Hello,
I hear that you can
copyright a MIDI File. Is this true? Can you send it in by e-mail?
Steve J.
Hi Steve,
The US Library Of Congress Register Of Copyrights now considers a Standard
MIDI File to be a Sound Recording. They must be sent by snail mail on a
Floppy Disk or CD ROM with the appropriate form (Form SR) and $20. Check
out our Copyright Info Page for more details.
Rick Alexander
my name is ron foster i played with
roy buchanan from 74-80.i can not
locate any of my royalties from
an album that i co wrote with roy
entitled
roy buchanan - live in japan (polydor/polygram)import
please help me find out any &
all
info
thank you
sincerely.
ronnie "byrd" foster
Hi Ron,
Are you talking about composer's royalties or album sales royalties ?
If it's composer's
royalties and you co wrote the songs, the song should be registered with
BMI or ASCAP, you
should be an affiliate
of the same performing rights org, and your name should be listed as one
of the writers.
Then they would
cut you a check every 6 months based on air play, juke box play, and other
public performance. But if you aren't listed as one of the composers and
you're not a member of the perfoming rights org that the songs are registered
with, you won't receive any composers royalties.
If it's album sales royalties, then Polydor/Polygram should be paying you
whatever percentage of sales you
are owed as per
contract. But if your name isn't on the actual recording contract as one
of the principal artists,
you won't receive
any recording royalties.
You should always make sure your copyrights are registered with the U.S.
Copyright Office before submitting, performing, or posting any original
material.
Best Regards,
Rick Alexander
If you didn't uninstall the software for your old interface, Windows is
trying to route your MIDI through the same port you used before.
Go into My Computer - Multimedia Control Panel, and click the
MIDI tab, and you
can select a port
on your new interface as the MIDI output device for general MIDI, such
as MIDI files through Netscape.
Dear MIDITRAX,
I am new to MIDI and
Desktop recording. I recently bought Cakewalk Pro Audio 8.0 and I am having
trouble getting started. The manual seems complicated and written as though
I already know everything - but I don't !
Is there an easier way to get started
- I really want to do this ! Please HELP ! ! !
Jason Bosco
Hi Jason,
This
is a familiar tune you're humming, and I can remember when I was getting
started, back in The Dark Ages. So we have written a little step by step
booklet called "Cakewalk Made Easy". It just walks you through the basics
of creating a MIDI sequence and then gives you a brief intro into Audio
Recording. It's written in simple language, with the beginner in mind.
You can download and print the Word Perfect version (.wpd) by right-clicking
these links - CAKEWALK MADE EASY CAKEWALK
AUDIO STEP 1 Or you can follow this link and view it on a web page
- CAKEWALK ME ! You can also download the
midi .wrk file examples that accompany it from that page ! Have fun, and
let us know if you have any questions or problems.
Best Regards,
Rick Alexander
psychedelically yours:
andres
Hi Andres,
Instrument Definition (.ins) files for most major synths and modules etc.
are included with Cakewalk. To view the list, right click in the tracks
pane and open the Track Properties dialog box. Click on the Instruments
button to open the Assign Instruments box and click the Define button to
open the Define Instruments And Names box. Click the Import button to view
the List of Manufacturers and double click on the manufacturer to see the
list of Instrument Definitions for that manufacturer. Select the one(s)
you want and click OK. The Instrument Definition will then appear in the
right pane of the Assign Instruments box for you to assign it to the Ports
and MIDI Channels you choose so that a list of all the banks and patches
of your instrument will appear in the Track Properties box.
If your Instrument is not on the list, you can either create the definition
yourself - Cakewalk
- Tech Support - Creating Instrument Definitions or try to find someone
who has already done so and get their .ins file from them. There are a
lot of support pages on the Cakewalk web site http://www.cakewalk.com
and you can e-mail your request to them Cakewalk
- Email Tech Support Information . There are also Cakewalk Newsgroups
that can be a valuable resource in locating those hard to find instrument
definitions Cakewalk
- Tech Support - Newsgroups .
Hope this helps - good luck !
Best Regards,
Rick Alexander
http://www.miditrax.com
oooooooo sure it
helped!!! thankyou very very much!!! :)
greetings from mexico!
ciao
Hello,
I am trying to add some dimension to my
audio tracks other than panning. Spaciality is what I want. What is the
best software for this & where can I get it ? I use Cakewalk 8.0 and
Sound Forge.
Ron D.
Hi Ron,
We use Q Tools AX - they act as plugins with both Cakewalk and Sound Forge,
and they are marvelous.
Best Regards,
Rick Alexander
Hello, I am a musician
and I am trying to make sound the midi sequences I wrote in my Korg X3
sequencer through Cakewalk PA 8. I cant find the way to make Cakewalk play
the sounds from my Korg sinthesizer not the General midi files in the sound
card he is currently playing. Is it possible to make CWPA 8 play the sounds
from the X3 ? if the answer is yes the how can I do it? I will be very
gratefull for helping me.
By
the way I am a musician and guitar player from Colombia (South America)
I like blues and guitar oriented music.
Thanks
Eduardo Serrano.
Hi Eduardo,
Yes there is a way to use the banks and patches in your Korg X3 with CPA
8.0. You'll need to install a MIDI
Interface in your
computer such as the MOTU P.C. Midi Flyer (don't get a MIDIMAN - they are
notorious for
hardware failure!
Get either MOTU or Opcode).
Then you plug the MIDI OUT of the interface into the MIDI IN of
the X3, and the
MIDI OUT of your controller (the X3 or another midi keyboard) into the
MIDI IN of the interface.
Next you need to import the Instrument Definition for the X3 into the Assign
Instruments dialog box. To do
this:
1.Right click on
any track in the Tracks Pane and select Track Properties.
2.Click on the Instruments
button
3.In the Assign
Instruments dialog box, click the Define button.
4. In the Define
Instruments box, click the Import button.
5.Click on the Korg.ins
icon and click Open.
6. In the Import
Instruments, locate Korg X3 (don't worry - it's there !) and click OK.
That's It !
7. Now in the Assign
Instuments box you can assign your MIDI Channels to the Korg X3, and all
the banks and
patches will be
listed in the Track Properties box, so you will be able to assign any patch
to any track. You'll
have to figure out
which of the 4 Bank Select methods is the right one for the X3, but that
won't be hard to do -
just try each one.
And make sure that Cakewalk has activated your MIDI Interface. To do this:
1.Go to Tools -
MIDI Devices
2. Select your MIDI
Interface in the Input Ports and Output Ports windows.
And now you're ready to make beautiful music ! Have fun - let me know if
you have any further questions or
problems.
Best Regards,
Rick Alexander
http://www.miditrax.com
How do I serve up my original Midi songs, so they sound exactly like they do here (i.e. not
Greg
Hi Greg,
Well, you asked the 64 Billion Dollar question! When someone plays your
.mid file on their system, they hear
the patches on their
system. I'll never forget the first time I heard one of my MIDIs on someone
else's system -
what a bummer! So
that's why I have some of my .mid files in mp3 and high end .ra format
on the Audio pages.
http://www.miditrax.com/mp3.htm
http://www.miditrax.com/originalaudio.htm
http://www.miditrax.com/audiofiles.htm
If you have Cakewalk Pro Audio, you just enable two tracks to record audio
and record the .mid file. Then
select the audio
tracks and FILE - Export Audio to .wav . Or you can use Sound
Forge or Cool Edit to record your .wav files. Then get WINAMP
(the player) and MP3 COMPRESSOR (the
converter) and create your own mp3 files. They are about 10% of the filesize
of a .wav file and sound really good!
Or, if you have RealAudio Encoder ( http://www.real.com
), encode the .wav file to .ra using the Dual
ISDN Stereo algorithm.
It's the only one that sounds okay. Then instruct your visitors not to
try to stream it, just
download and save.
Then they can play it any time on the RealAudio Player.
The .ra files are about 6% of the size of .wav files, and an entire song
takes a couple of minutes to download.
There are free soft
synths available for download, and if you feel one in particular is compatible
with your creations, you can recommend it to your visitors and furnish
them with the URL. Yamaha has the midplug, for example - http://www.yamaha.com
Personally, I prefer the GM bank on the now discontinued Alesis S4+ over
all others, so to me, my files sound terrible on almost any other synth
module. But I get literally hundreds of e-mails from people who tell me
they groove on my MIDIs, so I guess it's all
in the ear of the listener. The Roland SC88 has an excellent GM bank also.
I hope this helps you, and if you have any more questions or problems,
feel free to contact me. And please
explore MIDITRAX
fully - there's a lot of great stuff there and new things are being added
all the time.
Best Regards,
Rick Alexander
http://www.miditrax.com
I'm
looking to integrate more midi's into my live performances the problem
is, is that I'm not to happy with
the sound of my midi gman sound
module. It's okay considering the price that I paid for it and all but
there
has to be something out there that
won't cost 2 arms and a leg to purchase and make it work the way I want
it to!
I was in the Guitar Center today
and was trying to get some answers as to what was available for my pc in
the form of a sound card. What
I want to do is record onto a CD-R-RW take it to the gig and play it through
a
regular CD player. This will take
the load off my Yahmaha sequencer which is to say a simple 3.5 disk driver,
anyways back to the point of the
question.
I want a Midi sound card that will
give me more realistic bass and guitar sounds not to mention brass and
woodwind instuments too! Now I
realize that this will more than likely cost somewhere in the vicinity
of
$1000.00 just for the sound card,
and that it may also give me the ability to record live and be a 4 track
recorder at the same time. For
the moment that's not important, but the sound is I'm hoping that you can
help
and give me some viable information
that I can use to make an informed decision.
My thanks
Sincerely
Ray Jacques
Music By Ray
Hi Ray,
I prefer to keep MIDI and Audio separate on my computer, it causes less
problems. So I use a DAL Card
D+ Sound Card, which
does Audio only. For MIDI, I use a Music Quest 8Port SE MIDI Engine (any
dedicated
MIDI Interface will
do) and a bank of Synth Modules. The one I use for General MIDI is an Alesis
S4+ (now
discontinued), because
it has a killer GM bank. I would recommend The Roland SC88 Pro as a synth
module
- it has great sounding
patches both in the GM bank and the other banks, and it costs under $1,000
(about
$800 I think). For
GM, stay away from the Alesis QSR and The KORG NS5R modules - they are
both great
machines in their
own right and have some nice features, but their default GM banks are less
than marvelous.
Using CD/ R to record your backups is a cool idea - I had started to do
that myself. But the most
economical and problem
free platform for live perfomance is a Mini Disk Player. Sony makes one
that goes
for around $250
(at Best Buy) so you could carry a spare to the gig. The disks are very
inexpensive and hold
30 - 40 songs each,
which can be acessed instantly with the push of a button, or programmed
to play a whole
set.
Ray, I hope this helps, and if you have any more questions or problems
please don't hesitate to contact me.
Best Wishes For A
Happy & Prosperous New Year,
Rick Alexander
http://www.miditrax.com
thanks for the info
- very helpful !
Ray Jacques
I don't understand all this copyright stuff
! Is something copyrighted just because I say it is on my web site? Can
I really put it a sealed envelope and mail it to myself and be protected
that way? And how do I get Composer's Royalties? Any info would be appreciated
!
Al
Hi Al,
We get a lot of e-mail asking about this, so we have put up a page with
all the Copyright and Performing Rights Info & Links you'll ever need
to understand how it all works, register your copyrights, and collect Composer's
Royalties. It's http://www.miditrax.com/Copyright.htm
Good Luck !
Rick Alexander
Hi Sam,
If you're using Windows 98, the problem may be the Driver. Go to the Event
web site - Software
Downloads and download the latest Driver and follow the instructions
to install it. If that doesn't do it, call up Event tech support - (805)566-7777.
Good Luck
Rick Alexander
Thank you Thank you - the new driver fixed
the problem ! Everything is working now ! Thank You ! !
Sam
Hi Rick,
I use both Cakewalk Pro Audio 5.0 and
the DOS version Cakewalk Standard 4.0 E. My system uses Windows 95 and
my soundcard is a Soundblaster AWE 32 Pnp.The config for the soundcard
is: Set Blaster=A220 I5 D1 H5 P330 E620 T6 For the DOS Cakewalk Standard
4.0 E = IRQ 5 P330. Using the MPU-401 copied
to the Midiport.drv Pro Audio will play
the soundcard and when I change the setting to direct it to the external
synth will play either perfectly. The problem is I can't get the
DOS Cakewalk Standard 4.0 E to play the external synth which is a Korg
X5. It will play the soundcard correctly but will not direct
any output to the external synth. Help!
Thanks, Bobby
immortal@terranova.net
Hi Bobby,
If your system works
fine with 5.0, that means the IRQ and I/O are fine - no conflicts. Have
you tried restarting the computer in DOS mode (to get out of Windows 95?)
Cakewalk DOS may not work correctly with Windows
running. And
since your sound card works with it but not your synth,have you checked
your output port settings? Is it just the Korg that doesn't receive signals
or is it any MIDI device (i.e. modules etc.)? If you have access
to another MIDI device, you could try it and then you'd know if the problem
lies in output port settings or the MIDI
cofiguration of
the KORG. Anyway, let us know if this brings you anycloser to a solution,
and we'll take it from there. Good Luck.
regards,
Rick Alexander
Hi Rick;
Thank you for your reply and suggestions. I tried starting Cakewalk
Standard 4.0 E for DOS just using
DOS and not Windows and it worked. It
played my X5 just like it should.
I appreciate your help and glad I
visited your site.
Thanks,
Bobby
Hello!
Before i ask you what i want to, let me
inform you that i am an ignoramus
with flying colours when it comes to comps.
I hardly know how to use all
the applications installed, however once
i find what i want i become an
expert in that.
With this is mind, please dont laugh when
i ask you:
1) i have media player and sound recorder,
do i need to download midi
player from somewhere (is it a totally
different application?). I
f so, where?
If not, how do i download and record song
sequences?
2) i am looking specifically for, i guess
what they term, LATIN pop,
italian and spanish songs. I would appreciate
if you gave me instructions
on how to download the programme and the
songs (if neccessary), record
songs, and urls as to the above.
Grazie
;o)
sonia
Hi Sonia,
Don't worry - I won't laugh at you - nobody knows everything, and everybody
knows something . . .
Yes, a MIDI Player is a totally different application. A MIDI player contains
the instrument sounds and the MIDI
file tells it what
notes to play with which instruments. Some sound cards have MIDI function
in them, although
usually the sounds
are not very good quality. The best way (and the most expensive) to record
& play MIDI files
is to have a MIDI
Interface installed in the computer and plug a synth module, which contains
the instrument
sounds or patches,
into it. This can cost a lot of money, and I get the impression that you
just want to download
some software that
plays MIDI Files. If you are using Netscape Navigator 3.0 or better,
the Beatnik Plugin will
do this. Actually
your best bet would be to first download the latest version of Netscape
Communicator 4.5
Professional, which
includes the newest Navigator. You can get a free evaluation copy at
http://www.netscape.com
To play a MIDI file,
click on the link and Beatnik should play it. To save it, right-click on
it and choose "save link as", and the dialog box comes up asking you where
to save it. You can save it to a floppy disk or create a file on the desktop
by right-clicking on the desktop & choosing "NEW - FOLDER" & naming
it "midi" or something.
To find MIDI files, click on the "search" button on your browser &
pick a search engine (Yahoo,Infoseek,Lycos etc.), & type "midi files"
or "midi" in the little window & hit the search button. A list of MIDI
sites comes up &
you can check out
the ones that sound like they might have what you want.
Also you can look through the MidiRing sites (link is at the bottom of
the MIDITRAX home page where you were).
To learn more about MIDI, you can go to
http://www.cakewalk.com & print out a copy of the "Desktop Music
Handbook". (29 pages) It's an excellent reference. Good Luck
Dear Miditrax,
Hi, I just found your site and the midi's
are killer! It says I can download one and use it in a web page.
How do you download?There's no download bar on any of them.
I'd really like to put one to a page,
can ya help me out? I love SummerStorm
Thanks.
Sincerely,
Mystery Girl
Hi MG,
Thank you for your interest in MIDITRAX - I'm glad you like my creations.
To download a .mid
file (or any file for that matter), just right-click on the link, a dialog
box comes up - choose
"save link as",
another dialog box comes up asking where you want to save it to. You can
save it to a 31/2"
floppy disk if you
like - another option that I think is more convenient is to first create
a folder on your desktop by
right-clicking on
the desktop - choose "new - folder" and a new folder appears. Name it "midis"
or something
and then you can
save any MIDIs you get to that folder.
In my Original MIDIs section http://www.miditrax.com/originalmidis.htm
I have each MIDI file autoplaying on a page with the player hidden. I do
this for entertainment value, and so people will e-mail me and ask for
the file. But all you have to do to access the files is substitute ".mid"
for ".htm" in the Location Window and press Enter.
Then when the player
appears, right click on it, type in the name of the file and save it. And
you can always look at the HTML (View - Page Source) to verify a filename
and location. All my compositions are copyrighted
and registered with BMI.
To embed a .mid file in a web page (i.e. have it play automatically when
the page loads) just insert these HTML tags
somewhere in your page;
>For Netscape Navigator
<EMBED SRC="SummerStorm.mid" AUTOPLAY=TRUE HIDDEN=TRUE>
If you want the
song to play repeatedly add LOOP=TRUE INFINITE=TRUE
within the tag.
>For Internet Explorer
<BGSOUNDSRC="SummerStorm.mid" WIDTH=0 HEIGHT=2 AUTOSTART=true LOOP=1>
Make sure you type
the filename exactly like the original, especially upper & lower case.
Then all you have to do is make sure the .mid file
is in the same folder as the web page. If it isn't, you'll get a "FILE
NOT FOUND" error message.
To place a link to a .mid file (or any file) on a page, just place a link
in any graphic or text . Type in the name of the
file or scroll down the list of drives and folders until you come to your
"midis" folder, click on it, and click on
the .mid file.
I hope this helps you. If you have any more questions, please feel free
to ask.
I could be more
specific if I knew which browser you use and which apps. you use to design
your web pages. I
recommend Netscape
Communicator 4.5 which has the latest Navigator and it also has Netscape
Composer
- a very cool web
page authoring program. You can download it free at http://www.netscape.com
It is very easy
to use, and you'll
be able to send & receive HTML E-mail. Let me know how it goes . .
. . .
Best Regards
Rick Alexander
http://www.miditrax.com
How can I master CDs using CPA 6.0 and
what hardware/software do you recommend?
Dennis Maille
Hi Dennis,
You can master CDs using CWPA6.0 by ;
1. Mixing your MIDI
and Audio tracks to your satisfaction
2. Enable Left &
Right Audio to record on your sound card.
3.Record the whole
song (MIDI and all) onto the two tracks of Audio.
4. Listen to the
stereo audio mix you have created, and if you're happy with it;
5. Select the two
audio tracks and go to File - Utilities - Export Audio to Wave and click.
6. This brings up
the dialogue box asking you where you want to save it etc.
You now have a giant
WAV File of your song taking up 30+ MB.
The Ricoh RO62001 otherwise known as GRW2001 from Glyph Technologies is
a
great little unit
for the price (about $500), fully capable of producing Redbook CDs.
Software is not
included, yes you do need it, a good choice ( the one Glyph recommends)
is CD Architect
from Sonic Foundry (about $300). I have gotten excellent results with this
combination. For
more info, call
Glyph Technologies at (607)275 0345, or checkout their web site - http://www.glyphtech.com
.
Sonic Foundry's
URL is http://www.sfoundry.com
Rick,
Thanks for the info on CD-Recordables
and CWPA6.0. Very helpful, except
now I'm depressed that I'll have to go
out and buy extra software for
mastering CD's, it never seems to end.
Checked out your website and really
like the MIDI files of Rockin Horsie and
Runaway Freight, nice work.
Thanks again,
Dennis Maille
Has anyone successfully been able
to print music scores to an HP 820Cse
Deskjet printer using any version
of Cakewalk? I recently purchased one
and am getting core dumps whenever
I try to print in a small font. I've
seen the faq on various problems
with HP printers using Cakewalk 3.0,
which is my version and the 820Cse
is demostrating the same fault. I
was wondering if upgrading would
solve the problem or if this is a
general problem using HP printers
with Cakewalk. Thanks in advance for
any info.
Mark
Hi Mark,
I had the same problem with an HP820Cse and then with an 870Cse. It's a
problem with the HP drivers being unable to handle the complex staff fonts.
I was advised to use the generic Windows HP driver, but I had no luck
there. I finally
solved the problem by taking the printer back to the store and exchanging
it for an Epson Stylus
Color 800, which
handles the task with no problems and is a great all-round printer besides.
It's frustrating, I know....Good luck . . . . .
Rick Alexander
Hi Siegfried -
The audition feature plays the first 3 seconds of the clip, so you need
to use the scissors tool to snip off (and delete) any silent portion in
the clip which precedes the actual audio. Hope this solves the problem.
Best of
luck to you.
Rick Alexander
http://www.miditrax.com
Hi Rick,
Thanks for your help, it really solved
the problem.
Regards
Siegfried.
Hi B.J.
You can use compress your .wav files into mp3 files http://www.miditrax.com/mp3.htm
or encode your .wav files to .ra in the high end Dual ISDN Stereo
Algorithm using the free RealProducer G2 Beta http://www.real.com
This Algorithm sounds pretty good and it's only 6% of the size of a.wav
file.Then instruct your visitors to right-click on the link, choose "save
link as", and save the file to disk.
Then they can play
the file whenever they wish. Have Fun!
Rick Alexander
Dear Rick,
Thanks so much for
the tip. I didn't realize I could do that! I really love your
web site, especially The Bracelet !
B.J.
Hi Troy,
No, there is no way to convert an audio CD to midi, except by sequencing
all the parts individually. In fact there are thousands of MIDI musicians
who make their living doing just that, so if someone invents such a program,
they'll all have to find a new line of work.
However, Cakewalk Pro Audio 6.01 has an Audio to MIDI feature that allows
conversion of single note parts from audio to MIDI. It does not work well
with voice, or instruments that use bends and slurs, and will not convert
multi-timbral parts
(chords, harmonies etc.).
Best Regards,
Rick Alexander
http://www.miditrax.com
I have a big problem when using midi and
audio together. I have a Yamaha DB50XG (daughterboard) on my SB16. When
i try
using midi and audio together in any sequencer
I get stuck midi notes all the time. I have downloaded the latest drivers
but nothing
seems to have improved. It happens when
I use FM-synthersizer as well, so it's not the Yamaha card that's failing.
What can I
do?? Exept bying a new soundcard :(
Regards Jonas.
Hi Jonas,
The DB50XG and SB16 is not a very good combination - a lot of people have
been having problems with
them.
The SB16 is pretty slow and obsolete, and it borrows processing power from
the main CPU when
recording and playing
audio. You didn't say anything about your computer - if it has a
slower CPU, that may
be contributing
to the problem. In this case the solution may be to limit the number of
audio tracks, and if that
doesn't help try
to use lower resolution and/or lower sampling rate on the audio to relieve
the demand for
processing power.
I have always found the best approach is to keep MIDI and Audio separate
by having a MIDI interface and a
dedicated audio
only sound card like the DAL CardD+ (and now the Card Deluxe). It's also
a good idea to
use one or more
synth modules plus a separate controller for MIDI and then mix it all down
on to DAT or
ADAT. Althiough
it costs a few more bucks, this methodology precludes a lot of the typical
snafus and pitfalls
encountered in desktop
recording. I use Cakewalk Pro Audio 8.
Good Luck,
Rick Alexander,
