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tuning noteworthy

The notes Noteworthy plays back are quite sharp from the frequencies at which they should play.  Is there a way to "tune" Noteworthy?

nk

Re: tuning noteworthy

Reply #1 –
I can't imagine that NWC plays notes sharper than specified. When you play your music with NWC, it issues commands to your sound card, which calls up the notes. In fact, I doubt if your sound card is playing them sharper. It may be the way you hear it.

In many cases, especially if you have an inexpensive sound card (particularly in a laptop), the sound is less rich in frequencies than would be the case from a live musical instrument. This has been noted before. The lack of richness may create the psychological effect of the note being too sharp. But if you look at its spectrum, you will see that the fundamental tone is in the correct place.

If you have imported a MIDI file, it may be possible that the notes have "pitch bend" that intentionally sounds them at other than nominal pitch.

One other possibility - and this is more likely to be the case if the notes sound flatter than shown - would be if the staff calls for a "transposing" instrument. Brass instruments are often transposing; piano and ordinary guitar are not. A trinsposing instrument intentionally sounds pitch at a different value than written. That's the way it is, in music.

Any other ideas, NWCers?

Re: tuning noteworthy

Reply #2 –
Nope.  Definitely a higher frequency - I measured it with a tuner.  It's higher both on imported midis and on the stuff I create myself.

I have NW on another computer as well - the "tuning" is different from their from the 1st computer.

I suspect the sound cards, but know no way to "tune" a sound card.

Re: tuning noteworthy

Reply #3 –
Ah, that is possible (sound card tuning), but strange.

Test: Find a random MIDI file, not one you created yourself, and play it using your computer's default media player (probably Windows Media). Still sharp? If you have QuickTime, play it with QT, which uses a different method of making the sound. Still sharp?

Re: tuning noteworthy

Reply #4 –
Sometimes clock frequencies for cpu etc are not correct.This causes sound cards to be at different pitches.This particularly occurs with older PCs where various people have been messing around.

Re: tuning noteworthy

Reply #5 –
ok - found time!

Played mp3 of The Band - tuning is right on.  Just NW that's out of tune.  hmm.

(oh, it's a brand new machine).

Re: tuning noteworthy

Reply #6 –
An MP3 file would only play at the wrong pitch if the system clock were reporting an incorrect value. No "tuning" in the sound card would make a difference. But a MIDI file (or file played from NWC) could be at the wrong pitch if either the system clock reported incorrectly, or if there was womething wrong with the sound card, or if there were a peculiar software bug. Since off-pitch from NWC does not seem to be experienced by others, that is peculiar.

One other possibility: Were you expecting a different temperment for the scale? If you know what that means, then maybe you can find a solution. If you don't know what that means, then it's not likely to be the problem!

Re: tuning noteworthy

Reply #7 –
i.e. The Well Tempered Clavier

I'm going to try pitch bending on the whole thing.

Re: tuning noteworthy

Reply #8 –
Ha!!! It worked.

controller = pitch bend
style = linear sweep
time resolution = quarter
sweep resolution = 32
1st controller value slide to the left to -489

It brought my A up to a perfect 440.

I insert these settings at the beginning of each line, et voila!

Re: tuning noteworthy

Reply #9 –
I checked a variety of pitches using standard orchestral instruments against my tuner and all were exactly in tune with A=440. My sound card is Sound Blaster Live,
Carl Bangs
Fenwick Parva Press
Registered user since 1995

Re: tuning noteworthy

Reply #10 –
yeh, I had an email from nw saying i'm the only one they ever heard of w/ this.

a random mp3 was nts on.  nw was way off.

wtfk?

Re: tuning noteworthy

Reply #11 –
What sound cards do you have on the two systems you tried the MIDI files on?
It is possible to change the master tuning of some sound cards through RPN controllers but I dont know that NWC supports those particular controllers.

Re: tuning noteworthy

Reply #12 –
I think it is importent to note that (unless I missed something) the original poster does not seem to have tired a MIDI file.  He is reporting that an MP3 file is in tune (as one would expect).  The crucial test is whether a MIDI file is.  Could "gnat" report on the results of playing a non-NWC-generated MIDI file?

Re: tuning noteworthy

Reply #13 –
He did Cyril - In reply 2.

Re: tuning noteworthy

Reply #14 –
Sorry for the inappropriate posting.  I think I came in on this when  there were already a number of replies and I must have skimmed it too fast.  What's the saying?  "Put brain in gear before starting mouth" (or fingers in this case)?

Re: tuning noteworthy

Reply #15 –
Some synthesizers support a controller that alters tuning, but NWC does not include support for this control change. When a sound card is functioning correctly, it should be in A440 tuning. This is true even for instruments that normally have other tuning, which is why NWC2 allows for the transposition to be set in an instrument definition.

Re: tuning noteworthy

Reply #16 –
go to my computer>control panel>on the panel at left choose more control panel options> multi channel audio configurations and swith the Key box down