Hi all,
I have been running into some problems with my PSR-2100 not always displaying lyrics even though I know they are in the file.
They play fine in Van Basco, but if I change them to .mid instead of .kar (because my cakewalk software does not recognise ,kar files)so I can tweak them here and there, then whether I change them back or load them as .mid into my psr, no lyrics appear.

Any help is appreciated.
It would be ideal if I could call someone. If you are home today and have some time you could spare, drop me an e-mail with your ph # and I'll call.
You guys all rock no matter what your music preferance.

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The old Newb

I have little experience with cakewalk and none with the the 21k but you might check to see if the words are on midi channel 2, which from what I understand,is the protocol for kar and mid with words.
Now I use powertracks pro and it reads kar files but it also searches for any channel with words on it so if you save it with words on a different track maybe it then doesn't meet the standard.
I've fooled around with cakewalk and could never see the words, but I didn' look that hard. That program is way more than I need so I've never bothered to learn it.
I will be home later around noon I'll check back

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qqqwq@hotmail.com

[This message has been edited by mikeathome1 (edited 11-17-2004).]

Hey OldNewb,

I'll pass along what I've learned about my GEM WK8 playing midi and kar files.

The lyrics in midi files are "events" just like you have your note events, or pitch bend events, or controller events, and so on.  With lyrics, I've seen two types of events, "Text" events or "Lryic" events. With .kar files, the lyrics (words) are "Text" events.



With .mid files, the words are "Lyric" events.



With my board, a .mid file has to have the words tagged as "Lyric" events or they don't show. So I can't take a .kar file (with Text events) and rename it to a .mid and expect the lyrics to show...They won't. But I can take a program like GNMidi and convert the .kar to a .mid and it automatically does the "Text-to-Lyric" conversion for me.

http://www.gnmidi.com/

GNMidi...A wonderful tool, worth every penny.

-mike

PS. I can load .kar files into Cakewalk 9 no problem. That's where I got the screenshots from.

[This message has been edited by msutliff (edited 11-17-2004).]

Mike,
what you are describing is exactly the deal I am going through. I can even expound on it a bit as far as music creator 2003 is concerned.
I can convert a ,kar to a ,mid file and it will still show lyrics on my board.
BUT, as soon as I open that ,mid file in my cakewalk it does exactly what you say. It then changes the text/lyric event and will then no longer show the lyrics on my board.

Even if I change it back to .kar it doesn't matter.....the events have been changed just by opening it in my version of cakewalk. So I am left without a way to tweak any files and have them retain the lyric info in the format I need.
Looks like the only answer is a software upgrade.

Can someone suggest a cheap software upgrade midi sequencer that will not alter the lyric events? Is ther a downloadable one perhaps that will not screw up the lyrics?

Thank you Mike, you have cut to the chase on the problem I have been having. I had doubts that I could have explained it in an understandable way, that is why I thought a phone call would have been needed.

I guess you do get what you pay for. Cakewalk Music creator, which cost me $29. was probably, in the long run, a poorly spent $29

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The old Newb

Also to add to above post.
I know I can change the text to lyric back and forth within the cakewalk program I use. I have done that. But when I do the change it wipes out the actual typed word on the corresponding line and then that needs to be put back in. It's like doing the whole thing from scratch and I am trying to avoid that.

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The old Newb

[This message has been edited by OldNewb (edited 11-17-2004).]

There is an inexpensive program made by Gunter Nagle called GNMidi. It automatically converts midi files between formats and organizes the channels. It will fix the problem.
DonM

Thanks Don,
And I guess that is what Mike was telling me also.


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The old Newb

I always thought that the Lyrics and Melody should use channel 4. Certainly all of my commercial midi files use this channel; and therefore so do all my homebrews.

I have never had a problem with my PSR2k displaying lyrics.

GNMidi works great,
It fixes things back to the way they should be after my cakewalk messes em up. And it has lots of good features I'll probably end up using at some point in the future.
Thanks for the input.
You guys and gals really do rock.

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The old Newb

Hey MacAllcock,

I'm not sure if there's a standard or not for what channel the lyrics and melody are found. I say this based on what I see in my collection.

Tune 1000 (and most others) = Lyrics and melody on Track #4.

MusicMediaSoft (the folks that make midis for GEM keyboards) = Toss up between Track #4 and Track #16.

Styles&Music (great Yamaha midis) = Lyrics and melody on Track #1 with a second melody track on Track #2.

Most of my .kar files have the lyrics on track # 1 or #2 but the melody track lies somewhere else (usually #4 but not always). GNMidi does a real nice job of putting those together based on what style you choose (I always choose Tune1000...Track #4).

OldNewb, glad to hear you got things working. I notice in your profile that you're a Packer's fan. The fact that they BARELY beat the Vikings....I'm not going to hold that against you.

-mike