Listening to MIDI files

Discuss playback problems, including VST, Garritan, MIDI, etc.

Moderators: Peter Thomsen, miker

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Deacon Don
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Post by Deacon Don » Sun Jan 22, 2012 10:48 pm

I have Finale 2012 and I'm using Garritan sounds. Why do the
MIDI files only play with the piano sound? I want the instruments
to be heard.
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Peter Thomsen
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Post by Peter Thomsen » Sun Jan 22, 2012 11:21 pm

Which piano sound do you hear?
Is it the Garritan Steinway Piano?
Or is it the SmartMusic SoftSynth Grand Piano?
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Deacon Don
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Post by Deacon Don » Sun Jan 22, 2012 11:31 pm

Peter Thomsen wrote:Which piano sound do you hear?
Is it the Garritan Steinway Piano?
Or is it the SmartMusic SoftSynth Grand Piano?
I don't know.

What if it's SmartMusic Softsynth?
What it it's Garritan.

Maybe I should ask how to make a MIDI file that uses
the sounds on the piece. All I know is that before 2012 there
wasn't a problem. Now there is.
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Peter Thomsen
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Post by Peter Thomsen » Mon Jan 23, 2012 6:06 am

Let me get this straight:

You are using Finale 2012 with the Garritan sounds, and you are saving from Finale 2012 as MIDI, right?

And the exported MIDI files only have piano sound, right?



1) What settings have you chosen in the dialog box "Export MIDI File Options" (see the screen shot)?
ExportMidiFileOptions.jpg
Export MIDI File Options
ExportMidiFileOptions.jpg (29.2 KiB) Viewed 15530 times
2) When you listen to the MIDI files you have exported from Finale, what program are you using to play the MIDI files?
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Deacon Don
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Post by Deacon Don » Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:55 am

Peter Thomsen wrote:Let me get this straight:

You are using Finale 2012 with the Garritan sounds, and you are saving from
Finale 2012 as MIDI, right?

And the exported MIDI files only have piano sound, right?



1) What settings have you chosen in the dialog box "Export MIDI File Options"
(see the screen shot)?
ExportMidiFileOptions.jpg
2) When you listen to the MIDI files you have exported from Finale, what
program are you using to play the MIDI files?
All the above is correct.

I appreciate your help. I believe it would be a good idea if you'd just tell me
what to do instead of asking 20 questions. Wouldn't that cut to the chase
and solve the problem? I'm not so much interested in knowing why as much
as just getting the job done.

I DO appreciate your help.
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Peter Thomsen
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Post by Peter Thomsen » Tue Jan 24, 2012 2:03 am

Deacon Don wrote:
Peter Thomsen wrote:Which piano sound do you hear?
Is it the Garritan Steinway Piano?
Or is it the SmartMusic SoftSynth Grand Piano?
I don't know.

What if it's SmartMusic Softsynth?
What it it's Garritan.

Maybe I should ask how to make a MIDI file that uses
the sounds on the piece. All I know is that before 2012 there
wasn't a problem. Now there is.
Let us be scientific about this.

Obviously something has changed.

1) What are you using to play the MIDI file?
An external MIDI device? (e. g. Yamaha? Roland? …?)
A computer program? (e. g. QuickTime Player? Aria Player?)
Finale 2012?

2) What Finale version were you using before 2012?

3) I know that you are now (in Finale 2012) using Garritan sounds.
Is that the Garritan sounds that came for free with Finale?
Or have you bought the "full" Garritan?

4) Were you using the same Garritan sounds before Finale 2012?


For your information:

A. MIDI is not audio like mp3.
While audio contains the actual music sound, MIDI only contains the data about, how to perform the music:
What MIDI key to press, when to press it, when to release it, what playback sound to use, &c.
Depending on the playback device a MIDI file can sound quite differently, while an audio file always sounds the same.
There is a big difference between MIDI and audio in file size.
MIDI files are much smaller than audio files.

B. There is also a big difference between General MIDI sounds like the SmartMusic SoftSynth and sampled sounds (VST) like Garritan sounds.
While sampled sounds like Garritan are recordings of actual music instruments, General MIDI sounds are described and generated with mathematical formulas.
Sampled sounds are much bigger than General MIDI sounds in file size (and sampled sounds generally sound better).

I suspect (but it is just a hunch) that you are hearing some sort of General MIDI piano sound (rather than the Garritan Stenway), when you play the MIDI file.
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miker
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Post by miker » Tue Jan 24, 2012 2:06 am

Let's be a little more polite, bucko. Peter is trying to find out as much as he can, so he can try to give you a correct answer. He doesn't work for Finale (nobody here does,) and is under no obligation to tell you anything at all.

If you don't like it, contact MM tech support.
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Deacon Don
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Post by Deacon Don » Tue Jan 24, 2012 2:24 am

Does anyone know how to solve my problem?

If you do then please provide the necessary information to
solve the problem.

Thanx!
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Deacon Don
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Post by Deacon Don » Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:00 pm

miker wrote:Let's be a little more polite... Peter is trying to find out as much as
he can, so he can try to give you a correct answer. He doesn't work for Finale
(nobody here does,) and is under no obligation to tell you anything at all.
I was very polite. There was simply no need for 20 questions.

Secondly, I never expected an answer from someone who works for Finale. However,
they may be the best course of action. Thank you for the suggestion.

If anybody knows how to produce a MIDI file with the Garritan sounds while
using Finale 2012 then please provide the instructions.
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miker
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Post by miker » Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:08 pm

No? Then how was he supposed to figure out what is causing your problem? Because it's YOUR problem: if other people had the same issue, it would have been all over the forums by now. There is something in your configuration, or something that you have or haven't done, that's causing the problem.

If there was a "one fix fits all," he would have given it to you. Or, he could have given you one POSSIBLE fix, and then you would have been back moaning that it didn't work. (Repeat ad nauseum.) Give the man a break, and help him help you.

Still, I suggest you contact tech support. They have the database of reported problems, and suggestions on how to fix them.

Otherwise, I direct you to Barbara Billingsley's last comment, in Airplane.
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Deacon Don
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Post by Deacon Don » Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:26 pm

miker wrote:No? Then how was he supposed to figure out what is causing
your problem?
Figuring it out wasn't necessary. You know it, I know it and he knows it.
There is a way to create a MIDI file using Garritan sounds.
1. Set your widgets to abc.
2. That's how it's done.

Yes. It's that simple.

You're no help, either.

Good day.
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Deacon Don
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Post by Deacon Don » Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:28 pm

Oh, by the way, the problem as since been solved. I set my widgets to
abc and all is well.

If you want to know how to do that then ask Peter, whom I believe is a
very nice person but not a problem solver.
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miker
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Post by miker » Wed Jan 25, 2012 12:24 am

<head slap> How stupid of me. Here I assumed that, expert user that you are, you had already tried setting the widgets to ABC, and it it didn't work, and so, you had a problem.

You win.

Happy?
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Deacon Don
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Post by Deacon Don » Wed Jan 25, 2012 12:40 am

miker wrote:How stupid of me. Here I assumed that, expert user that you are,
you had already tried setting the widgets to ABC, and it it didn't work, and so,
you had a problem
You made several unintelligent assumptions.

1. Had I set me widgets to abc then all would have been well.
2. I'm not an expert nor has that been postulated.
3. If there were unintelligent assumptions then someone would have
corrected then. Nobody did. Including you, but that's because you don't know
the answers.

The only unintelligent assumptions came from you. Had they been intelligent
assumptions you would have told me what to do. You haven't. Why? Because you
are clueless and have supplied the necessary evidence to show how clueless you
are. Yet, you continue to provide no pertinent information. Why? Because you
don't know.

Thanks for all the help you haven't provided nor are capable of providing.
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miker
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Post by miker » Wed Jan 25, 2012 1:22 am

Let's both back off with the personal insults, and let me pose a situation.

You go to the hospital, and say, "It hurts." You might even say, "My head hurts."

Do you expect the doctors to hand you a pill, and send you on your way, or would you expect to be asked a few questions, first?

That's exactly what Peter was doing. He was trying to determine exactly what you had done, what you hadn't done, what you were expecting, and what you weren't getting. There were any number of reasons why you might not have been getting the playback you expected. Early in the thread, you said that you didn't know if you were using Garritan, or soft synth sounds. So you don't think that's a valid question?

It could have been the output device that was giving you a sound you weren't expecting. You don't think that's a valid question, either?

If you don't want to know the why, but only the how, that's fine, I guess. Pretty limiting, but that's just my opinion. But I don't think that Peter's questions were at all out of line. And in the final analysis, by your own admission, you had the settings wrong. And you figured out what the settings should have been, and you changed them. Good on you. But we didn't know what was wrong. Peter's not a mind reader. He is, however, one of the most knowledgeable users of Finale on this or any other forum, even if you don't think so. And much more patient and thorough than I am.

And that should be the end of this thread.
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Deacon Don
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Post by Deacon Don » Sat Jan 28, 2012 11:50 pm

miker wrote:Let's both back off with the personal insults, and let me pose a situation.

You go to the hospital, and say, "It hurts." You might even say, "My head hurts."
This is apples and oranges.

The problem, that has been fixed, was very easily done so by another poster via pm.
How did it get fixed?

Peter is probably an engineer type and want's to know more than is necessary to fix
a problem. I appreciated his effort and told him so. However, he was of no help at that
time. You, on the other hand, have been of no help.

Feel free to ignore any questions I post on the forum. In fact I encourage it.

Good day.
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