PC World 2000 February/PCWorld_2000-02_cd.bin/Software/Servis/FFE/SOUND.SWG/0045_Midi Basics #3 (Sequencers and Notators).pas

Pascal/Delphi Source File | 1997-05-11 | 22KB | 477 lines

PC/MIDI BASICS #3:
INTRODUCTION TO SEQUENCERS & NOTATORS
By Richard D. Clark (PCC RichC)
5/6/92

(Note: A list of many of the programs available in these categories can
be found at the end of this document.)

Well, now that you have a basic understanding of what MIDI does and how
it works (see PC/MIDI #1), and have chosen, purchased and installed a
MIDI interface in your computer (#2), it's time to make some music!

There are two basic types of software applications available for making
MIDI music: the SEQUENCER and the NOTATOR. Some programs combine both
functions, usually sacrificing some power in the process.

SEQUENCERS accept input from an external keyboard (in real- or
step-time) or by file import, and usually also from a mouse or computer
keyboard. They record MIDI data -- notes, controller messages, etc. --
and include means for that data to be edited, modified, saved and played
back. The most powerful MIDI sequencers can manipulate music in just
about any way imaginable. Think of the sequencer as a "music processor,"
analogous to a word-processor.

NOTATORS accept input from the same sources as sequencers, though import
of sequencer-created files is the most common way to start. Their
primary function is to create printable transcriptions. Since many types
of MIDI data do not readily translate into traditional notation (for
example, it's tough to notate a different key velocity for every note),
notators usually don't try to compete with sequencers as MIDI editors.

INTEGRATED PROGRAMS are becoming more popular, and as they do they are
becoming more capable. The introduction of MIDI support in Microsoft
Windows 3.1 seems to have been an incentive to developers, and several
new integrated programs are due to be introduced in the Spring and
Summer of '92., joining the many DOS-based packages that have been
available for years.

But before you just jump in any buy an integrated program, give some
thought to your goals, skills and expectations. The choice of a
music-making program is not to be taken lightly; this will be your main
tool in creating MIDI music. Many musicians find that, once a program is
learned, it's very hard to switch to a different one. If you are
comfortable with the way your creative mind works, a program that forces
you to change the way you think about music can be very uncomfortable to
work with.

Try to get hands-on time with any program you're considering. Trying it
out in the music store is *not* sufficient, unless the store has a
classroom or studio setup where you can work undisturbed for a couple of
hours, using a PC and keyboard setup similar to your own. Usually, the
best approach is to narrow down your selection list to three programs or
so, and then purchase them (one at a time) from a reputable mail-order
music software dealer. Establish out front that the usual 30-day
money-back guarantee is in force, and return software that you don't
like. You may need to repeat this a few times until you're satisfied
with your choice.

The kind of program you look for will depend heavily on your existing
musical skills and the way you like to make music. For example:

*Keyboard Players who already have decent keyboard skills, and own a
MIDI keyboard, will probably want to work primarily with a sequencer.
With a sequencer you can enter musical data as fast as you can play, and
the nuances of your performance (assuming a velocity-sensitive keyboard)
will be retained. It's easy to correct mistakes, to add tracks with
parts for different instruments, and to perfect even a large, complex
performance.

*People who wish to create MIDI files for exchange with others will find
this easier to do with a sequencer. An exception to this might be
someone with sight-reading ability (or who's just copying music from a
printed score) but no MIDI keyboard. Such users could use a notator to
create a MIDI file, but should keep in mind that the result will be a
very rigid-sounding performance.

*Musicians who need transcriptions of their music will require a
notator. Whether they also need a sequencer will depend on how they
create the music to be transcribed.

Many newcomers to PC music bring with them the misconception that a
screen display of standard notation is a necessity. It's not (unless
you're planning to print a transcription). *All* sequencers utilize some
method to display note data; the most common is the "piano-roll." Found
in the majority of sequencers, (and even in most integrated programs),
the piano roll can display (depending on the program) several measures
and octaves of note data very quickly, and for many musicians -- even
accomplished sight-readers -- is easier to work with than notation.

_____SEQUENCERS: Features and Choices

I can't possibly cover the entire field here, so I'm just going to touch
on some of the main issues to think about when choosing a sequencer.

*User Interface:

It looks like Windows sequencers are going to dominate the market before
long, and in a way that's too bad. The best of the DOS-based
character-mode sequencers -- Sequencer Plus Gold and Cakewalk
Professional -- are still state-of-the-art in terms of sequencing power
and richness of features, and run with a snap and sizzle (even on a 286)
that Windows-based sequencers just can't match.  Such sequencers are
still the programs of choice for owners of older, slower machines;
laptop owners can rejoice in the fact that Cakewalk Standard can be run
from a single floppy, and supports the Key Electronics MIDIator
serial-port MIDI interface.

Some sequencers (Cadenza, for example), use a proprietary windowing-type
interface, but the sequencing world is migrating to MS Windows in a big
way. Many of these programs do offer advantages over their non-GUI
cousins: graphical controller editing, side-by-side track editing,
multiple open files, extended memory support for huge sequences,
traditional notation (sometimes), and the somewhat-standardized Windows
interface. The price for all that is, of course, the need for
ever-more-powerful computers. While Windows itself will run on a 286,
most Windows sequencers really need a 386/20 or faster in order to
handle the simultaneous graphics overhead and reatime MIDI data
processing, especially with large, complex music files.

*Hardware Support:

Any sequencer will support all external MIDI devices, and will also
support Roland MPU-401-compatible MIDI interfaces. But not all
sequencers support every other available MIDI interface. Support for the
Sound Blaster MIDI interface (and the basically identical interfaces on
other such music cards) is growing, but by no means universal. More
advanced interfaces from Music Quest, CMS, Voyetra and Roland, which
offer features like multi-port operation and SMPTE time-code
synchronization, can't be expected to work with a particular sequencer
unless its documentation specifically says it does. So check first.

Some sequencers also provide drivers for the built-in FM synthesizer
found on most PC music cards (like the Adlib, Sound Blaster, Pro Audio
Spectrum, etc.). These allow the sequencer to "see" the FM synth as an
additional MIDI port, and the music card's voices can be used in
sequencing in tandem with external synthesizers.

If you are purchasing both an interface and a sequencer, it's wise to
decide on the features you need (or may want in the future), and make
sure they're supported by both the hardware and software.

*Features

Just about any sequencer will perform basic 16-channel MIDI recording
and playback, and offer fundamental editing utilities like cut-and-paste
of measures and tracks. Most can edit notes and MIDI events on an
individual basis. Most offer a sufficient number of tracks (at least
32), and can create large enough files to accomodate long, complex
compositions. Support for the Standard MIDI File Format (.MID) is now
just about universal, although most sequencers default to  a proprietary
file format which supports more types of data than SMF's do. A few
sequencers will also work with .ROL files (designed for Adlib-compatible
music cards' FM synths).

It's in their more advanced features -- and in the way they provide
access to them -- that sequencers differ.  Here are a few examples:

*Track Management: Maximum tracks (16 to over 2000); Individual track
muting and soloing; track grouping, group muting and soloing.

*System Exclusive Support (ability to send patch data to individual
synths):  Built-in Librarian; Sysex upload/download.

*Controller Editing: Volume and Pan Control (Graphical or Numeric);
Controller Curve Editing (Graphical or Numeric); MIDI Event display
(Event List, MIDI Line, etc.).

*External Synchronization: Support for SMPTE Time Code, MIDI Time Code,
FSK Sync, MIDI SPP (Song Position Pointer).

*Global Editing: Tools for modifying note and/or MIDI data over a
measure, region or track; Edit by measure boundaries or between
user-defined points.

*Record/Playback Tools: Multichannel Recording; Selectable Filters (to
avoid recording unwanted data types); Punch-in/Punch Out;
Step-Recording; Manual Insert;.

*Timing/Quantizing: Maximum Resolution (the higher the better); Quantize
during playback only and/or permanently; minimum quantize value (16th,
32nd, 64th, triplets in any value, etc.); Advanced Quantization features
("human feel," syncopation, etc.); Multiple time signatures in same
song.

...and many, many more. An advanced MIDI sequencer can have a features
list that runs for pages, and to compare available packages on a
feature-by-feature basis would take forever. That's why it's so
important to "try before you buy." Most publishers offer demos of their
programs (either free or at a nominal charge); many demos of commercial
sequencers are available for download on America Online (search for DEMO
and SEQUENCER).

_____NOTATORS: Features and Choices

Notators are definitely a "niche product;" there are fewer available,
and they vary widely in their features and capabilities. The advice to
"try before you buy" goes double here: the notator that works well for
the songwriter creating lead sheets based on a keyboard performance may
be entirely unsuitable for the composer scoring brass charts using mouse
input.

*User Interface

Notators are, by their nature, graphics applications. Some, however, do
actually run under DOS in character mode, using an extended character
set to display notes, rests, staves, etc.  Such programs often do not
support the use of a mouse.

Again, most of the recent action in this area has been triggered by the
introduction of Windows 3, and this makes sense for the same reason that
using a Windows desktop publishing program makes sense.

When evaluating a notator, though, it's vital to ascertain that its
feature-set will cover your current and likely future needs -- even more
important than it is with sequencers. With a sequencer, it's usually
possible to work around a missing or poorly-implemented feature. With a
notator, if you need something (like a 128th note) and the program can't
do it, you're out of luck.

*File Support

Most notators can now import Standard MIDI Files; avoid those that
don't. However, some can handle only eight tracks at a time, so you may
need a sequencer to re-create some SMF's to prepare them for notator
import. Some notators can also import the proprietary files of some
sequencers (especially true with brandmates like Passport's Master
Tracks Pro sequencer and Encore notator). All notators save their
transcriptions in proprietary formats; some can also create SMF's from a
score (but these files will usually be very thin on MIDI performance
data).

*Hardware Support

Most notators support only Roland MPU-401 compatible MIDI interfaces.
However, as more sequencers are updated to reflect Windows' new
multimedia capabilities, they will also support interfaces (like the
Sound Blaster's) that work with Windows. Few notators support external
synchronization. Advice here is the same as it is for sequencers: be
sure your hardware and software choices are compatible before committing
your money!

Playback of your transcription via a MIDI synth is just about the best
way to "proof" it before you print it, so make sure you can accomplish
this with your hardware.

*Input Choices

*Music: Besides importing sequence files, most notators allow realtime
or step-time input from an external MIDI keyboard. (But some don't, so
be warned!) Most (but again not all) let you manipulate elements
onscreen via a mouse and/or the computer keyboard.

*Text: All notators will let you enter lyrics below the staff, though
their facility with this function varies. Most allow placement of text
chord symbols above the staff; some also will create fretboard chord
symbols. The ability to add additional text to the page (annotations and
such) varies.

*Printing

Check a program's printer support carefully. While acceptable results
can be achieved with a 24-pin dot-matrix printer, laser printers give
better results. Many programs support HP LaserJets and compatibles..
I recommend that you also make sure any notator you buy supports
PostScript, even if you don't own a PostScript printer. Someday, you'll
create a score for which you'll want the highest-possible quality
printing. If your notator can print to a PostScript file (and you have
the Adobe Sonata font, often included with notators), you can take that
file to an image-setting service for publication-quality reproduction..
It's likely that the same will soon apply to TrueType, but as of this
writing I haven't heard of a TrueType notation font.

*Notation Power

I can't cover the dozens of notator features here; but I can give you an
idea of how the programs vary. You'll need to decide what's important to
your applications.

*Keys & Meters: Some notators let you mix key signatures in a
transcription; some don't. If you create music with key changes, this is
pretty important. The same is true of time signatures: if you create
music in 5/4 time that goes to 4/4 in the bridge, make sure your notator
can handle mixed meters.

*Options & Preferences: Some programs don't support alternative
noteheads (like x for percussion); at the other end of the spectrum,
some allow you to create custom symbols with a drawing tool, and save
them as permanently-available symmbols. Many programs are rigid in their
rules about things like beam angle, stem thinkness, dot offset and such,
while others let you customize such aspects of a transcription's
appearance. Often, flexibility in these areas can make the difference
between professional-looking notation and something less.

*Transposition & Part Extraction: If you're creating parts for
individual instrumentalists from a master score, a notator with strong,
easy-to-use extraction capabilities will save you hours of labor.
Examine this capability carefully; some notators can't do it at all!
Similarly, if you need to transpose parts for singers, or wish to
transpose a theme from a major to a minor key, look closely at the
program's transposition modes. Some are limited to chromatic
transposition (eg: A Major to G Major); some can't transpose at all;
others can transpose in multiple, selectable modes.

*Staves & Channels: Make sure your notator can support as many staves as
you might need; one with a 16-staff limit is unsuitable for symphonic
composition. And make sure the program offers the flexibility to assign
more than one MIDI channel to a single staff (so you can combine, say,
vocal harmonies originally sequenced for separate MIDI instruments onto
a single staff).

*Things You Might Forget to Think About:  Cross-Staff Beaming (important
for piano transcriptions; not all programs can do it). Resolution (32nd
notes are probably too coarse; 256th notes may be more than you'd ever
need). Screen-scrolling follows playback (believe it or not, some
don't); Diagonal Beaming (yes, some programs can't!).

"Try before you buy." "Try before you buy." "Try before you buy."
Right? Right! And in the case of a notator, "look before you buy," too.
Ask the publisher to send you samples of scores printed with their
program, and examine them critically -- even compare them to
commercially-published transcriptions of the same music, if possible.
Try to determine how the program compromised in order to handle that
particular music, and whether you could live with those compromises.
Music notation is an art form separate and distinct from performance or
composition. And in many ways it is just as idiosyncratic and organic as
performance or composition. Yet it has far more rules and conventions.
It's tough for a computer program to reconcile these attributes, and
most fail in one way or another. Consider also that the more flexibility
a notator offers (the better it's able to reconcile art with the rules
of notation), the more complex and difficult it's likely to be to learn
and use.

_____INTEGRATED PROGRAMS

Most of the above concerning sequencers and notators applies to
integrated programs. The all-in-one packages usually started out either
as sequencers or as notators, adding features in later versions, and
their origins show. Those that started out as notators may be very good
ones; usually their sequencing power is the equivalent of an entry-level
sequencer. It's only recently (in the Windows environment) that
sequencers have begun adding notation capabilities, and those
capabilities are distinctly limited compared to the high-end notators.

If your need for one module (eg: notation) is only casual, selecting a
good sequencer with a notator module may make sense, and the reverse may
also be true.

But the killer integrated program that can compete with both the best
sequencers and the best notators has yet to appear.

               *****

The PC/MIDI BASICS files are published irregularly and available in the
Music & Sound Text Library of the AOL Music and Sound Forum.

(c)Copyright 1992 by Richard D. Clark/Fundamentally Sound. This file may
be freely distributed only in its original form.

Suggestions/corrections/additions may be e-mailed on America
Online/PCLink to PCC RichC.

               *****

PRODUCT LISTINGS
By no means all-inclusive, I've listed here the most prominent of
existing and forthcoming programs. Prices are list. Addresses and phone
numbers follow.

_____WINDOWS SEQUENCERS

Dan McKee      WinJammer(formerly MIDIedit)    (Shareware, $50)

Passport       Master Tracks Pro           ($395)
               Trax                        ($99)

Big Noise      Cadenza for Windows         ($300)

_____WINDOWS NOTATORS

Coda           Finale                      ($749)

Passport       Encore                      ($595)

_____WINDOWS INTEGRATED

MIDISoft       MIDISoft Studio for Windows      ($249)

Passport       MusicTime                   ($249)

Twelve-Tone    Cakewalk Pro for Windows         (??? - summer '92)

_____DOS SEQUENCERS

Big Noise      Cadenza                     ($200)

Dr. T's        Prism                       ($99)

MIDISoft       MIDISoft Studio/Standard         ($140)
               MIDISoft Studio/Advanced         ($220)

thoughtprocessors Triple Forte                  ($249)

Twelve-Tone    Cakewalk Standard           ($150)
               Cakewalk Professional             ($249)

Voyetra        Sequencer Plus               ($169)
               Sequencer Plus Gold          ($300)

_____DOS Notators

alla breve     Musicad                      ($295)

Dr. T's        Copyist Pro-DTP                   ($299)
               Copyist Apprentice           ($99)
               Quick Score Deluxe           ($99)

SongWright     SongWright                        ($99)

Teach Services Laser Music Processor             ($99)

thoughtprocessors The Note Processor              ($295)
               Showtune                     ($79)

_____DOS INTEGRATED

Dynaware       Ballade (for Roland MT-32)        ($195)

Jim Miller     Personal Composer                 ($595)

Temporal Acuity     Music Printer Plus           ($595)


PUBLISHERS

alla breve Music Software / 1105 Chicago Ave, Suite 111 / Oak Park, IL /
60302 / [phone]

Big Noise Software / P.O. Box 23740 / Jacksonville, FL / 32241 / (904)
730-0754

Coda Music Software / 1401 E. 79th St. / Bloomington, MN / 55425-1126 /
[phone]

Dr. T's Music Software / 100 Crescent Rd., Suite 1B / Needham, MA /
02194 / [phone]

Dynaware USA Inc. / 950 Tower Lane, #1150 / Foster City, CA / 94404 /
[phone]

Dan McKee / 69 Rancliffe Road / Oakville, Ontario / Canada / L6H 1B1

Midisoft Corp. / P.O. Box 1000 / Bellevue, WA / 98009 / [phone]

Jim Miller / 3213 W. Wheeler St., Suite 140 / Seattle, WA 98199 /
[phone]

Passport / 100 Stone Pine Rd. / Half Moon Bay, CA / 94019 /
[phone]

SongWright Software / 7 Loudoun St., SE / Leesburg, VA / 22075 /
[phone]

Teach Services / 182 Donivan Rd. / Brushton, NY / 12916 / [phone]

Temporal Acuity Products / 300-120th N.E., Bldg. 1 / Bellevue, WA /
98005 / [phone]

thoughtprocessors / 584 Bergen St. / Brooklyn, NY / 11238 /
[phone]

Twelve-Tone Systems / P.O. Box 760 / Watertown, MA / 02272 /
[phone]

Voyetra Technologies / 333 Fifth Ave / Pellham, NY / 10803 /
[phone]