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[agentmitten]

Hi! I just installed Media Center 9.  I have a MIDI file which I would like to edit (simply cut off a portion of the beginning) and I thought I could do that in Media Editor.  But I get an error when I try to open the file:  Error decoding file.  I went to the plug-in area and got the two input plug-ins available, but that didn't help.  

Can anyone point me in the right direction so I can find a fix for this?  Thanks!

Laura

[Phydeaux]

Hello agentmitten,

Here are the concepts behind MIDI and other files which might help you understand why MediaEditor cannot edit MIDI files.

Think of MIDI as sheet music for computers as opposed to "recorded sound". This is why a midi file is generally so small. It contains four pieces of information for each note played: a) the pitch, b) the instrument, c) the volume, and d) any effect that should be applied. Some formats also allow for lyrics and other things to be included.

You sound card has a device on it called  a "Wave Table" which is basically the "sound" that the relevant instrument makes when it is played. The MIDI instructions (play a trumpet, middle C for .25seconds) are sent to the sound card and are converted to audible sounds only at that stage.

This is the main reason that MIDI files sound so artificial. The wave tables generally include only a few different pitches and everything else is generated based on the profile of those wave samples that it does have.

:-/ It's like trying to edit the recording when you've only got the sheet music. It is possible, but you've got to make the recording first.

There are several MIDI-to-wave converters available (try searching Google). You can then use MediaEditor to edit the wave recording.

If you REALLY want to edit the MIDI file, software is available, but it is a little more complex (usually) that Media Editor. You can search for programs like "Sibelius" and "Cakewalk" just to name two -- there are probably a thousand simpler ones that can get the job done.

Sound cards coming out now are fitted with some really impressive wave tables. I owned a Creative Labs AWE 64 (way back when) which was on of the first cards to bring "decent" (a relative term!) sound  to MIDI. Things have improved since then too.

I hope this helps!

P.

[DocLotus]

Actually the AWE 32 was the first.

It had a built in sound bank plus memory slots for additional sound banks.  The sound was very good.

Now-a-days sound cards use Sound Fonts which are files on you hard drive which have all the sounds on them.  Some are very good.

There are specialized Sound fonts for each instrument or you can get a general midi Sound font that covers many or all the instruments.

Several Sonnd Font files can be used together to customize the sound to get it just so.

You can download additional Sound Fonts from various sites.  Some are very large.

[agentmitten]

Thank you so much for the indepth reply!  I get it now.  It sounds somewhat analogous to the differences in raster and vector graphics.  Sort of.

In doing a little hunting around, I did find a freeware MIDI editor that will let me do the simple edit I want to do.  (Drop the beginning off a song.)  You can get it here:  www.jazzware.com  The software seems to be able to do much more than just simple editing, but for the time being, all I need is the simplistic stuff.  I mention the extended capabilities just in case someone is looking for something like this and comes across this thread.

Again, thanks for your help and the lesson on MIDI!

[Roger_the_Shrubber]

I use Quartz Audiomaster Freeware......works very well and, as the name suggests, it don't cost much!

Try a google or download.com

Good luck.