Click HERE to go to the original blog post with free downloadable Midi and Sheet Music.
In the past week, the final piece of the puzzle dropped into place. Music Notation 4 was the finishing touch. In the original Grace Notes, there were multiple elements with each new song:
- The actual video, playing the song on piano (Yamaha DG-640 back then)
- A How To video, with sheet music and animated keyboard showing what keys to play
- A free downloadable Midi file of the song
- A free downloadable version of the sheet music
That took a full toolbox of software (plus a keyboard). Over the years, the Yamaha quit working for me, and was replaced with an M-Audio Hammer 88. It's a beautiful keyboard with a great feel, but has no built-in audio. Strictly a Midi controller. It came with Ableton as the DAW. The main computer was my Swiss army knife, but Ableton didn't play well with the other installed software. It took getting a dedicated laptop to make Ableton and the Hammer 88 work consistently. And even then, I wound up needing an external audio driver (Also M-Audio, as are the speakers.) Ableton creates the initial Midi, Notation Musician cleans it up a bit.
Originally, I used the Flip line of digital video recorders, and later a more sophisticated digital camera. Eventually, cell phones improved to the point I now shoot the videos on my phone. Nothing special, just a slightly outdated Android. Got a cheap mini tripod from Amazon that has flexible legs. It can wrap around handy furniture or fixtures so I don't have to worry about getting an odd angle or knocking it off a shelf. Bandicam was my screen video recording software. Did a good job then... does a good job now. I've kept it through at least three computers, and it just keeps on working.
For regular video editing, I use HitFilm Express. My needs are simple. I mainly use it to replace the live piano audio from the original video (with all the household noises, barking dogs, etc...) with a WAV audio file generated by Ableton. I sync the audio and video by the simply watching my fingers on the piano, and aligning the audio to match the movement. It's like having my own private sound studio, and easier than you'd think.
The How-To videos were made using Midi Sheet Music, a freeware program that hasn't been updated in years and isn't compatible with Ableton's exported Midi files. It converted Midi to sheet music, plus could play the sheet music notation with an animated piano keyboard. And it divided the single-track keyboard into 2-track treble/clef sheet music. Those were the only things it did, but it did them all-in-one and was dead-simple to use. It wasn't pretty, but it did the job.
Now I use Notation Musician to output PDF files of the sheet music. It also splits the Midi files into two tracks. Didn't have to have that feature, but it makes the sheet music look cleaner. I can play the midi files and follow along in the sheet music onscreen, but lacks the animated piano keyboard.
Lastly, I use Midiano to actually play the song (with the animated keyboard) for the How To video. It animates the sheet music across the screen, has a gorgeous animated piano at the bottom, and drops played notes visually down the screen to show which keys are coming up in sequence. Tons of customizing available. Absolutely free. Midiano is a sparkling example of brilliant design. It's a fabulous learning tool, with more features than you can shake a stick at. Did I mention free?
I highly recommend Midiano. Download my midi file (or any Midi file), load it into Midiano, and you can experience a whole new way of learning piano music. It even waits for you to hit the next notes, before moving on. You can see it in action in the video above.
There's more here and there, but these are the basic tools I use. Music Notation 4 was the last big piece. With it, I can include the sheet music, and can replicate everything the old Grace Notes blog used to provide. Since it's been so long between posting the actual 'live' piano video, and then today doing the how to video, I'm putting the new video here on this page. Going forward, all four elements will be on a single post, so you don't have to search for every separate piece.
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