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Midi beginner questions

Recently upgraded computer, etc. I now have Windows 95 and a 16-bit Sound Blaster. Also have upgraded powerful (new) speakers that work great through Windows. Reinstalled Noteworthy 1.52. However, something is not right about using Noteworthy - I suspect I've missed something in the MIDI setup since I'm a rank beginner at MIDI. My keyboard is a Yamaha PSR 320. I've learned how to enter notes in step-time and real time. BUT - the sound quality is not good. There's much less volume than the Windows music and there's static on playback. I have fiddled around with various settings, but no improvement. Any ideas on what's going on? Is it the cable? I'm using just a standard MIDI cable, no extenders. All help is appreciated. The Forum is terrific!

Re: Midi beginner questions

Reply #1 –
You don't say whether the poor sound quality is on replay through your keyboard or computer, but I suspect the latter. As I understand it, the only information that is stored when you enter notes from a keyboard is the channel (effectively the instrument), pitch and duration (for real time entry). You have to set up key signatures, dynamics etc. yourself. Try altering the staff volume setting (from the main Menu follow : Staff - Staff Properties - MIDI), and put some dynamic notation on your score - ff would be a good place to start! The static is almost certainly due to the low volume of the playback signal - what you are hearing is general background noise, rather like a radio tuned away from a station.

Good Luck, Peter

Re: Midi beginner questions

Reply #2 –
I do not think that the static is caused by low volume. I
play noteworthy files and CD's at the same speaker volume,
and the loudness level is similar. But the CD is crystal-clear
and Noteworthy sounds like a Tesla coil. It hasn't hampered
me, because I am listening only to proofread the notation.

I suspect sound card or driver configuration has something to
do with it, but I'm immune to the pleasures of trying to
configure hardware and Microsoft programs, so I haven't
persued it.

I doubt that it is Noteworthy, though. One way to prove that
would be to download another freeware MIDI player and try it.
It's not likely that it and Noteworthy would indepentantly
have the same problem...

Re: Midi beginner questions

Reply #3 –
In reply to Stephen, isn't CD sound handled differently? I thought the sound information on a digital CD directly related to the waveform being reproduced, whereas a Noteworthy or MIDI file played through a computer's sound card relies upon the sound card's inbuilt instrument synthesis and/or samples. Carolyn, I don't have your symptoms with two different sound cards in two different computers. Is it only the tunes you have entered via your keyboard that give problems, or are all your NWC tunes, including the sample files showing the same symptoms?

Peter.

Re: Midi beginner questions

Reply #4 –
Just had another thought Carolyn - after you upgraded, did you check your sound card settings? Bear in mind that the Windows opening sequence and other sounds are wave files, and you are having problems with MIDI. In your sound setup (I think it's somewhere in Control Panel under Windows 95, or Creative Mixer in Soundblaster 16) there are different volume settings for the various inputs, i.e. wave, MIDI, CD, Microphone and Line In. A low MIDI volume would explain your basic problem, and high settings on unused Line In or Microphone inputs would add to the background noise. Let us know how you get on.

Cheers, Peter.

Re: Midi beginner questions

Reply #5 –
Peter - I will have to try out the "samples" versus my own entries to see if there's a difference. Intuitively, it just feels like it's a mixed up connection somehow to the MIDI cable or something mixed up in the transmission to the computer from the keyboard. I suppose that if the samples are different - better - than my own stuff, that would serve to further indicate what I'm trying to say. I will keep you posted.

Re: Midi beginner questions

Reply #6 –
Here are a few other thoughts:

- Does the PSR-320 have speakers of its own? If so, is the PSR-320 sounding wrong, or is it your MIDI playback via your sound card? Either way, your MIDI cable is not the problem, as it only carries digital MIDI event data, and cannot contribute to a noise issue the way an audio cable might.

- Is your CD player internal to your computer? Is it internally connected to your sound card, or does it connect to your speakers through a different system? If your CD player does not route through your sound card, then you may simply be using the wrong output on your sound card to your speakers. Make sure that you use the line out if your speakers have their own amplifier. If you use the amplified output from your sound card, you might hear the amp clipping, thus causing noise.

- Have your tried the Media Player that comes with Windows on any of the MIDI samples that also come with Windows? The samples are in the Windows\Media folder if you have installed them (they are optional in the Windows setup). If the samples sound OK, then make sure that you use ONLY the MIDI Mapper for playback in NWC. This will make it sound just as good as the generic Windows Media Player.

Re: Midi beginner questions

Reply #7 –
Gee, thanks for all the replies! Appreciated. Replying to NWC-Support response: The PSR-320 is sounding fine, no problems. CD player is connected to the Audio part of the sound card, but it is sounding great. Also, Media Player files sound great. Very clear sound and quite powerful. But I need to try setting up the NWC MIDI Mapper as my playback. I will do that tonight and report back. Many thanks.

Re: Midi beginner questions

Reply #8 –
I have found that some amplified speaker system are cheap and poorly designed. Inside the speakers there is hardly any insulation, so in actual fact, the speakers are just amplifying the noise that leaks in.
So I suggest that anyone with this problem should try out different amplifying speakers.

Re: Midi beginner questions

Reply #9 –
Thanks for keeping us informed, Carolyn. I wonder if your solution would work for Stephen Hutcheson - he would appear to have a similar problem. Come back, Stephen!

Re: Midi beginner questions

Reply #10 –
I said I would reply: thanks again for all the replies. The key answer was to make the playback choice "MIDI mapper." Now the sound is as good as the Windows players, and volume is the same also. Thanks again!

Re: Midi beginner questions

Reply #11 –
Thanks for asking. School is starting here, and I'm losing my only sound-equipped machine to homework assignments. I'll review and double-check all of this, but it may take awhile...

Re: Midi beginner questions

Reply #12 –
I have an internal CD-ROM, with output to powered speakers
through the sound card, although I'm still not sure of the
actual data path. But the Microsoft sound player had the
same problem with static.

And __Reducing__ the output volume on the
sound card eliminated one source of static: the amplifiers
were indeed being overloaded. Now, the "acoustic grand
piano" and "church organ" instruments are essentially
static-free. The static on the "choir" instrument is mostly
masked by the buzz.... (It's a cheap sound card.)

Thanks, all. This does make proofing scores more pleasant.
 

Re: Midi beginner questions

Reply #13 –
Hey guys i just setup PSR 320n to HP
Having a hard time getting started...can I get a walk through?
Using  NOTATION .......