control format than an audio format, so it needs to have a simulated playback into an audio file. I find that timidity works well for this. This place apparently has Windows binaries: http://sca.uwaterloo.ca/www.cgs.fi/tt/timidity/distribution.html

Have you tried Audacity? It outputs to .ogg format. Free download.

You have need a VST instruments who can read Midi File .... there is a full instrument free ( a Vst instrument it's a ".dll" files and can run like a plug-in on "Reason" or "MSI" ...and Cubase... of cours but i talk only about freeware) audacity have a Midi function, but i hav'ent no idea how that working (i try but...)

if you want ... send me your Midi Files and i see want i can make with that...

I want to say ... : the idea of a "Minor Guild of Musician" it's good for perfome some compositions with accoustic instrument and voice...

OK, pet peeve of mine, so I'll rant a bit.

MIDI is a protocol for communication between musical devices - nothing more, nothing less. It allows you to play on one keyboard and have another synthesizer produce the sound. You can record your keyboard bashing (which keys you hit, when, how hard, how hard you keep the key pressed down, when you release it, etc) in a sequencer, that can then play it back, etc. There is lots of sequencing software that talks MIDI and most of those packages have their own custom file formats.

Now, at one time somebody at Yamaha (IIRC) figured that wouldn't it be nice if there was some sort of standard set of sounds and controllers, that one could rely on being the same between different synths and a singular file format for sharing music adhering to this limited setup. Thus "General MIDI", or "GM" was created and this is what many people refer to, when they say MIDI. Some synths came out that had a GM patchbank came out.

I really wish they would have called it something else -- this is a little like Netscape's "javascript"; it has nothing to do with Java, so why on earth would they pick that name, other than to ride on the coattails of Sun's hype. In the end you've got nothing but a lot of confusion.

General MIDI was used in a lot of PC games, because soundcards started to come with GM wavetables onboard - since you don't have to distribute the actual sounds with the game, you got nice compact files, many of which fit on a floppy disk.
All GM devices does not sound quite the same, however. The standard says that sound (or "patch") number 1 is a grand piano, but does not perscribe EXACTLY how it must sound or behave, so you get different quality dynamics with different sound sources. The simple single sample based wavetables typically used in soundcards, along with the other restrictions of setting a least common denominator, has given GM and by unfair extension MIDI, a reputation for a flat, boring, dead sound.

You can do great stuff wihin the GM framwork, mind, but is should typically be recorded off the equipment used by the composer, for by now hopefully obvious resons.

Right, sorry about that intermission - on with the show. :7