Since you are a new member, you can not yet post a link to your software, but if you can tell me where to find it in a roundabout way, I would like to check it out.

I have a MASSIVE collection of MIDI files scoured from the web, as well as ones I've made myself for a project I've been working on. (A search on my laptop just now yielded 23,962 results... plus thousands of others I moved to an external drive a while back 😆 )

I only listen to a very small small set of these files as actual music (a few hundred at most), and the vast majority of the rest are for testing purposes while working on my MIDI editor.

Things that I have needed to check the collection for in the past (many of which I found in files that did not save the correct MIDI type within the file itself):

MIDI file type: 0 or 1 (and also 2!)

MIDI file MIDI type: GM, GM2, GS, XG

MIDI patch contents (ie, needed to find files that contained Dog Bark mapped to "standard" GS and XG patches)

Various XG specific contents (MSB 64 for SFX, MSB 127/128 for percussion)

Various GS specific contents (ie, custom drum part mapping)

Various GM2 specific contents (MSB 121 melodic, MSB 120 percussion)

Specific CC commands (ie, I need to find a batch of files that all contain portamento)

and obvious standard things like song titles, artists, etc

and probably lots of other things that currently slip my mind.

Hi Jason,

Thanks for your reply. This is very useful input for me.

I understand that I cannot post a direct link yet as a new member, so I will respect that. The project is called MusicNote Haven MIDI Manager, so it should be possible to find more information by searching for that name.

The program is being built for exactly this kind of situation: large MIDI collections with files from many different sources, often with inconsistent names, duplicates, unclear metadata and a lot of manual checking needed.

The current version already includes indexing, searching, reviewing, listening and organizing workflows for .mid, .midi and .kar files, together with several MIDI analysis and classification features. I am also preparing a website and manual that describe the current functionality more clearly, because it is easier to explain properly there than in a short forum reply.

Your collection sounds like a very good real-world test case. If you are interested, I would really appreciate your feedback once the preview is available, especially on what works well with a large archive, what the program misses, and which analysis or review features would be most useful to improve next.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

Hi everyone,

A quick project update: MusicNote Haven MIDI Manager 0.9.0 is now available as a controlled release candidate for Windows and Linux testers.

The current version includes workflows for indexing and searching large MIDI/KAR collections, deeper file analysis, review queues, safe copy-only library organization, playback, and creating or inspecting floppy image files for legacy keyboard and Gotek workflows. Original source files are never moved, renamed or deleted by the organizer.

I am especially looking for feedback from people with large mixed MIDI archives, older keyboards, floppy-based equipment, or real-world collections containing inconsistent filenames and metadata.

Testers receive a personal access link and a structured report form. Up to ten independent testers who complete a useful full report can receive a free Personal licence for the 1.0 generation.

Tester programme:
removed link

Jason, your large and varied test collection still sounds particularly relevant. The current analysis now covers substantially more than when I first posted, so your observations would be very valuable.

I had given it a quick test a couple of weeks ago. It was more difficult to "get started" than I anticipated, as I was using the demo and hadn't looked at the quick start guide, so I could not figure out what many things meant. My initial plan was to just pick a large folder and have it analyzed. The file count limit in the demo kept me from quickly testing anything useful,  as none of my first 25 files I loaded had any useful info it could extract without manual confirmation. 

I started to write a reply, but then found the guide. I haven't gone back to give it another shot yet.

Unfortunately you do not have enough posts here yet to be able to post links, but I can try it out again when I have some free time. 

Posted by: Jason

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I had given it a quick test a couple of weeks ago. It was more difficult to "get started" than I anticipated, as I was using the demo and hadn't looked at the quick start guide, so I could not figure out what many things meant. My initial plan was to just pick a large folder and have it analyzed. The file count limit in the demo kept me from quickly testing anything useful,  as none of my first 25 files I loaded had any useful info it could extract without manual confirmation. 

I started to write a reply, but then found the guide. I haven't gone back to give it another shot yet.

Unfortunately you do not have enough posts here yet to be able to post links, but I can try it out again when I have some free time. 

Hi Jason,

Thanks for taking the time to try it and for explaining honestly where you got stuck. This is exactly the kind of feedback I need.

You are right. A program intended for large MIDI collections should let you choose a folder, start an analysis and understand the first results without first studying a guide. Finding the guide later may help explain the workflow, but the app itself should have made the next steps clearer.

The one-file demo limit was also much too restrictive for the test you wanted to do. It stopped you from seeing whether the program could actually do anything useful with your collection.

So I have two clear points to review: make the first-run workflow more self-explanatory inside the app, and make the demo useful enough for a real folder-based evaluation.

There is no pressure to try it again immediately. When you have some time, the Tester Programme on the MusicNote Haven website is the route to request access to the current 0.9.0 release candidate, rather than judging the program only through the one-file demo.

Your collection would still be an excellent real-world test, but this first attempt has already been useful to me.

Thanks again, Jason. I appreciate the honest feedback.

Small correction to my previous reply: I misread what you wrote about the demo limit.

The current Trial / Free version is intended to let you select a large source folder and index and analyse its contents. The 100-file limit applies to files copied into the Organized Library, not to the number of source files that can be analysed. My reference to a “one-file demo limit” was therefore incorrect.

That makes your experience useful for a different reason. Either the limit and workflow were not explained clearly enough, or something did not behave as intended in the version you tried. The fact that your first 25 files still required manual confirmation is especially useful feedback for me to investigate.

When you have time to try it again, I would be interested to know which version you used and exactly what happened after you selected the folder. There is no rush.

Thanks again, Jason, and apologies for misreading that part of your message.

I checked, and the original installer I downloaded was marked 0.1.0

I have downloaded and tried out 0.9.0.  I have some comments, but also note that I do not tend to use any kind of library organization software.

Comments below are immediately after installation and running.  The program was not closed after initial installation.

I paid more attention to the initial startup process after running the install this time around.  I noticed a tick box for scanning the MIDI folder once the initial setup was complete.  This is something I missed with my prior testing, and was helpful to have.  I think it should be enabled by default.

I ran the Library Analysis options, with some mixed results.  It says that 4064 files were detected, but then there are 14,649 records?  A manual Windows search of the same folder structure shows 7860 .mid and 16 .kar files.  After analysis, including deep analysis, it shows varying numbers that also don't seem to line up.  See the attached screenshot.

After running the full analysis, I went to the Dashboard, and it still showed that deep analysis had not been run.  See screenshot in the reply (can only attach one attachment per post) [NOTE: after I quit and restarted, the dashboard updated to include the deep analysis results, also included in the screenshot]

In a Search, any files that failed the deep analysis show "PENDING" under the Deep Status.  I do like that it shows the MIDI type in the columns to the right, though not sure what the distinction is between Yamaha and XG, and Roland and GS.  For GM files, I would also like a distinction between GM and GM2 files (General MIDI Level 2, not the new General MIDI 2 standard).  An indicator for type 0/1 files would also be nice to have.

I like the MIDI Files By Device page.  Again, a distinction for GM2 files would be nice.  It appears to only be showing a small portion of my files.  GS and GM are maxing at 200 files, XG at 83.  I imagine this is a demo related limitation?  I'd like this list to also show the folder location of the files, and to be able to open files from here for playback with an external player or to open the containing folder.

I still find the Library Organizer tab very confusing.  There's a lot going on there, and a lot of technical descriptions that don't really explain what is happening or what to do next.  I'd expect to press the Analyze button, and have all files analyzed.  Having to do 25 at a time is painfully slow (is this also a demo restriction?).  Then files are marked as "Needs review"?  But I can't do anything with the list yet, so do I just do the next 25?  How long do I keep doing "Next 25"?  What does the Safe Copies button do?  The only option is has is "Plan All Open AUTO_SAFE Copies" and it can't do anything, and I really do not know what that means.  So I move to the Review button.  I can't save an empty artist for a file that I do not know the artist, and it has pulled something incorrect from MusicBrainz.  Nor can I approve a file because it is unable to open the database file.  There's not much else I can do in the Library Organizer tab, and so I am also unable to test out the MIDI Player section as it only works with an organized library.

Overall, I think MusicNote Haven MIDI Manager has a lot of promise.  I would likely use it only for simple things like locating MIDI files by device, mainly because any files I actually listen to regularly are already pre-organized in folders.  I can see it being very useful for others who prefer their collections more organized.

Here is the dashboard view after running the full analysis, before and after restarting.

Posted by: Jason

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Here is the dashboard view after running the full analysis, before and after restarting.

 dashboard-copy.jpg

Hi Jason,

First of all, thank you very much for taking the time to test 0.9.0 this thoroughly and for documenting what you found.

I only just saw your replies because the email address connected to my MIDI.org profile was one I do not monitor regularly. I have corrected that now, so I should see future replies much sooner.

Your feedback is extremely useful, particularly because it shows several places where the application either did not explain its state clearly enough or where the workflow was still too technical.

One important point is that the 0.9.0 build you tested is now quite a long way behind the current development version. We have made a very substantial number of changes since 0.9.0.

Some of the larger changes include:

• substantial performance improvements, particularly with larger MIDI collections;
• a new incremental, database-backed Organized Library browser;
• major improvements to the Playback Queue and its database integration;
• improved Dashboard statistics and status handling;
• extensive localization work throughout the application in English, Dutch, German, French and Spanish;
• adaptive command/button layouts that work much better at narrower window sizes;
• application-wide improvements to help text and tooltips;
• clearer licence-dependent behaviour and messages;
• substantial database and runtime hardening;
• additional automated and runtime validation, including the Trial/Free 100-file organization limit.

There have also been many smaller UI and workflow improvements.

Because the difference between 0.9.0 and the current development version has become so large, I have decided that it makes more sense to publish another pair of preview releases before the final 1.0 releases.

The current plan is to release 0.9.5 for Windows and 0.9.6 for Linux this weekend.

These will be the next testing builds on the Road to 1.0, before 1.0.0 for Windows and 1.0.1 for Linux.

Your specific findings are still very important, and I am going through them one by one.

The different counts you saw in Library Analysis and on the Dashboard definitely need attention. Seeing values such as 4,064 detected files alongside 14,659 indexed records is understandably confusing, regardless of what internal distinction produced those numbers. The Dashboard also should not require an application restart before showing completed analysis results.

I have also noted your comments about:

• enabling the initial source scan by default;
• PENDING being misleading for files whose analysis has already failed;
• clearer GM/GM2, Yamaha/XG and Roland/GS information;
• exposing MIDI Type 0/1 information;
• the apparent 200-file limitation in the device view;
• showing file locations and providing open-file/open-folder actions;
• the Library Organizer exposing too much technical terminology;
• the 25-item analysis workflow;
• handling unknown artists and incorrect MusicBrainz matches;
• the database-open error you encountered during review.

Your comments about the Library Organizer are particularly useful. A normal user should not need to understand terms such as AUTO_SAFE, planning batches and internal copy states simply to organize a MIDI collection. The application needs to make much clearer what it is doing, why a file needs review, and what the user is expected to do next.

I also appreciate your comment that the MIDI-by-device functionality is useful even though you personally do not want software reorganizing your existing folders. That is important to me. MIDI Manager should still provide useful analysis, search, device information and playback-related functionality without requiring somebody to reorganize their collection.

We also have a tester programme for people who would like to help with this final Road-to-1.0 testing. Up to 10 testers who complete the programme and provide a full test report can receive a free Personal licence. Feedback like yours is exactly the kind of real-world testing the programme is intended to encourage.

So if anyone else following this thread would like to test 0.9.5 or 0.9.6 when they become available, additional machines, MIDI collections and workflows are very welcome.

Once the new builds are available, I’ll post an update here. Jason, if you are willing to try the newer version as well, it would be especially useful to see which of your observations still apply after all the changes made since 0.9.0.

Thanks again for the detailed testing and screenshots. It genuinely helps shape what goes into the 1.0 release.