MIDI Importing

[lampostudio]

I do very little MIDI work. In fact I have only one person that likes to record his MIDI piano at home then brings me the files. The problem is that when I drag the files from the disc into DP it does not play back the way he recorded the MIDI files. I am not talking about the sound of the piano but the way he played it. Listening to it played back at his house through his Yamaha piano (MIDI) it sounds natural. When I drag it into DP it sounds like there is no emotion/feeling in the performance. I looked in the manual but don't see any other way to "import" MIDI except dragging it into an open MIDI track in DP. Listening to it on DP it sounds like the only thing being imported are the notes. I tried changing velocity after importing, no good. Again the info is on the disc because when playing it from the disc on his piano it plays exactly how it was played/recorded.

[mhschmieder]

Maybe he used a lot of pedaling and the default sound didn't utilize MIDI CC data? Did you check in the MIDI event editor (or other MIDI tools in DP or elsewhere) to see whether MIDI CC data was preserved? Maybe you even have a setting to filter it out.

[lampostudio]

Thanks, I will have to lookup in the book as to what you are talking about, like I said I am not a MIDI friendly person. Can you direct me to where in the manual to look.
Thanks again
al
by the way I am using DP7.23

[reedster]

I tried changing velocity after importing, no good.

What were the results of changing velocity?

After importing are the velocities all the same?

[lampostudio]

After changing the velocity there was a difference in the hammer sound but it still did not sound natural.

No, there is a difference in the velocity from note to note.

Is there a way to import besides dragging and dropping. It seems like not all the MIDI info is being imported.

Another thing. Where does DP store the MIDI files? They are not in the project folder.

[mhschmieder]

You have to export them explicitly by saving to MIDI (preferably Type 1, so you don't lose meta-data and other important stuff that makes MIDI useful within a DAW).

[lampostudio]

If I open the MIDI file in "Quicktime Player" rather than DP the MIDI file sounds and plays correct.
It is being recording to a floppy disc directly from a Yamaha digital grand Piano with a Yamaha MIDI module. It is not being exported to the disc from a computer, just directly from the Yamaha.

[lampostudio]

The Yamaha piano with the MIDI module is at the clients home. He is bringing me a floppy that he uploaded from his MIDI module that has a floppy disc reader/writer built into the module. When I download the MIDI files off that floppy to my computer/desktop then DRAG them into DP something is missing in the info. The song plays but with no "expression" just notes. They are the correct notes, just no "feeling". If I open the MIDI window in DP I can see the NOTES/LINES on the screen and I can see pedal lines, Velocity lines at the bottom of the bottom window but the notes just sound like notes, no feeling.
If I open that same MIDI file on my desktop in Quicktime Player, it sounds fine. I have a feeling it has something to do with the way I am importing the files into DP. I create two open MIDI tracks and drag the MIDI file from my desktop into the two MIDI track window. I can't find anything in the book about importing other than dragging and dropping. In the pulldown "FILE menu there is a option to IMPORT AUDIO but nothing to IMPORT MIDI.
Also I do not see the file being placed into the song folder. If I type the name of the MIDI file into search the only result in the original file on my desktop where I placed it from the downloaded disc.

[adriano]

Hi Lampostudio,

Do you have any MIDI modules connected to DP in your studio?
It sounds like that the MIDI file is not routed/sent to anything.

If you don't have one, you can load the Quicktime Synth on the MIDI track, like you would with a plugin then, load the MIDI file on that track.

Am I missing something, maybe?

Adriano

[adriano]

Is there a way to import besides dragging and dropping. It seems like not all the MIDI info is being imported.

Another thing. Where does DP store the MIDI files? They are not in the project folder.

You can open it via FILE menu > OPEN then assign the output to the sound module or, just place the QuickTime Synth on the track.

DP does not store MIDI anywhere. It's not like audio placed in respective folders.

[mhschmieder]

I think the default sound engine for MIDI playback in DP might be different from the rather decent quality engine built into QuickTime (decent for quick review and sanity checks, at least).

See what the MIDI track's output is routed to, then look at the DP user manual to see if they describe what this routes to on your system. Might be the same as QT; I don't know as I never use it. But it might also be that QT processes ALL of the MIDI CC's for effects settings (chorus, reverb, etc.), controllers (volume, expression, sustain, etc.), and even patch changes, and that DP just plays a raw General MIDI sound without using any of the controllers or effects -- in other words, DP might JUST play back the note data and nothing else.

[lampostudio]

I am playing back through a Kurzweil Micro Piano. MIDI out of my UltraLite to the MIDI in of the Kurzweil. Audio out of the Kurzweil to a stereo in on the UltraLite to two audio tracks in DP.

[lampostudio]

Is there someone that would be willing to allow me to email them a small MIDI file just to listen to and tell me if it's the file or me?
Thanks
al

[adriano]

Sending you a private message with my email.