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Topic: rest resolution (Read 4775 times) previous topic - next topic

rest resolution

i need rest resolutions up to sixty-forth rests, because i need to import sixteenth note staccatos, and why not, there are note resolutions up to sixty-forth notes???

Re: rest resolution

Reply #1 –
In fact, there are. 64th notes are the shortest possible notes that you can enter using NWC.

On the keyboard, it is not possible to switch to 64th notes with just one keypress, but you'll have to press '6', then '-' to go to 64th's.

64th's are also an option in the MIDI import dialog.

Re: rest resolution

Reply #2 –
Oh, sorry, you meant 64th rests!

Why isn't 64th rests, or 32nd either, an option, is a good question. Maybe the resolution of MIDI files isn't high enough?

Re: rest resolution

Reply #3 –
You can get 32nd and 64th rests by highlighting a rest of a longer duration and pressing the minus sign.  64th is the smallest.

Re: rest resolution

Reply #4 –
Indeed, that's what I pointed out in my first post.

The point of this question is that there is no way to import 32th or 64th rests.

Re: rest resolution

Reply #5 –
Sorry Jussi, I missed seeing your '-'.

Re: rest resolution

Reply #6 –
Perhpas a more knowledgeable person can correct me, if I'm wrong...

It is my understanding that MIDI processes notes (start or stop) at millisecond intervals, in serial fashion.

If the tempo is quarter note = 120 beats per minute (a common tempo), then each quarter note would have 500 ms nominal duration. Then, a sixty-fourth note or rest would be about 8 ms. But with several notes (due to chords or multiple staves), that does not leave sufficient time for sixty-fourths to be accurately placed to the nearest millisecond. Even thirty-seconds will suffer a bit.

So, there would not be much point in attempting to resolve such fine timing. The resulting score would be filled with numerous small-duration notes and rests, many of them inaccurate.

If the objective is solely to make modifications to an existing MIDI, without the need for sheet music or for much originality, it would be better to manipulate the MIDI file directly, via a sequencing program or a MIDI disassembler-reassembler.

Re: rest resolution

Reply #7 –
Robert -- thanks for the MIDI info.  Only 16 sixty-fourth notes in a quarter note, tho, so perhaps 31+ ms for each, unless I'm missing something.

An interesting point of discussion:  Why would "Import sixteenth note staccatos" create the need for sixty-fourth rests?  Intricate syncopation?  Forcing the staccato by hand?  There are lots of arrangements out there that have sixteenth note staccatos and don't have anything resembling a sixty-fourth rest in them.  Just wondering.  I thought only violinists had to worry about all those flags!

Re: rest resolution

Reply #8 –
AFAIK, MIDI doesn't have any way to specify a staccato attribute, but instead they have to be done as shortened notes with padding rests.

Still, User111's requirement for 64th rests to produce 16th staccatos may seem odd. A little test confirmed this: staccato 16th's don't sound much different from normal 16th's, so to emphasize the effect, or just to create a molto staccato, one could insert 32th's or 64th's and pad them with rests. And what do we get when we save the file as MIDI and reimport it? Ordinary 16th's.

Re: rest resolution

Reply #9 –
Peter J: Your math is correct. DUH.

Re: rest resolution

Reply #10 –
The rest resolution specified for NWC MIDI import is just as user111 has described it. It only has an impact on the back end (note off) component of a note during import.

The correct way for NWC to deal with this is to import short notes with a staccato attribute already applied. However, the import engine does not currently include staccato detection.
 

Re: rest resolution

Reply #11 –
see reply 8

what about a semi-staccato
dotted thirty-second note, sixty-forth rest