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#142891 - 11/26/06 05:16 PM Re: Keeping midi overall levels constant
SemiLiveMusic Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 08/28/04
Posts: 2204
Loc: Louisiana, USA
Quote:
Originally posted by Musicman22:
Is there a program that will do the same thing for Mp3's?


I don't know but if you burn a cd, "normalizing" the various song files is usually part of the options. Once it's burned, obviously, you can't edit the mp3 on the burned cd, but I don't know if you could do anything with a batch of mp3 files in your computer.

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Bill
Yamaha PSR2000

[This message has been edited by SemiLiveMusic (edited 11-27-2006).]
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#142892 - 11/27/06 03:23 AM Re: Keeping midi overall levels constant
MacAllcock Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 03/02/02
Posts: 1221
Loc: Preston, Lancashire, England
Nero has a "Normalise Audio" function when burning audio CD's but I must admit I've never looked for the option when burning an MP3 disc....

SoundForge has a batch processing option which can normalise audio files in bulk.

You could look upon MidiPlayer as a "bulk normaliser" although I'd still check the levels afterwards. I assume it works by analysing note volumes, expression settings and channel levels to get some idea of absolute level; with the best will in the workld this will not be absolutely accurate for a specific keyboard (although it does a pretty good job for me!).

Midiplay is invaluable for me; my PSR3000 is very sensitive to levels in Midi Files in that setting channel levels too high results in audible clipping of the audio waveform (especially the drum track).
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John Allcock

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#142893 - 11/27/06 12:33 PM Re: Keeping midi overall levels constant
Michael P. Bedesem Offline
Member

Registered: 11/26/99
Posts: 142
Loc: Shrewsbury, VT
MidiPlayer normalizes midis by analyzing the midi volume events by channel and coming up with an average for the channel and an average for the midi as a whole. It then scales each of the midi volume events by the ratio necessary to bring the song average down to a level typically used by Yamaha factory files (but you can set your own level to match other file sets).

This technique assumes that the original author achieved the right balance between tracks taking into account the strength of the sounds as changed by velocity, number of notes etc. I.e he adjusted for the variation in perceived loudness created by the playing method. By scaling the volumes in the way that it does, MidiPlayer preserves the author's mix and avoids the technique variations altogether.

MidiPlayer is not perfect and there are cases where tweaking might be necessary. But for the majority of cases, the improvement is such that it is more than sufficient for casual listening.

Regards,

Michael

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#142894 - 11/29/06 12:37 PM Re: Keeping midi overall levels constant
MacAllcock Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 03/02/02
Posts: 1221
Loc: Preston, Lancashire, England
Thanks Michael
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John Allcock

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#142895 - 11/29/06 03:57 PM Re: Keeping midi overall levels constant
Diki Offline


Registered: 04/25/05
Posts: 14203
Loc: NW Florida
Quote:
Originally posted by Michael P. Bedesem:
MidiPlayer normalizes midis by analyzing the midi volume events by channel and coming up with an average for the channel and an average for the midi as a whole. It then scales each of the midi volume events by the ratio necessary to bring the song average down to a level typically used by Yamaha factory files (but you can set your own level to match other file sets).

This technique assumes that the original author achieved the right balance between tracks taking into account the strength of the sounds as changed by velocity, number of notes etc. I.e he adjusted for the variation in perceived loudness created by the playing method. By scaling the volumes in the way that it does, MidiPlayer preserves the author's mix and avoids the technique variations altogether.

MidiPlayer is not perfect and there are cases where tweaking might be necessary. But for the majority of cases, the improvement is such that it is more than sufficient for casual listening.

Regards,

Michael


Well, Michael, that's all well and good, but I'm afraid my experience with most web-found SMFs is that the most consistent thing about their mix is that they are inconsistent!

Maybe if you already have a bunch of 'tweaked' SMFs for Roland, and want them to play well on Yamaha, it's a good app, but most web SMFs are poorly played AND poorly mixed.....
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#142896 - 11/29/06 04:42 PM Re: Keeping midi overall levels constant
Michael P. Bedesem Offline
Member

Registered: 11/26/99
Posts: 142
Loc: Shrewsbury, VT
Diki:

MidiPlayer does not attempt to correct poor playing or mixing. It simply attempts to correct problems which PSR users commonly encounter when playing songs created on other PSRs and elsewhere.

The closest it comes to a 'producer' function is AutoPanSet. This will re-pan a song according to commonly used coventions (one might argue if that is the right standard; if so you can change the stereo map to suit yourself).

For the worst of the midis, there is always the Stop and Delete buttons.

And if you have any ideas on how the program might function better, please let me know at mpb@sover.net.

Regards,

Michael

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#142897 - 11/29/06 05:12 PM Re: Keeping midi overall levels constant
Route 66 Offline
Member

Registered: 06/30/00
Posts: 803
Loc: Braganca, Portugal
Quote:
Originally posted by Musicman22:
Is there a program that will do the same thing for Mp3's?


Could this be what you're looking for?
MP3 Gain: http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/

-- José.

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#142898 - 11/30/06 10:57 AM Re: Keeping midi overall levels constant
MacAllcock Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 03/02/02
Posts: 1221
Loc: Preston, Lancashire, England
"the most consistent thing about their mix is that they are inconsistent"

Too true, but there's not a lot anyone can do about that; the mix that's good for you depends on your specific keyboard, the voice you end up choosing for a particalar part and the situation in which you will be using the file.

Ultimately the only way to get a good result is to do it yourself. MidiPlayer does a very good job of getting the overall level of a midi file to a state where my PSR3000 is not exhibiting overload symptoms; after that it down to me.
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John Allcock

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#142899 - 12/27/06 02:17 PM Re: Keeping midi overall levels constant
Musicman22 Offline
Member

Registered: 05/20/05
Posts: 298
Loc: Boynton Beach, Fl.
Yes Jose, this looks like what I would need and there is a Mac Intel version too.

Thanks

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