Midi to MP3

[Metal-Ridley]

Alright, I've been remixing lately and I've finally finished my WIP, problem is it's in MIDI format, and I need to convert it to MP3 to submit it on OcRemix(but you knew that already). I've tried the Ease MIDI Converter program by Audiotools.net. It does convert my remix to MP3 format, but it also kills it in the process. Anyone knows/uses a really good MIDI to MP3 converter that DOESN'T kill your remix when it converts it?

Thank you for your time, and hopefully for your answers.

Edit: No more a problem, thanks to LiquidRain!

[yubee]

since a midi file is just data, aren't you using some kind of music program/sequencer to play and remix it? why not export it to mp3 using that program

[Metal-Ridley]

Apparently it can't, or well I haven't found it on Cakewalk yet. >< Anyway, LiquidRain told me to try and use ''What U Hear'' on Audacity and record my remix that way, then export it as an mp3... And well it worked great. =D

... Gotta edit that first post, again, then. oo;;

Thanks for your reply though, at least I haven't been completely ignored. XD

[Rozovian]

Simply converting midi to mp3 is NOT gonna get you a remix good enough to get on OCR. The one exception might be a solo piano piece, but even then, there better be some good default settings on the piano you're using. You need good soundfonts or other software instruments (samples/synths), plus a plethora of well used effects to balance and control the sound.

I hope I'm pointing out the obvious here. I suggest you take your remix via a judge or at least a wip regular. Good luck.

[Kanthos]

Yeah. There's no way that your remix, played back in whatever notation software you're using, will sound good enough to be posted. Don't waste your time submitting it; it will be a guaranteed NO. Get a DAW and some soundfonts or VSTs and work on making the mix sound realistic and human and not mechanical, then post it on the WIP section of the forum to get some feedback.

[prophetik music]

I've finally finished my WIP, problem is it's in MIDI format

lol! this is really funny if you read it a few times.

fyi, kid, you'll never get a mix on ocr in midi form. slap a few piano soundfonts on there (naturalstudios piano soundfont, anyone?) and make it sound like it's real and you'll have a chance, if the arrangement isn't shitty.

before you ask 'WHATS A SOUNDFONT GUYS' use google. it's well documented. we have a free mixing thread around somewhere too.

and don't pm me asking me how to do it. learn the way we all did.

[Zephyr]

After I got 2 posts in and no-one had told him the brutal truth I was starting to get worried. Composing/Arranging midi's is a good place to start, but it'll never get you on OCR. Learn about DAW's and such, it'll serve you well. After you learn to use a DAW start entering some competitions too, they'll help you improve.

[Metal-Ridley]

Mkay, so what I can understand from the last few posts is that either I didn't get McVaffe's tutorial, or it's bullshit. I remember quite well that he mentions to use Cakewalk, Logic Audio or Cubase VST. Now I've looked for Logic Audio and couldn't find it for free, and I don't really have the money to pay 30-40$ for a program that I'll probably only be using once every now and then. Then I looked for Cubase VST, found it, but couldn't make it work and since I'm not really good with computers that much, I tried checking up what the problem was and just plain didn't find it, so I got Cakewalk and worked with it. Thing is, it only works with MIDIs or WAVs, and you can't change instruments when working with the WAV format on Cakewalk, or I haven't found out how anyway.

I just followed what seemed to be the -beginner's- tutorial, considering I'm new to making remixes. Besides, I don't get why my remix wouldn't get on OCR when I've heard some major fails on here that sounded just plain awful.

Oh, and by the way the prophet of mephisto, I'm 21 so probably just about as old as you. If it's not too much to ask, don't call me kid. =|

Edit: Also, I forgot about this: I was using SoundFonts and I halfly knew what it was. I thought it was a bank of samples from different instruments, but in MIDI form. So I guess I was half right I think. If I was using SoundFonts, was I still in MIDI? Also, like I've already said before, I used the ''What U Hear'' tool on Audacity to record my remix and then exported it as an MP3.

[Zephyr]

Wow, please don't rant about things you are confused/don't know about. It just makes everyone look bad.

Mkay, so what I can understand from the last few posts is that either I didn't get McVaffe's tutorial, or it's bullshit. I remember quite well that he mentions to use Cakewalk, Logic Audio or Cubase VST. Now I've looked for Logic Audio and couldn't find it for free, and I don't really have the money to pay 30-40$ for a program that I'll probably only be using once every now and then

He never once suggests that those are free programs, you can't expect to get really good stuff for cheap-as-free either, there are a few demos out there to help you decide, but ultimately if you want to do anything decent you just might have to dish out some cash, if you''lll only be using it "occasionally" then you obviously aren't that serious about this.

so I got Cakewalk and worked with it. Thing is, it only works with MIDIs or WAVs, and you can't change instruments when working with the WAV format on Cakewalk, or I haven't found out how anyway.

Change instruments when working with WAV? What are you talking about? WAV's are audio files. Also just because you don't know how to do something or haven't bothered to look it up in the manual or online doesn't mean something's impossible. You made this topic in the Help & Newbies section remember?

I just followed what seemed to be the -beginner's- tutorial, considering I'm new to making remixes. Besides, I don't get why my remix wouldn't get on OCR when I've heard some major fails on here that sounded just plain awful.

Okay, you just said yourself that it's a BEGINNER tutorial for BEGINNER mixers, then you continue on to wonder why you couldn't get something into OCR. It takes a little more experience than "Beginner" to get a mix up, trust me. If you're expecting to get one up in your first or second mix, take a reality check. And is it that big of a deal to get it on OCR if you're not really serious about this (or so I gathered by not wanting to spend even $30) and might not even ever make a mix again?

Oh, and by the way the prophet of mephisto, I'm 21 so probably just about as old as you. If it's not too much to ask, don't call me kid. =|

I don't recall him calling you anything of the sort, he did however make a very valid point about how most people who don't know what they're doing tend to just ask the "gurus" about everything even if it could be very simply looked up. And you might try actually listening to the people who have accomplished what you are only hoping to achieve. Observe how correct he really was:

before you ask 'WHATS A SOUNDFONT GUYS'

I was using SoundFonts and I halfly knew what it was. I thought it was a bank of samples from different instruments, but in MIDI form. So I guess I was half right I think. If I was using SoundFonts, was I still in MIDI?

Even if that isn't an outright question, perhaps you should have taken his advice and just LOOKED THEM UP!

/rant

[prophetik music]

thanks zephyr, you just saved me a lot of time closing quote tags.

how to start mixing with reaper for free

mixing for free

mixing guide for multiple budgets

note that all of these are in the remixing forum, under the 'guides and tutorials' subforum.

just use your eyes, man. it's right there.

edit:

Besides, I don't get why my remix wouldn't get on OCR when I've heard some major fails on here that sounded just plain awful.

i missed this because i started just glossing over everything you wrote when you started complaining that we're mean. look at the dates of said awful mixes - they're invariable from before about 2003 or so. music posted in the last two years compared to pre-2004 music is roughly the equivalent of wagner's ring cycle compared to the composition i wrote for 9th grade theory class. the new stuff is WAY better because of WAY better quality control - aka, the judges - than they used to have.

[Metal-Ridley]

God dammit, I have a lot to reply here.

He never once suggests that those are free programs, you can't expect to get really good stuff for cheap-as-free either, there are a few demos out there to help you decide, but ultimately if you want to do anything decent you just might have to dish out some cash, if you''lll only be using it "occasionally" then you obviously aren't that serious about this.

It depends what you mean by ''being serious''. I do want to make some remix, and hopefully(eventually) some nice ones, but for now with school and stuff, I don't have enough time to make remixing a ''passion''. It's something I want to do for fun. Of course I -know- I'll have to spend a lot of time on my works if I want to make them pretty decent, but as I just said I don't want to be extremely hardcore with it: I've got other things to do, ie studying. =|

Okay, you just said yourself that it's a BEGINNER tutorial for BEGINNER mixers, then you continue on to wonder why you couldn't get something into OCR. It takes a little more experience than "Beginner" to get a mix up, trust me. If you're expecting to get one up in your first or second mix, take a reality check. And is it that big of a deal to get it on OCR if you're not really serious about this (or so I gathered by not wanting to spend even $30) and might not even ever make a mix again?

My original question wasn't to ask if I would make it the first time I'd submit something, by the way. I did get a bit carried away and say that I wouldn't see why my remix wouldn't be picked, but no I'm not actually thinking it WILL be picked on the first try. As mentionned earlier, remixing is pretty new to me and I highly doubt I have enough experience/talent to make a decent remix on the first shot. And I'll mix as much as I want. Pretty much the same everyone else who wish to mix does. =|

Even if that isn't an outright question, perhaps you should have taken his advice and just LOOKED THEM UP!

I've started to, and have yet to find an answer to that question. I didn't ask what a SoundFont was either, just if it was MIDI.

I don't recall him calling you anything of the sort, he did however make a very valid point about how most people who don't know what they're doing tend to just ask the "gurus" about everything even if it could be very simply looked up. And you might try actually listening to the people who have accomplished what you are only hoping to achieve.

Look at his first post, he did. And I'm not looking up to ''gurus'' to help me with whatever problem I have: I'm asking anyone who would have the answer to my question. If no one has an answer, or is interested to answer, I'll go look elsewhere and keep looking up the net for answers somewhere.

how to start mixing with reaper for free

mixing for free

mixing guide for multiple budgets

note that all of these are in the remixing forum, under the 'guides and tutorials' subforum.

Thanks for the links. I just got here so I didn't check everything up yet. I mostly based myself on what I found here: Tutorials

Now I'm guessing you're going to tell me that I should've checked out every forums and subforums for info and such before asking a question. Note that my question was first if there was a program somewhere to convert MIDIs to MP3s, not ''how to remix for free''. That wasn't even a question, I just stated that I didn't want to pay for a program I would only use now and then, considering I have other stuff to pay, like college.

[prophetik music]

i'm going to tell you you should have checked the logical sections. 'midi to mp3' is nubspeak for 'mix for free', for what it's worth. and that's what you want to do, isn't it?

oh, and even though i said i wouldn't do this, WHAT'S A SOUNDFONT GUYS. soundfonts are the equivalent to patches on an electronic keyboard - they're generally sampled sounds that are mapped to keyboard notes so that you can easily use them. now, the best way to learn more about them (rather than asking) is to just use the durn things and experience them for yourself.

edit: other stuff to pay for? lol, college should be paid for by the college, unless you're either going to a public college or not bright and don't apply for all the easy scholarships out there. i spent over 100k of my college's money in order to go to college, and i'm your standard WASP.

[Metal-Ridley]

i'm going to tell you you should have checked the logical sections. 'midi to mp3' is nubspeak for 'mix for free', for what it's worth. and that's what you want to do, isn't it?

Yup, that's what I wanna do. Thanks for telling me about this, I really had no clue it existed. I'll go check it out now.

oh, and even though i said i wouldn't do this, WHAT'S A SOUNDFONT GUYS. soundfonts are the equivalent to patches on an electronic keyboard - they're generally sampled sounds that are mapped to keyboard notes so that you can easily use them. now, the best way to learn more about them (rather than asking) is to just use the durn things and experience them for yourself.

I already started experimenting with them a little bit, but I'm not sure my ''experimentations'' were enough to give me a really good idea of everything SoundFonts can do. On top of that, I'm not really all that great with computers. I'm guessing I'm average with them, but still not good enough. I had a clue what SoundFonts were, I did make a connection that it was data samples from different instruments, but then again I didn't know everything. And even if I looked it up a bit, I guess I just didn't quite get everything I read.

As for the school thing, I'm guessing you're American, right? I'm not. I'm Canadian, and even worse I'm from Montreal, so the school system is really different up here. It's not extremely expensive, but I still have to pay for everything(fees, books and traveling). My parents aren't paying. So yeah, it can get a bit expensive if I'm not careful.

[Zephyr]

As for a VSTi Soundfont player (if you know how to use VST's that is, they're the basic format for plugin instruments, they work with most DAW's ) everyone else usually recommends sfz, but I've run into a lot of problems with sfz personnally, I've been using Soundfonter up till I got the Fruity soundfont player, check it out if you want to try some soundfonts, unless you've already found a player.

http://www.sanusart.com/SoundFonter_VSTi.zip

[starla]

I have to say that I am quite appalled by the rudeness in this thread, coming from people I'd never expect it from.

Metal-Ridley, I do wish you the best of luck. Remixing can be a lot of fun. Not all of us can be up to the OCR standards, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't remix. Do what you enjoy doing, and don't give up. There's a lot of good advice in the words said in between the hateful speech and sarcasm.

And if your remix gets rejected but you still feel it's good, feel free to submit it to remix.thasauce.net as well. Our standards aren't quite the same, as we allow covers and generally good music rather than the rigid set of rules OCR has. Don't get me wrong, it works well for this site, but there is still plenty of good music out there that might not make it up here, but still deserves to be heard by the general public.

[prophetik music]

starla's right, i'm not as big of an ass as i've made myself seem here.

if you do need help, feel free to pm me about it.

[Rozovian]

Looks like there needs to be an easily accessed FAQ on remixing, software, standards, mixing, etc..

Metal-Ridley, here's some resources, in case you haven't found them already:

... the guides, the remixing forum, the #ocrwip irc channel, the checklist, the submission standards, the remixing tab, the tutorials category...

[Kanthos]

Metal-Ridley, I think part of your problem is that you're confusing the type of data that you work with inside the DAW with the type of file that you can export.

Basically, you create MIDI data by entering notation, clicking notes on a piano roll, or recording from a MIDI keyboard. The DAW turns the MIDI data into audio either by using soundfonts, a VST or other plugin format, or by using your soundcard's built-in MIDI-to-audio capabilities.

Alternately, you can also input audio data directly by plugging your guitar into your mic input on your soundcard or by using a mic to record an instrument, voice, or other sound. (There are drawbacks and considerations for both methods, and plugging your guitar in directly isn't recommended on a standard soundcard).

Once you've gotten data into your DAW and have your song sounding the way you want, you have to export it to a file. Don't bother exporting to MIDI unless you plan on printing notation (although it's best and easiest to just work with a notation program like Finale or Sibelius in this case). I wouldn't bother with recording "What U Hear" either, as this will probably cause a loss of quality. Given that you've said you can't export as an MP3, what you should do is export as a WAV (you *can* do this in your software, right?) and use something like LAME to convert it to an MP3 for submission.

If I came across as harsh or rude earlier, I apologize, but I strongly recommend you post a version of your song in the WIP (work in progress) section of the forum for opinions before you submit. Your song can be in the judge's queue for a long time before you get a response. If that response is a NO (which, if you haven't humanized your performance by adjusting note velocities and overall dynamics, is pretty much guaranteed), you'll be waiting a long time, but if you post on the WIP forum first, you'll get feedback much quicker and will be able to do the fine-tuning you need to get your song OCR-worthy in less time.

[Zephyr]

starla's right, i'm not as big of an ass as i've made myself seem here.

Me too, not that it justifies it, but we get so many inexperienced people around here sometimes we just need to vent on one. I'm done being rude and I'd like to help now.

[prophetik music]

the main thing to remember is what exactly is what.

midi isn't sound - it's data that your soundcard decodes and turns into sound. if you use midi data in a daw (digital audio workstation, like reason, fl, or reaper), your program is converting that information (pitches, velocity, patch data) into data so that it can put into a vst and get sound out.

wave/mp3/ogg/whatever IS sound that your computer just spits out.

so, your question of midi to mp3 isn't actually possible - it's like taking scrap metal and turning it into canned food. you have to turn the metal into cans, and then put food in them - there's a step in between.

[Metal-Ridley]

..Wow, I must admit I'm rather stunned by the wave of non-rude help I've got since my last post. Thanks a lot guys, the last posts really helped a lot(even Mephisto's post before my last one).

It's alright about the rude-ness though, it's been forgiven. I can understand it might be frustrating to often have newbies with completely no experience, and probably some that might think they're as good as The Wingless or you guys or something, and I apologize again if that's the impression I was giving. I really want to learn to remix, and I know I will have to learn it the same way everyone did: experiencing, failing and trying again. I guess I was also part of the rude-ness problem by not really explaining clearly what my problem was, and I have been rude myself too. Sorry about that.

Once again though, thanks for the help guys!

midi isn't sound - it's data that your soundcard decodes and turns into sound. if you use midi data in a daw (digital audio workstation, like reason, fl, or reaper), your program is converting that information (pitches, velocity, patch data) into data so that it can put into a vst and get sound out.

wave/mp3/ogg/whatever IS sound that your computer just spits out.

so, your question of midi to mp3 isn't actually possible - it's like taking scrap metal and turning it into canned food. you have to turn the metal into cans, and then put food in them - there's a step in between.

I already knew midi was data and wav/mp3/aac/whatever was sound, but I thought it was possible to convert midis into sound considering there are programs out there which you can use to do so(though, when done the mp3 sounds like crap).

Anyway, I've got my answers now, and even more help than I asked for. XD I'll go back to my work and keep working on it with the information I got on here, and on the links posted and stuff. Third time: thanks again, people!