I'm barely scraping the surface with Ableton Live 10 Lite. Recently I learned how to export Midi files. At least, it worked that time. Now, it's not working again.
To be more specific, it IS creating a midi file, but my old standby, Midi Sheet Music, can't load the file. Can't tell what's different, if the song is longer, more complex, has non-standard play-styles...
Backing up a bit, I've used Midi Sheet Music (MSM) for years. The sound is a bit cheesy and the graphics plain, but it's the ONLY stand-alone program I've ever found that:
A. Creates Sheet Music from Midi files
B. Allows you to print the sheet music
C. Plays the midi file while scrolling the sheet music.
D. At the same time, also has a piano keyboard onscreen that shows the notes being played.
It does it all. I play by ear, creating a midi file while playing. Load this midi file into MSM, hit "Play", and it's perfect for someone trying to learn the song. They can follow along at their own pace, watching the sheet music, and/or the piano, as the song plays visually on both. If I record a video and upload it to Youtube, the viewer can learn to play it in the same fashion I play. (Southern Gospel... I'm okay, not great, but my songs have a "Floyd Cramer" feel, and MSM let me share my style with people who have the same taste in music.)
If the person downloads my MIDI file, and downloads Midi Sheet Music, they can practice playing and adjust the pace as slow or fast as they want. Except that it's no longer working for me. When I save a Midi file, and load it into MSM, the result is a lot of gibberish that basically says there's an error in the file and it can't play.
Maybe the problem is just with this one song, some glitch in the file? Assuming exactly that, I hit Google up for help. Nothing solved the problem. Next I tried to find substitutes. There were a heap of almost-rans. Surprisingly, they were all able to import and play my midi file. I guess that means MSM is seriously outdated. Some did better than others. Several would have been excellent, except they couldn't incorporate the sustain pedal. Others played perfectly, including use of the sustain pedal.
MuseScore 4 solved the problem of sheet music. It will output sheets as .pdf files, perfect for letting people download if all they need is the notation. I'm not certain how good a job it does, since I don't read sheet music. I can figure out enough of it to feel like it gets the gist of the song, but have always heard midi to sheet music translations can be innacurate.
The fine details don't bother me. Anybody who knows Southern Gospel should be able to figure out the rhythm on their own. :^)
As long as it gets the notes well enough for people to figure it out, it's good enough.
MuseScore 4 flopped, though, when it comes to playing midi files. It was one of those that couldn't hold the sustain, and it couldn't seem to understand my 'southern gospel' twang. Couldn't find any way to fix it, so every MIDI I imported into MuseScore plays in a bad-sounding staccato sound, and with notes often out of sequence or jammed together. Not just bad, but horrible. I never found any free software better at outputting sheet music though, so this is my go-to for people who sight-read their music and can't afford to buy professional software.
Midiano was by far and away the best result from two evenings worth of hunting. It's miles and miles ahead of anything similar. Plus, it looks fantastic. Best of all, you get all that for free! Not sure how he supports his website, but the least I can do is let people know how fantastic Midiano is.
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