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EDT303: Editing & Enhancing a Good MIDI File |
| NOTE: It is an unwritten law, NEVER alter or EDIT anyone else's MIDI file without their express authorization to do so. | |
| As is my usual practice, I listen to each and every midi file submitted for Guest Pages or Studios at the Consortium. Not too long ago I was delighted to listen to the work or Heather Duthie who now has a Guest Page. One of my favorites was an original composition, "Sky Is Blue". It was noticed that the melody line was played on a saxophone, but at a very low volume level. Also, during the last chorus, a "Brass" track completely masked the melody. After opening the file in a sequencer, it was discovered that some tracks had no controllers for volume, pan or reverb. On contacting Heather regarding this, she was happy that I had taken the time to listen, and also to comment. Unfortunately she no longer had the software required for editing, and gave me her blessing to make whatever changes I felt were necessary. So for this session, lets start with the original file and see what WAS required to enhance this lovely melody. | |
| 1.) First, listen to the original midi file as received. skyisblu.mid | |
| 2.) Now open the file in your Sequencer and observe the TRACKS view" as illustrated in the following partial screen shot. | |
![[image] Partial screen shot of the Tracks View, skyisblu.mid](EDT303_SS1.jpg) |
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| 3.) Play the file and see if you can discover the offending track that is too loud (which of course is the highlighted track 9, channel 5). | |
| 4.) "Rewind" the song, click on track 9 then open the EVENTS window. (In PowerTracks, illustrated, this is done by clicking on WINDOW | NEW | EVENT LIST ) | |
![[IMAGE] Partial Screen shot, Event List, track 9. skyisblu.mid](EDT303_SS2.jpg) |
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| Well, this one is easy.. There is no Controller for Volume. While still in the track view, click on the "Insert" button (not shown in this view). When the "Event to Add" window opens, check the option for "Control Change", then click "Okay". The Control Change window will open. Change the Controller to 7 (Volume) and initially set the Level to 90 (the range being 0 to 127). Click "Okay". | |
| Listen again.. The brass in the last chorus is still a bit over-powering. While you are still in the Event List for track 9, double-click on 90 for controller 7. Change the controller setting to 80, then "Okay". Rewind and play. Still a little loud. Repeat the steps and set controller 7 to 76. Sounds pretty good now. | |
| 5.) Now let's see what we can do about the low volume level for the melody lead, an Alto Saxophone. Click on Track 3 to select, then open the Event List, illustrated below. | |
![[image] Partial screen shot, Event List, Track 3, melody. skyisblu.mid](EDT303_SS3.jpg) |
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| Oh, oh! No controllers, and notice that the highest "velocity" (volume)
is 85.
Not so simple. Adding a Volume controller set to a number higher than 85 WILL NOT increase the velocity level. Controller 7 can only DECREASE existing velocity. |
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| The Alto Sax sound has a rather low penetration value, so ideally the velocities should range up around 110. But, how do we do that now? We need to increase the velocity by (110 - 85) = 25. Refer to the TRACKS view (first image) and in the middle of the screen notice the headings "Ch" (channel), "Key" (Key transpose), "Vel" (Velocity) and "Pt" (Port). Double-click in the "Vel" column for track 3. Type in 25. Then choose FILE | SAVE AS and before clicking OK, rename to "skyisbl2.mid". It is IMPORTANT to note that the increase in velocity is done during the SAVE process, at which time 35 is added to every velocity in the track. | |
| 6.) Load the new version. Click on FILE | NEW, then FILE | OPEN and select skyisbl2.mid. Now play it all the way through and listen very carefully to the overall balance. (Listen here). We have solved the major problems, but did you notice the "brass" track 9 is still a little lound? Change the volume level to 72. You may also have noticed that the Rhodes Piano is a little too loud (Track 4, titled "keys"). Double-click on the volume setting of 86 and change it to 80. | |
| If you listened very closely, you will have heard some very nice "Strings" in the background, but at a very low level. Let's check the event list for tracks 10 and 11, both of which are titled "strings". Well, what have we here? Notice the multiple entries for controller 7 (volume). Leave the first entry for volume at the top of the list, and delete all the rest on both tracks(click on the item, then click on the "Del" (delete) button repeatedly until you get rid of the excess ones. Note, double-check Track 10, as there are several more Volume controllers further down the Event List. Go back to the event list for both tracks 10 and 11 and change the volume from 65 to 100. BUT, observe that the highest velocity level is only 85. Lets add 10 to the velocity on Track 10. SAVE FILE AS "skyisbl3.mid". (Don't forget the routine: FILE | NEW then FILE | OPEN, selecting "skyisbl3.mid". Repeat the procedure for Track 11, using the same file name. . Coming along nicely. (Listen Here) | |
| 7.) Now we are ready for the final tweaking.
Let's check the volume, pan and reverb for each track. It is helpful here if you have a pencil and paper. Draw a straight line across the page with a center point and position the instruments as you go on a piece of paper. Pan (or stereo position) ranges from 0 to 127, with 64 being the center. less than 64 pans left and greater than 64 pans right. Track by track where are the instruments positioned?.
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| Now review the above instrument positions. What would you do?
With the instruments being used, I chose to position both string tracks close together and on the right, and the brass together on the left. So, let's go in now and reset some of the Pan positions. Move the Bass in to 64. It is normal practice to position the soloist close to center, or hard right. Move the Alto Sax to near centre stage at 60 so as not to conflict with the strings. Move Track 8 brass to 30 and Track 9 brass to 40. Move Track 10 strings to 95 and Track 11 Strings to 100. A nice setup for the group! Now sit back and listen to our final arrangement which is now on Heather's page. |
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| With all the experimenting and tweaking, this procedure actually took several hours, and several more to document. It is something I normally would not do, but I am sure you will agree that it was worth all the effort to enhance this already beautiful midi arrangement. Hope YOU like it Heather! | |
| Les Gorven
July 15, 1998 |
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| Questions or comments? Contact Les | |
| Download in ZIP format (including images, & .mid).
THIS PAGE (82 KB) |
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