How do I submit midi file to mudcat?

Subject: How do I submit midi file to mudcat?
From: SingsIrish Songs
Date: 17 Nov 13 - 05:15 AM

Hi all,
I have a midi file that goes with the song Runaway Mare (from another discussion of mine on here...see thread: Many Thanx Mick Lowe, Frank Maher & Joe Offer). Is there a way to submit it in a thread??

Thanks!
Mary

Subject: RE: How do I submit midi file to mudcat?
From: maeve
Date: 17 Nov 13 - 05:30 AM

As I suggested on your other thread, send it via email to Joe Offer at joe@mudcat,org. He'll make a link.

Subject: RE: How do I submit midi file to mudcat?
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 17 Nov 13 - 11:06 AM

The most Mudcat-like way is to transform it to ABC text format that can simply be pasted to the Reply text box. The benefits for readers include:

• Those who can read ABC can get an idea of the melody without further action
• Others can copy-and-paste quickly into one of the free ABC software packages to see the dots and listen to the music
• It allows for typical notation items such as repeat marks, dynamics etc.
• No risk of invalid links (which did occur)
• It saves Joe some work.

To convert an existing MIDI file to ABC, you can use any one of those standard packages, or specific tools. I use MidiZyx2Abc, which is easy to use, and allows me to add those typical notation items using my native notation software. Many Mudcatters are happy with EasyAbc. (Google for download links, all free of charge. Thanks to the programmers!)

Subject: RE: How do I submit midi file to mudcat?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Nov 13 - 07:02 PM

Good idea, Grishka, and thanks for the concern; but Joe doesn't mind the work and we're trying to get MIDI files for as many of our songs as we can. ABC is really nice, but it's a little too complex for way to many people.


So if you can post an ABC, please do - but also e-mail a MIDI file to me for posting.

Thanks.

-Joe Offer-
[e-mail]

Subject: RE: How do I submit midi file to mudcat?
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 18 Nov 13 - 06:00 AM

An ABC text can very easily be transformed to a MIDI file if required (although the widely used module abc2midi has some idiosyncrasies). The most important advantage of ABC over MIDI for folk music is the allowance for repeat marks and volta marks. The MIDI file format does not have these.

Those "many people" who prefer MIDI files are likely to play them with Windows Media Player, which does not display the lyrics. (Other players such as "VanBasco's Karaoke Player" do.) Many of us want to see the dots as well; to get those from a MIDI file requires the possession of notation software - not any less complicated than ABC software, but inevitably missing out on those repeat signs, volta marks, segni, accents, fermata signs, staccato dots, multi-line lyrics, etc.

The "real thing" for such purposes would be MusicXML, but it produces very large text files that cannot possibly be read by humans. ABC was designed as a compromise with emphasis on brevity and (somewhat) readability.

Note that to produce ABC from MIDI automatically, and to paste ABC to an ABC software to play and view the dots, no knowledge of ABC is required at all - though of course you will miss out on the above bells-and-whistles. To add, say, a repeat sign to the final ABC text, is much easier to learn than the whole ABC syntax. Users of the tool MidiZyx2abc can do it in their notation programme, so they need not touch the ABC text at all (very welcome to me, since I am not really good at ABC myself).

Owners of modern notation software that allows MusicXML export (e.g. Finale) are better off: they can feed their MusicXML files to the tool xml2abc to get an ABC with most ornaments intact, notably including those important repeat/volta signs.

Unfortunately, xml2abc is a "command line utility", slightly less comfortable than MidiZyx2abc which has a graphical user interface. If I remember correctly, EasyABC hides xml2abc under its hood, in other words can open MusicXML files to produce ABC text from them. This might be the best solution for the command-linely challenged.

Another popular ABC package, but without MusicXML import, is ABCexplorer.

For collection purposes it should be noted that ABC text files normally take less storage space than their MIDI file equivalents - all the more so if the latter have all repeats played.

Subject: RE: How do I submit midi file to mudcat?
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 18 Nov 13 - 07:07 AM

For those who have yet to see the full beauty of ABC. The following can be viewed by cutting and pasting into: Mandolintab ABC converter This was done in 2011 for our church choir, where our copies were previously on A5 folded to A6. This made it much easier to read.

Cheers
Nigel

X: 1
T: Adam lay ybounden
M: 3/4
L: 1/4
C: Boris Ord (1897-1961)
N: Words anonymous (15th century)
Z: NP 31/10/2011
K: D
V: 1
!mp!B>B A/2 B/2 | F F2 | B>d c/2B/2 | F3 | dcd | BB2 | A/2A/2 B ^G | F3 |!p! F2 F/2B/2 | A A>A | d>d A/2B/2 | A2 z | AAB | (A/2G/2) G2 | F/2F/2 G B | F3 |!mf! d d/2d/2 c/2d/2 | A/2A/2 A>A | d>f e/2d/2 | B3 | e/2e/2 d/2d/2 e | A A>!crescendo(!B | c d/2 e/2 f | e3!crescendo)!|!f! d d c/2B/2 | A2 A | f>f e/2 d/2 | e3 | e>e f/2d/2 | e e e/2f/2 | (g>f d/2e/2 | f>e c/2)d/2 | e f d | (B>A B/2d/2 | c)(>BA) | B3 ||
w: A-dam lay y-bound-en bound-en in a bond; Four thou-sand win-ter thought he not too long. All for an ap-ple, an ap-ple that he took, as clerk-es find-*en writ-ten in their book. Ne had the ap-ple tak-en been, the ap-ple tak-en been, Ne had nev-er our la-dy A been hea-ven-e queen. Bless-ed be the time that ap-ple tak-en was, There-fore we moun sing-en, De-o gra_____-ci-as! De-o gra___-ci-|as!
V:2
!mp!F F E/2D/2 | C C2 | D F E/2D/2 | (D C2) | F (F/2E/2) A | A2 G | F/2F/2 F (E/2D/2) | C3 | !p! D2 C/2B,/2 |C C>F | G>F E/2D/2 | C2 z | F (F/2E/2) F | E D2 | D/2D/2 D E | C3 | !mf!F F/2G/2 A/2F/2 | E/2E/2 E F | F F G/2A/2 | (A G2) | G/2G/2 F/2F/2 E | D F !crescendo(!F | A A/2A/2 F | A3!crescendo)! | !f!d d c/2B/2 | A2 A | A A A/2^G/2 | A3 | ^G A A/2F/2 | A A =G/2A/2 | (B>A F/2)G/2 | A2 A/2F/2 | (B A) A | A G>G | G2 F | ^D3 ||
w: A-dam lay y-bound-en bound-en in a bond;| Four thou- *sand win-ter thought he not too| long. All for an ap-ple, an ap-ple that he took, as clerk-*es find-en writ-ten in their book. Ne had the ap-ple tak-en been, the ap-ple tak-en been,| Ne had nev-er our la-dy A been hea-ven-e queen. Bless-ed be the time that ap-ple tak-en was, There-fore we moun sing-en, De-o gra_-ci-as! De-o gra-*ci-as! De-o gra-ci-as!
V:3 clef=treble-8 octave=-1
!mp!d d c/2 B/2 | B ^A2 | B F G/2G/2 | (B ^A2) | =A A d | d2 e | c/2c/2 d B | (B ^A)>!f!F | B>B A/2B/2 | F F>F | B>d c/2 B/2 | F2 z | d c d | B B2 | A/2A/2 B G | F3 | !mf!A d/2d/2 A/2A/2 | d/2d/2 c c | B B B/2A/2 | d3 | B/2B/2 d/2c/2 (B/2c/2)| d c !crescendo(!d | e d (A/2B/2) | c3!crescendo)! |!f! d d c/2 B/2 | A2 e | d d e/2e/2 | c3 |B c d/2d/2 |d c =c/2c/2 | d2 B | d>(c A/2)B/2 | (B/2c/2 d)>A | (B/2c/2) d>B | (e d) c | B3 |
w:A-dam lay y-bound-en bound-en in a bond;| Four thou-sand win-ter thought he not too long. *And all was for an ap-ple, an ap-ple that he took, as clerk-es find-en writ-ten in their book. Ne had the ap-ple tak-en been, the ap-ple tak-en been, Ne had nev-er our| la-dy A been hea-ven-e| queen. Bless-ed be the time that ap-ple tak-en was, There-fore we moun sing-en, De-o gra-ci-as! De-*o gra-**ci-as! *De-o gra-*ci-as!
V:4 clef=bass
!mp!B, D, E,/2E,/2 | F, F,2 | B, D, E,/2E,/2 | F,3 | D, A, F, | G,2 E, | F,/2F,/2 D, E, | F,3 | Z | Z |Z | Z | !p!D, A, D, | E, G,2 | D,/2D,/2 B,, E, | F,3 |!mf! D, D,/2E,/2 F,/2F,/2 |A,/2A,/2 A, F, |B, D, E,/2F,/2 | G,3 | E,/2E,/2 B,/2A,/2 G, | F, F, !crescendo(!D, |A, F,/2F,/2 D, | A,3!crescendo)! | !f!D D C/2B,/2 |A,2 C |D D C/2B,/2 | A,3 |E, A, D,/2B,/2 | A, A, =C/2C/2 |(G,/2A,/2 B,>G, |D,/2E,/2 F,>)B, | G, (D,/2E,/2) F, |(G,2 F, | E,2) F, | [B,,3F,3] |
w:A-dam lay y-bound-en bound-en in a bond; Four thou-sand win-ter thought he not too long As clerk-es find-en writ-ten in their book. Ne had the ap-ple tak-en been, the ap-ple tak-en been, Ne had nev-er our la-dy A been hea-ven-e queen. Bless-ed be the time that ap-ple tak-en was, There-fore we moun sing-en, De-o gra_____-ci|as! De-*o gra__ci-as!

Subject: RE: How do I submit midi file to mudcat?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 18 Nov 13 - 10:58 AM

Hi, SingsIrishSongs. I submit MIDI's to the Mudcat from time to time, and I'm happy to hear from somebody else who wants to. The nice thing about a MIDI is that the reader can hear how the tune goes, and if he owns MIDI software, he can download it, edit it, print it, share it...

I look forward to seeing your MIDI of Runaway Mare.
======
By the way, sites that convert ABC to MIDI seem to be disappearing. The only one I know of at present is at the mandolin tab site.

Subject: RE: How do I submit midi file to mudcat?
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 18 Nov 13 - 12:29 PM

Leeneia, those sites do nothing else than run software that can be downloaded by everybody for free. They do so until they find they get too much traffic. I know that you shun using ABC software (for reasons that I fail to understand), but those of us who do not have that reluctance will be happy to download either EasyABC or ABCexplorer and run it on their computers (Windows users; for Mac or Linux ask experts). This software can play ABC tunes directly or convert them to MIDI files.

Subject: RE: How do I submit midi file to mudcat?
From: MMario
Date: 18 Nov 13 - 12:41 PM

Grishka; for musical luddites like myself a clickable link to a midi is far more useful then abc; even though I have the computer skills to do the conversions from either midi or abc to sheet music.

(Not that sheet music does me a whit of good until I hear the audio)