Chords & Software

Subject: Chords & Software
From: Raymond
Date: 24 Feb 99 - 08:36 PM

I looking for a program that I can play midi's with and it will tell me where the chord changes are and what the chord is. I use Cakewalk Pro 6.0 and I have Finale 3.0 Cakewalk does a good job of converting midi's to sheet music, but no guitar chords. Finale, I don't know what's the matter with it, it will give the guitar chords but they are not always right and you have to click on every note to get a chord diagram. I want a program that I can in put a midi and it will give me the score with guitar chords at the proper changes. Is that asking to much?

Subject: RE: Chords & Software
From: John in Brisbane
Date: 24 Feb 99 - 11:12 PM

Ah Raymond, and you probably think that you're chasing the Holy Grail! I've spent a lot of time on this, and have a couple of answers - depending on the types of Midis that you're listening to there may be an answer.

(1) If the Midi files you are playing have defined rhythm tracks with unarpeggiated chords, then Jammer (Shareware) does a brilliant job of interpreting the chord (no matter how complex) placing the whole score of chords on the screen and scrolling through them as you hear the tune played. There's a lot more detail I could go into, but it's probably better to wait for other responses to your question. Jammer is produced by Soundtrek, and it's only the most recent versions that have this feature.

(2) ABCMUS1.1 uses an algorithm to calculate the chord value for files in ABC format (which can be converted from Midis). This is a nifty low cost program and very useful for ABC users for a variety of reasons, but I am hesitant to commend it for your particular needs. I was initially sceptical about the chords generated for Celtic dance tunes, but having been recently inspired by the Double bassist and guitarist from Lunhasa I am keen to re-visit some of the apparently bizarre chords dreamed up by this program. The author is Henrik Norbeck (who contributes to this forum from time to time).

Hope that this provides a start for you.

Regards
John

Subject: RE: Chords & Software
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 25 Feb 99 - 01:05 PM

If you download your own copy of the DT database, the tunes will be in SongWright format.ABCMUS will set chords to SongWright as well as ABC formatted tunes.