Klarinet Archive - Posting 000292.txt from 2005/02

From: Adam Michlin <amichlin@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Help with MIDI?
Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 07:31:08 -0500

What programs are you using on either end? What problems are you experiencing?

For example, a common problem with importing MIDI files in notation
programs (Finale, Sibelius, etc.) is that groupings of faster notes appear
as chords instead of sequential notes. If this is the case, try altering
the "quantization" settings in the importing program. This has always been
the biggest problem for me.

Also make sure you're both using General MIDI sounds, this might solve some
of your instrument problems. MIDI instrumentation wasn't standardized until
the publication of the General MIDI specification (which, essentially,
defines 128 instrument patch numbers everyone agrees on if they want to
call themselves General MIDI compliant). If you don't use General MIDI, all
bets are off as far as indicating which instrument will sound on which track.

MIDI is, indeed, a universal language, but it is a bit of a simplistic
language. Kind of like sending someone a fancy Microsoft Word document
using plain text and then trying to reconstruct the original fancy
Microsoft Word document using only clues in the plain text (my analogy is
somewhat flawed, but I think it helps).

-Adam

At 08:58 PM 2/20/2005 -0800, Ormondtoby Montoya wrote:
>I and a friend are exchanging music (music that we wrote ourselves, not
>recordings). Since we use different music programs which don't
>understand each other, we tried saving our scores as MIDI files and then
>attaching the MIDI files to emails.
>
>Neither of us has received anything that even _remotely_ resembles what
>the other person sent.
>
>While I'm simplifying the details a bit, because neither of us is
>writing a solo, nevertheless I had assumed that MIDI is basically a
>universal language. That is, while a clarinet might sound a bit
>different on my MIDI player program than it does on some other MIDI
>player program, at least it would be recognizable as a clarinet on both
>players. But no, the MIDI of a clarinet sounds like piano played
>staccato on one MIDI player program, and it sounds like an oboe played
>legato on another MIDI player program.
>
>Can someone give me a clue about what's going on?

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