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Repeated notes "merged" into a single long note

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Francisco
Posts: 1
New Member
Topic starter
 

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.

 
Posted : 11/01/2020 9:53 am
Eddie Lotter
Posts: 295
Reputable Member
 

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.

 
Posted : 11/01/2020 10:09 am
Bavi_H
Posts: 267
Reputable Member
 

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.

 
Posted : 11/01/2020 4:17 pm
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