As noted in the subject, I have a Yamaha YPT-220 keyboard (which has MIDI in and MIDI out ports), and I use Noteworthy Composer 2.0.
I know how to save my compositions as MIDI files. What I am trying to figure out how to do is to play back those MIDI files on my Yamaha keyboard.
I purchased a MIDI > USB adapter (just got it today), that allows me to plug the cables from the MIDI In and Out ports on the keyboard into a single USB port on my laptop. My goal is to create something with Noteworthy that I can accompany on the keyboard with my hands. Like, I want to be able to play it with my hands, and have my laptop accompany me with MIDI songs I have created with Noteworthy. I can imagine making some really amazing music, if what I want to do is even possible. For now, at least, I don't care about recording what I play on the keyboard to my laptop, I just want my laptop to accompany me.
As you may have guessed, it's not working...
After installing the adapter for the first time (I am using an HP laptop running Windows 7, 2.0 Ghz processor, 3 GB ram), I noticed something new in Noteworthy. Under staff properties, there is a new playback device called USB Midi. So I assumed this is what I want to play back on. When I went to play the MIDI file on Noteworthy, I never heard anything from the laptop or on the keyboard.
On my adapter, when I am trying to play the MIDI file, the MIDI Out indicator light blinks on and off for the duration of the song. I thought the MIDI In light would blink, since I am hoping it's receiving input. The MIDI cables are labeled IN and OUT, and I made sure they were plugged into the respective ports. Just on a whim, I reversed them to see what would happen. The lights all blinked a lot more intensely, the song would play back, but there was a lot of other noise as well. It wasn't reverb I don't think, because it was continuous, and the noise it made I would not want to accompany!
I'm just wondering if I am missing anything in the setup of Noteworthy or the keyboard. The instruction manual for the keyboard is not very detailed at all. I don't know a whole lot about MIDI. It does mention different channels. I have it on channel 1. I'm not sure if that's what it needs to be on to play it. I'm wondering about the channel, because our church organ (Rodgers) has a computer (PR-300) that plays songs from floppy disks. The PR-300 does exactly what I am trying to do with my laptop. On that organ, if I want to play a MIDI file on the PR-300, I have to specify channel 12 to have it play on the great manual, channel 13 to have it play on the swell manual, and channel 14 for the pedal part. If I don't tell it a channel, it just plays the same default sounds that Noteworthy plays on my laptop. This is actually what gave me the idea to use my laptop to accompany me this way. And now thinking about the channel being essential in the MIDI files for the organ at church, I am wondering what channel I need to set the MIDI files to in Noteworthy to play on my Yamaha.
I know this is a lot of information, and I am trying to be as thorough as I can, because I want to detail everything I can think of, because I would really love to be able to do what I have going in my imagination, anyways!
I finally found out the information I was looking for on the Rodgers Organ Users mailing list.
When creating MIDI files for playback through the PR-300S, anything I want to be played on the great manual has to be sent through channel 12, swell manual through channel 13, and pedals through channel 14.
That's the info I was looking for.
What I want to figure out now is how to insert those sysex codes into my midi file to change the registrations.
I would try playing some of the free frogmusic MIDI's. See if they access the stops or let you change stops. Check the Rodger's User Forums and public newsgroups. Maybe someone will send you a manual.
The MIDI files from frogmusic's website do in fact access the stops and allow me to change the stops. My question is how can I create a MIDI file of my own that would allow me to activate the stops I want?
I have the owner manuals for the organ and the pr-300s, but they are certainly not easy to understand, at least for me.
I was wondering if it is something as simple as changing one of the settings, or do I need to add some kind of midi code?
I know it can be done. I'm just dying to figure out how! I'm fairly new to the organ myself. I'm still learning all of it's capabilities. It can do a lot of things I haven't even touched yet.
Okay, this is what I want to be able to do, and hopefully someone here can help me. This should be quite impossible!
I can record and save MIDI files that I create in Noteworthy Composer to a floppy to play on the PR-300S. They play back perfectly, but with the standard midi "church organ". It doesn't play through the organ, allowing me to control the stops.
I want to save a MIDI file to disk, that when I play it back on the organ, I have full control over the sound by the stops that I select.
When I play a MIDI file back on the PR-300S, how can I make it so I can select what stops I want to activate?
I like choosing the stops myself, not being locked into the standard midi church organ sound. I can't load a soundfont into the PR-300S (as far as I know). I've downloaded and looked at the samples from www.frogmusic.com to see if they could give me any hints. I couldn't really decipher those, and I don't think they would be much help.
Also, my computer can not read the disk that I save the songs to that I record as I play them on the organ. So I am unable to look at a MIDI file that I created on the organ because I can't read the disk.
That's nice. Now could you share this info so we can help the next guy?
You should look into ITrees. They should at least let you sync the stop names with the correct patch.
Yes, actually, it's my own stupidity... the organ has it's setting for MASTER VOLUME. The PR-300S has a volume switch. That was turned all the way down. I was looking at the Master Volume in the organ, not the volume switch on the computer. If I had've looked there, I probably wouldn't have even started this thread! My bad...
Thanks for all your help. I've now got the organ playing back MIDI files I've created using Noteworthy. Now my question is:
Can I make Noteworthy re-create the sounds of each "pipe" on the organ? What I mean by that is can I have Noteworthy emulate each pipe, such as Principal 8', Gedackt 8', Spitzflöte 4', Super Octave 2', Mixture IV, etc. etc.?
The Church Organ sound that comes with Noteworthy is okay, but I would really like to have control over the pipes. I realize I would probably have to have a staff for each pipe, but I think I could handle that, since it would just have to copy and paste the same notes, and just change the staff properties.
I can sit at the organ and have control over the sound by pressing a rocker tablet. I'd love to be able to have the same type of control in Noteworthy.
I just wish there was a way to get the sounds of each pipe on my computer in Noteworthy.
Thanks for the link with the samples. I am going to copy them to disk and try playing them back on the organ and see what happens. Since the site says they were designed to be played back on the PR-300, they should work. If not, it would have to be something with the settings on either the PR-300, the organ itself, or both.
I'm interested to see, when playing these files back, what effect changing any of the stops will have on the sound (if any).
I have saved the MIDI files to a floppy, put the floppy in the unit, which it reads. The actual titles of the songs come up on the display screen of the PR-300S, and when I press the play button, there is simply no sound, and none of the stops light up (I expected they wouldn't).
I know I cannot possibly get the organ registrations (stops, such as Principale, Gedackt, Clarion, Plein Jeu, Blocke Forte, etc. etc. etc.) on Noteworthy. I was hoping that when I played back the MIDI file I would be able to set those with one of the programmed thumb pistons.
The computer in the organ records what I play, and saves it on a floppy in standard MIDI format. The manual is very foggy about playing back from other sources.
I would like to be able to play back what I compose on Noteworthy on our organ at church. I could probably compose some pretty neat stuff to play along with on the organ. It has that capability.
The computer is basically Roland's MT-200 I think it is... I haven't tried reading the MIDI files it creates, but I think i will. It saves them with a different kind of extension. How my computer will play the digital pipes should be pretty interesting... I've never tried that before.
I hope this isn't too off-topic... I would like to save some of my songs in MIDI format that can be played on a Rodgers i557 organ with a PR-300S computer. Playback of midi files on the organ is possible, I'm just having difficulty, perhaps with the organ.
I do know how to save my songs as MIDI files. I was just wondering if anyone ever has saved midi files for playback on this type of organ.
