Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Is there a computer program?

Hi Guys

I may be looking for the impossible here?

But, Is there a program where I can take the recorded midi notes from my crappy sounding Casio PX100 that I have saved on my computer and turn them into sounding more like a 9ft concert steinway ...which can then convert the new midi file into a smallish (sized) MP3 audio file to post on a website?


regards


Lee

Hi Lee,

What you are trying to do is very easy but you'll need a software sampler like Halion, Kontakt, Gigstudio, etc, and a piano sample library like one of the Post musical Instruments pianos. http://www.postpiano.com/home.php

I'm assuming that you are capturing the midi file using either a built in sequencer or a sequencing sotware package on your computer. You simply play back the midi file in your sequencer and route the midi out to the midi in of the sampler (this is all done in configuration).

The output from the sampler will be a WAV file (not midi) but this is easily converted to MP3 by any number of free applications.

Let me know once you've had a look at some of the software listed above and I'll be happy to help with any specific questions.

Cheers,

Rodney

Thanks Rodney

I am using "music masterworks" to capture the midi file

I shall have a look at those programs and the sample library and get back to you


regards


Lee

Hi Rodney

I bet you knew I'd struggle? LOL

Yep , here I am again

Giga studio is telling me this :-

"The sampler engine will be forced into rewire mode because there are no GSIF compatible card on your system. The Gigastudio will be limited to rewire mode operation only"

This doesn't sound like too good news to me

It sounds like I will need a new soundcard...I have a creative soundblaster at the moment...can I get round this? and if not have you any good (possibly cheap-ish) recommendations?

at the moment I am feeling way out of my depth...I am currently getting no sound from the program out of my speakers?

I think I may need a "gigastudio for dummies" book


sorry to be a pain


regards


Lee

gsif is a driver mode for audio cards that support it (a cheap one is the audiophile 2496 at around 100$ ) rewire mode means that without a gsif audio card gigastudio can't receive midi input from your midi hardware & you'd need to send midi data to it from another app (like a sequencer) instead of it just picking up midi data from your keyboard directly

here's a link to the audio card i talked about (wich would allow you to control gigastudio directly from your keyboard)

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/701341/

you also need 2X midi cables (one for input one for output dunno if you need both if you're only gonna use it for input but for the price they cost it's prolly not even worth a 2nd ride to the shop)

also i dunno if you can send the sound gigastudio makes to other audio cards than the one that generates it so you should add cables for output from audio card to your keyboard input (this will also allow the sound to go to the keyboard speakers wich are likely better than your pc speakers) & since you're investing in that card you might as well pick 2X the cable so that you can also record

Thanks for the info ranakor

I had a feeling I'd need a new sound card


regards


Lee

I'm very interested to hear all this since I am planning to do something similar myself. If I only want to use it to get a better piano sound, which version of Giga do I need? Does Giga include good piano samples or do I have to buy that too?

Giga includes a good piano sample called "oddly enough" GigaPiano. There are much better options and if you are really interested in going this route, you should seriously consider the Post musical instruments group buy where you can get 7 piano libraries for as little as $180.

http://www.northernsounds.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35288

Rodney

Lee,

A new sound card is a MUST. The Audiophile 2496 is a great card for the price, and there is even a newer version called the Audiophile 192. Of course you get what you pay for but these cards a fantastic value for the price.

Alternatively you might consider an external USB or Firewire interface,... I use the Tascam US-122 which seems fine for my Win2K laptop running Giga 2.54. This box will run you about $200 USD but includes version of GigStudio 3 LE (lite edition)and Cubase LE.

Echo Audio is another alternative for a PCI card. The Gina can be had for around $350 while the Layla runs around $500 but has lots more inputs and outputs (not important if all your trying to do is play piano).

In addition to a GSIF compatible sound card you'll need at least 1GB of RAM and a very fast (7200 RPM) secondary hard drive (not the same drive where you keep your software and OS). Ideally you'll also want a 3rd fast dedicated drive to render your audio files to.

As for processing speed, faster is always better.

Rodney

Hi troglodyte

I have a gut feeling a piano sample is going to be needed?...however, I've not got it to work yet, so I am not sure? (this is starting to get more expensive than I had first thought :rolleyes: )

Anyone know of any cheap (possibly free) good ones that work with "gigastudio"?


Lee

http://www.gigfiles.com/

They sometimes have some free giga samples.

I think the Hybrid sample is free and downloadable.

Rodney

Hi Rodney

Thanks for the answers (I think) whew! this is starting to get dearer and dearer with every question...3 hard drives?...blimey! (good job I've got 2 already and a gig of RAM, that'll have to do for now)

regards


Lee

Hi Rodney

I like the look of the "Tascam US-122" if I use that will it not matter about having no GSIF compatible soundcard in my computer...and is it straightforward to use with "gigastudio"


Sorry if I'm being a bit thick but, I can't figure out how it would work?

regards


Lee

if you get one of those card you WILL have a gsif compatible sound card then those sound cards are gsif compatible this means when you install them beside regular audio drivers they also install gsif drivers for audio apps who can use them to do so so any gsif compatible card will do. the reason i suggested the audiophile is it is your cheapest bet (i checked most if not all the price of the cards listed as gsif compatible when buying) click here & then on the name of any brand to see compatible cards they produce


unless you're computer is bloated with full pci slots I'd suggest getting a pci interface (or firewire) but not usb i don't get all the fuss around usb really on crappy notebooks you sometime run out of usb power & on anything you can run out of usb slots nowadays beside in this case the least expensive choice is pci (& you have a higher bandwidth too)

as for one of the cards coming with gigastudio LE you may want to pick gigastudio separately as some samples (& piano samples are likely of the taxing kind) will require bigger versions of gigastudio to work correctly . well i don't know if some samples actually REQUIRE better but that may be so since some require special way to use the 96 voice version & the LE is a lesser model to it (the 96 voice version is called GS3 solo)

click here & scroll down to the bottom for an example of a piano that needs to overcome GS3 solo limitations

click here for different versions of giga studio comparison

as for the audiophile 2492 vs 192 i don't know if the 192 is actually newer but it is better although I'd still recommend to go with the cheaper option since that was the goal of the post & the only thing you seem to get with the 192 is a max sample rate of ... 192 (duh=) vs the 96 of the former which ,but i could be "talking out of my ***" here so wait till someone else speaks up, won't matter unless you have samples that are sampled over 96khz which i doubt will happen

edit: anyone knows why my ubb links aren't working? it says ubb code is enabled when i write in the full reply form

also note the 3rd hard drive that Rodney mentioned to render audio to your drive is only useful if you're going to record if you're only interested in live playback it's not (& it's overkill either way for a single instrument & a one input recording , if you're not doing super important audio work just record to the drive that's used by the OS the reason you want the samples on another disk is because gigastudio streams them from disk & it needs all the speed it can get but the OS disk will have spare I/O by far)

also as far as performance is concerned there are a few tweaks to do but the most important one is to right click my computer > properties > advanced > performance options > optimize performance for background processes (not that it doesn't actually gives more perf to background processes per see & the name is misleading it simply prevents the default behavior which is to give priority to the foreground process & this is useful since you don't want to create performance bottleneck & your driver won't have enough processing power if gigastudio sucks all of it so it's better for them to "share" it evenly to maximize polyphony)

I think Lee's initial need was to render an already saved midi with some piano samples. He didn 't mention live playing and recording.
Thus the need for "power" is not so much. Correct me if i m wrong.
Now, the gsif driver is one option. Another one is the directsound. I dont know if it is equaly efficient but it is supported by gigastudio.

you're right i missread (althought i think live playing + recording still is a better option even if it's just for the end mp3 as velocity & how it will sound may be diferent than your samples included with your digital piano so rendering a midi file may not result in what you'd expect dynamics wise) if you just care for rendering midi you could just load up the midi file in winamp & go in options in winamp & pick gigastudio 1/control as the midi device but i dunno if it'll work without a gsif card since i don't know if that's what they call rewire

Hi ranakor

thanks for the help

I've ordered the soundcard from here :-

digital village

a bit of a bargain price ...it should arrive within the week ...no doubt I'll be back with more questions, because I think I understand about half of what you've said above and I get the feeling this ain't going to be too easy



regards


Lee

Hi ranakor

I have downloaded winamp but, cannot see an option in options to pick gigastudio 1/control as the midi device?

I could do with a walkthrough

Why am I so thick when it comes to computers?....aaaargggh!


Lee

right click where i put the red arrow then in the menu that apears choose options > preference then in the preference menu on right click on midi playback (green arrow) then in the midi playback list pick gigaout control like shown with blue arrow



note that this is on winamp 3