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Topic: Is this the right product? (Read 4254 times) previous topic - next topic

Is this the right product?

I'm searching for a Christmas gift for my daughter.  She has a miditech keyboard and creates her own music on it.  Is this the software she would use to have the music that she plays automatically written onto sheet music?  If so, is it easy to use?  Thank you.

Re: Is this the right product?

Reply #1 –
The program is very easy to use.  Midi files can be directly input, or recorded on another medium then imported, but the challenge will be in the accuracy of her playing.  She may have to edit a lot of very short notes and rests out of the score, because it is hard to play perfectly in time.

Re: Is this the right product?

Reply #2 –
Be aware: Getting the MIDI from the keyboard into the computer is a hardware issue, not related to music software such as NWC. Once your computer can accept the MIDI via suitable interface, then you are ready for music software.

I only mention this because the MIDI interface I used with my former Windows 98 machine does not work (and cannot be made to work) on XP. A different interface is needed.

Re: Is this the right product?

Reply #3 –
Robert
Would I be correct in assuming that when you "upgraded" to Windows XP, you got a new PC?
I have three MIDI input keyboards - a Casio WK1200, an old Trust MIDI controller keyboard, and an organ console that I "MIDI-fied" myself.  All three work equally well with Windows 98 or Windows XP.
To use a piano-type keyboard in conjunction with NWC on your PC you need (a) a keyboard that has MIDI in and out sockets, (b) a computer with a MIDI connector and (c) appropriate MIDI cables to connect the two.
Most PCs these days have an on-board sound-chip and a "Game Port".  The Game Port usually also acts as a MIDI connector, but you sometimes need to ensure that the MIDI port function has been "enabled" in your computer's BIOS before it will work properly.
HOWEVER, not all motherboards have Game Ports that double-up as MIDI ports.  (I am wondering if this is your problem, Robert?)
In this case, a work-around is to buy a MIDI to USB adapter, which goes between your keyboard and your PC. (It also needs drivers installing.)  Plug the MIDI cables from your keyboard into the adapter (and go through the usual procedure of getting the INS and OUTS the wrong way round at the first attempt!), and plug the adapter into a USB port on your PC.  Configure Control Panel/Setup/Sound & Audio Devices and also NWC accordingly, and it should work fine.  I had to do this a few years ago when my Trust keyboard refused to communicate with a Soundblaster sound card, but more recently, with the newer drivers, it has not been a problem.  Using the MIDI to USB adapter is also a way of communicating with a laptop PC.
(Note: a number of MIDI controller keyboards nowadays come with both MIDI and USB connectors - in which case there is no need to buy a separate MIDI to USB adapter.)
An alternative, which you will sooner or later want to adopt anyway if you are at all serious, is to install a separate soundcard such as the Creative SBLive! or Audigy (or something even more fancy and expensive if you are a professional), which (provided you buy the right model - beware of Creative's appalling misinformation) come with a Game/MIDI port.
If none of these solutions work for you, Robert, I'm stumped!
Graham
 

Re: Is this the right product?

Reply #4 –
I use a laptop. No game port. Previous MIDI interface was via parallel port. The software driver does not work (and cannot be hacked to work) on XP, and the company went out of business, hence no driver upgrade.

A new USB interface (with its own software) works. But here is why I raised the subject:

At this season, people who do not use a certain type of product (keyboard, computer, whatever) often by gifts for friends or relatives who do use that kind of product. But the buyer (and the sales staff, if any) may not know the technology, assuming that the buyer can even elucidate the needs. Thus:

Buyer: I want a gift for my niece. She plays a piano sort of thingie with a wire attached to the computer.

Sales Staff: Does she have a MIDI keyboard?

Buyer: I don't know.

Sales Staff: What kind of computer is it?

Buyer I don't know.

Sales Staff: How old is your niece?

Buyer: I don't know.

This is not at all unrealistic. From time to time I work the season at a department store (not in sales) for the fun of it. The staff responsible for selling carpets informed me that the most common response to "What size is the room?" is "We don't know."