Hi guys, I've been having a problem while exporting an arrangement I did on Sibelius to be played on a MIDI crank organ. Yes, those normally working with punched paper but with MIDI instead.
I have to export on MIDI 0 format in order for the organ to playback it correctly BUT I've been having an issue and I haven't been able to solve it.
Somehow all the repeated notes would merge into one same long note, eg: four G notes, one quarter each, would sound as one whole G note.
Any help please??
Best,
Francisco.
I suspect this is because the next G starts exactly where the previous G ends. The MIDI crank organ probably has a mechanical limitation as to how fast it can stop and start playing the same note.
Shorten the notes by a few ticks to ensure the note ends before the start of the next note. You will have to experiment to find the sweet spot.
As Eddie Lotter said, many MIDI files often put the end of a note and the beginning of the next note at exactly the same time. If you send notes of the same pitch like this to a mechanical instrument, it won't have time to stop between the notes.
As a simple fix, you could reduce the length of all notes in a MIDI file by a small amount. For example, you could use the free Windows MIDI sequencer Sekaiju as follows:
1. In the Edit menu, choose Select All.
2. In the Edit menu, choose Modify Event's Duration.
3. Select Relative ticks and type in a negative number.
If you only want to reduce the length of notes when it is needed (when notes of the same pitch are touching and you want to create a small gap between them), I wrote a script for Sekaiju Application Language, a $5 add-on for Sekaiju: Player Piano Prep Script. (The script also helps in case you are converting a multi-instrument MIDI file for playback with a single instrument. If notes of the same pitch overlap, it removes the overlap.)
I'm interested if anyone knows of any other tools to add gaps between notes like this. I can't find good terms to search for it online.