Skip to main content ↑ ↓
Topic: NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it (Read 14601 times) previous topic - next topic

NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it

In the user tips section, I posted a lengthy discussion of several free and easy ways to get from a NWC file to MIDI, WAV, then MP3, WMA, MP4, or OGG. Links to software are included.

https://forum.noteworthycomposer.com/?topic=3468

This topic has been discussed on many forum threads, but I thought it would be useful to have it all in one place.

Re: NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it

Reply #1 –
Wow! Great resource!

Re: NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it

Reply #2 –
... but alas, I cannot sing and shake a rattle at the same time. I kid you not!

Re: NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it

Reply #3 –
Simpler to go direct to wav from nwc in real time with Rip Vinyl and it only costs $7

Re: NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it

Reply #4 –
STEP ONE: Create a MIDI file of your NWC composition.
**********************************************

This is easy. Simply "Save As" MIDI type 1.

New users should remember that fermatas and breath marks are not part of the MIDI specification, so if you use them in NWC the MIDI file produced by this method will not reproduce the effect.

Re: NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it

Reply #5 –
Very good step by step instructions, Robert. I used the E.A.W. method, and even though it does not list Windows XP on the site, it installs well on my XP system. Runs fine, too!

You may want to add
  • that the tim_eaw.exe installer puts itself on your C: drive even if you specify the D: drive as target for timidity. You end up with two new folders on your D: drive and one on your C: drive
  • that the .CFG file that you need to copy in step 3 (E.A.W. method) also contains a reference to the drive that timidity needs. Drive C: is used by default, but you can change it in Notepad.

Re: NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it

Reply #6 –
One other possibility, once you have a wave file.  There is a free program, with lots of codexes (sp?), from dBposerAMP.

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/

It uses a recent (although I don't know if it is latest) LAME codex for mp3's, and also has some of the lossless encoders.  Same great price, $0.00!

Re: NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it

Reply #7 –
codexes [sp?]

Codecs. Plural of "Codec" which is a word synthesized from "Coder / Decoder."

Re: NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it

Reply #8 –
... I can modify my own user tip, and will account for anything needing clarification (give it a few days).

Re: NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it

Reply #9 –
I am new to all this and I tried following your very good instructions but when I tried recording using Windows recorder or the ALCrecorder, it would only record off the mic, I couldn't get it to record from any player. I use windows 98 and the windows recorder didn't have many of the options that you describe. Do I just have to wait for Windows XP, when I up grade computer?

Re: NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it

Reply #10 –
Graeme: I no longer have access to a Windows 98 computer, so I can't answer your question. Maybe another user can? If so, I can add it to my user tip (I have already added some info provided by others).

I do know that ALC Recorder has its own ability to select input source. On my computer, that didn't work unless I selected source via the control panel, as described in my user tip. But ALC Recorder was programmed in the Windows 98 era, and it may be that the ALC internal source menu works for you. Try it.

I honestly don't know whether the sound control panel on my laptop is a basic feature of XP, or if it is modified by the soundcard driver software.

Unless your computer has a really fine MIDI sound, I would advise using the Timidity solution, anyway. Timidity does not requires Windows XP. And, Timidity can be configured to use *.sf2 soundfonts, if you know how. (Don't ask me!)

Incidentally, for the benefit of other readers: I do not intend to add any external audio cable recommendation to my user tip. Problems outweigh benefits.

Re: NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it

Reply #11 –
What options show up in the mixer applet has more to do with your particular sound card (or, more exactly, "sound chipset" since quite a few mainboards have onboard sound) than with what flavour of Winwoes you're running. For instance, my ancient Creative/Ensoniq PCI128 has a monaural mixer input called "modem" and a stereo input called "TV" (go figger) in addition to the usual aux, line, synth, wave, etc. inputs.

Graeme - another possibility is that some of your inputs are hidden. I haven't used ALC recorder in quite awhile, so I don't remember if it "echoes" the current Windows mixer applet setting. Try this: go into the mixer applet (the Windows "volume control", the little speaker icon in the system tray). Then select Options | Properties | Recording button. This will display a list of available inputs, with checkboxes next to them which will enable/disable them from being displayed.

(If you don't have the volume control speaker icon in your system tray, go to Control Panel | Multimedia | Audio tab. Check the box "Show volume control on taskbar")

Re: NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it

Reply #12 –
for many purposes, there are patent and royalty issues involved in using MP3. That said, if you are not subject to such issues, then get the LAME encoder add-in to Audacity (see above link) to convert WAV to MP3.

Can you clarity on these issues? Is it OK to burn an MP3-CD of music I legally purchased so that I don't have to switch CD's as often in my player?
Sincerely,
Francis Beaumier
Green Bay, WI

Re: NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it

Reply #13 –
... Is it OK? I have no idea, and I don't want to know, since whatever it is doesn't affect my own usage.

Re: NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it

Reply #14 –
From a practical standpoint on a personal level, I don't think it matters much. Otherwise it would be verboten to make mp3's for uploading to mp3.com or iuma.com or any of those, unless it happened to be using an "approved" (i.e. licensed) encoder.

I think the situation is similar to that surrounding gif images, where the patent holder (Unisys) goes after purveyors of image editing software, not after the end users who use that software to make images. But a gif image is a gif image; how is anyone to determine whether it was made using a licensed lzw encoder, or using a maverick?

My impression is that Fraunhofer (the owner of the copyright on the mp3 algorithm) is more interested in getting royalties from the hardware/firmware mp3 codecs (read: "mp3 players") and high-profile sound editing software companies than they are about end users.

If not - oh well. Like Robert, I've had just about enough of all this copyright bullpuckey. I'll continue to use LAME and BladeEnc, and if they come after me they'll have to come after about a kazillion others just like me. Fat chance.

Re: NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it

Reply #15 –
I may be missing something here, but I find that RIPVINYL, a cheap shareware program, will convert my NWC files to WAV far mpore easily than the methods suggested in the long user tip mentioned

Re: NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it

Reply #16 –
... Fred's comments sound correct. Issues of that nature are not limited to mp3 format, it's just that mp3 is the big gorilla right now, and also seems to be the preferred vehicle for those who really do rip the system. I think I'll edit my user tip a bit, to clarify what I meant.

... If a particular shareware program works for you, go for it. Given that NWC is itself a shareware program, its devotees are certainly not going to disparage anyone else's fine products. But it seems to me that the one you mentioned works by way of using the sound card database. There are some of us who don't have a high quality sound card database, and can't replace it. For us, one of the other methods might be better.

Re: NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it

Reply #17 –
... The above-mentioned shareware program is actually a sophisticated form of sound recorder, like the built-in Windows sound recorder or ALC Recorder. The program is primarily intended for digitizing the electrical signal from a (vinyl record) player to your computer via line-input. But by configuring the program's input, it can record from the sound card. Various output formats are supported, which is a good feature.

What the program won't do is direct mathematical conversion of the digital MIDI file to digital WAV file, without the intervention of a sound card. Timidity will do that, however, and will allow the use of other sound fonts. But then you will still need to compress the WAV file to another format, using other software, unless WAV is what you want.

Re: NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it

Reply #18 –
While we're on shareware and such... "Audio Compositor" does essentially what Timidity does, and there was a time when I would have recommended it over Timidity because of its ease of installation and use. However, Tim's excellent "Timidity installer for dummies" got rid of that problem. However, there's still a place in the world for Audio Compositor, since it's *very* easy to change to different sound fonts for rendering your midis.

Re: NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it

Reply #19 –
... the sound font thing may be very important for most users. Timidity clearly allows changes of sound fonts, and even provides a template (must be hand-edited) for a few popular sound font sets. But general installation of a sound font is not a menu-driven choice. The two versions of Timidity described in my user note have different soundfont sets, and they sound different.

Re: NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it

Reply #20 –
RE reply 6: I tried it, and it works. I'll add the link to my user tip. Thanks, Cyril.

Re: NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it

Reply #21 –
I just scanned Roberts suggestions- and wish to add a couple more-
When I had a SB Value card I would set it up to record what it heard and then record what the NWC file played- that worked very well [win98se].
Then I got a mixer and would play the nwc file out and through the mixer and mess a bit with it [equalization etc....] and record it via the SB card.
Later I junked the #$^%$#&^% sb card for a high end multi-track card- but I hated the midi sounds and discovered Wingroove which merely uses a better/larger MB sized GM set but the difference was significant- better.
Recently I have been writing my scores in nwc and then keeping each staff as a separate midi file and using Audio Compositor to create a specific soundfonted wav file and then taking each of those and multi-tracking it into a sequencer/editor for volume, EQ adjustments and mixing down from there to a cd compatible format.
FInal product sounds very nice.
j

Re: NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it

Reply #22 –
Thanks for that comment, Jay. Several users have mentioned A.C. as a useful shareware program in this context. Perhaps there are others, too. I definitely don't want to say much about sound cards in the user tip. Hardware benefits and woes are another topic altogether.

Re: NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it

Reply #23 –
Another great WAV to Mp3 transformer is Waver, and it can be found at:

http://www.waver-converter.com/

Awsome tip, answered a lot of my questions

Re: NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it

Reply #24 –
I added an MP3 converter to my Timidity setup, so you can now use the Timidity GUI version to go from midi to MP3 or wav in one step. Instructions in my setup file. Unfortunately, my website has reached it's bandwidth limit for June, so it is unavailable until it resets in July.

Anyone with lots of bandwidth who would like to host my Timidity setup I would gladly link to it there. (About 6mb)
 

Re: NWC to MIDI to WAV to MP3, WMA, MP4, OGG - here is how to do it

Reply #25 –
I have the software midi2wav. It records the midi file and it makes a wave file, then convert with dbpoweramp, very easy.