Open Source / Free software for music authoring

All aspects of music, audio and sound effects development for all The Mana World projects.


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Crush
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Re: Open Source / Free software for music authoring

Post by Crush »

Midi doesn't support any audio filters or effects, nor does it allow to save the settings of any synthesizers or VSTi instruments. It doesn't even support envelope settings of the notes.

Seriously, just use the project format of the composition tool you are using.
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Re: Open Source / Free software for music authoring

Post by Nard »

o11c wrote:[...FUD...]
good Music requires Nuances, rhythmic variations, beat anticipation pr delay, and volume variations, that NO sheet music editor or even NO notation system can actually transcribe. only a real sequencer or audio sequencer can do that. And this does NOT depend on the quality of the sound fonts you use. Now general midi is simply a convention for minimum sound bank and patch adresses. 2 different GM instruments can respond differently to the same midifiles

OF COURSE midifile is better than ogg as a source . But how can any musician repeat what the composer did if he has not the same audio material and hardware. Sound is heavily hardware dependent. And definitely , there is no way to include audio material in midi file, which is sometime necessary.
I often work with sounds I record myself (sorry but I hate the synthetic saxophones) or use drums loops I make myself, in this case the midifile contains almost nothing. As I do not have time enough to convert my samples into useful soundfonts, I could not send this project any music
To be clear, for my homestudio, opensource would mean a folder including the original project file (digital performer, cubase...), the audio files; the rendering on my material, in sound designer or flac format, the sheet music because it is the best way i know to transmit musical ideas; and and optional ogg reduction.

My intention, in this post, was to underline that open source music is difficult to define, there are several ways to do it, And if you read carefully my post you may have understood it. I tried to contribute by giving references that I use myself, for both playing and computer music, that can be useful to other musicians. Nobody requires you to use them.

I do not like to show up, but you seem to repect me only if I do. I have been play music on a regular basis for more than 40 years now, and with a semi professional level for 30. I have 15 years of work on computer music as an "enlightened amateur", and had professional work with it. I had the opportunity and pleasure to meet and play with really good musicians coming from various locations on this planet (including USA) even on major stages in France.

Calling what I said FUD is just simply either trolling or ignorance. I prefer to think it is the second option. May I remind you, o11c, that you are a forum moderator and a developer, and you have no need nor interest to despise any forum contributor. I can disagree with you without showing a lack of respect to your skills or your qualities as a human beeing. I ask you the same. You don't know who I am, you surely have a lot of things to teach me, I am sure that you could learn a lot from me too maybe even in your specialty which is not obviously conviviality. I DO regret it though.
Cordially, hoping things will get better between us;
Nard
Last edited by Nard on 26 Aug 2011, 10:15, edited 2 times in total.
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o11c
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Re: Open Source / Free software for music authoring

Post by o11c »

Nard wrote:
o11c wrote:[...FUD...]
good Music requires Nuances, rhythmic variations, beat anticipation pr delay, and volume variations, that NO sheet music editor or even NO notation system can actually transcribe.
Lilypond will convert crescendos, etc, into MIDI volume levels. Variations in the duration of the note can be done either directly (which would produce awful sheet music) or by changing the tempo.

Lilypond is not a sheet music editor, but it can generate sheet music. There is a lot more information in the source, than in 'printed' sheet music.
Nard wrote:And this does NOT depend on the quality of the sound fonts you use. Now general midi is simply a convention for minimum sound bank and patch adresses. 2 different GM instruments can respond differently to the same midifiles
My suggestion is to do the MIDI-to-OGG conversion with a known conversion set - timidity with the FLUID soundfonts - rather than be dependent on the whims of an arbitrary GM implementation
Nard wrote:OF COURSE midifile is better than ogg as a source. But how can any musician repeat what the composer did if he has not the same audio material and hardware. Sound is heavily hardware dependent.
I don't actually suggest MIDI as a source or final format, simply say there is no reason to avoid it as an intermediate form; we only need to document under what software conditions the conversion was made.
Nard wrote:And definitely , there is no way to include audio material in midi file, which is sometime necessary.
I often work with sounds I record myself ...
Yes, in this case MIDI is useless. But I have never said MIDI should be the sole format.
Nard wrote:Calling what I said FUD is just simply either trolling or ignorance. I prefer to think it is the second option.
I have admitted my ignorance in some aspects. However, you are also ignorant by claiming that MIDI cannot have quality in any case, citing falsely MIDI's inability to do things I know MIDI can do because I have done it.

The truth is, MIDI, can't cover all cases. But I believe it could be used to generate some good music.
Nard wrote:May I remind you, o11c, that you are a forum moderator and a developer
I have never been a forum moderator.
I am not a developer in this aspect, so I am not attempting to claim areal expertise.
Nard wrote:you have no need nor interest to despise any forum contributor.
I'm sorry if I came across so, it was not my intention.
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Re: Open Source / Free software for music authoring

Post by Nard »

o11c wrote:Lilypond will convert crescendos, etc, into MIDI volume levels. Variations in the duration of the note can be done either directly (which would produce awful sheet music) or by changing the tempo.
Lilypond is not a sheet music editor, but it can generate sheet music. There is a lot more information in the source, than in 'printed' sheet music.
To make you understand what I mean:
Example : Jazz music often uses so called Walking bass. When transcribing into any notation software you will use a simple quarter notes sequence. When playing back with drums on a medium tempo, it will give a flat rhythm, with no "groove", no "swing" feeling. To get the right feeling, Bassists use so called "drive": They anticipate most quarter notes roughly a 32th before the beat. In jazz music too, to have readable music, musicians, use a conventional binary (music) notation, which becomes something about a triplet quarter note-eighth note, the eighth note being a bit louder than the others.
To give a real open source music you will have to give two LilyPond files, one straight written designed to make the source understandable, the second with manually shifted an accented notes (kind of boring, believe me) almost incomprehensible in visual form. Unfortunately, only a dedicated tool can do it easily. Intentionally exaggerate a bit to make the problem clear, and some workarounds can be found.
Example 2: Big Crunch told me that Meway is a really good pianist (I am not). You could perhaps, to understand what i mean, ask him to record a (small) piece, and send you the resulting midifile. Then have a look on it. You will see that the file or the corresponding LilyPond one is almost impossible or very difficult to edit. (Easier than an audiofile though)
Nuances: I will just have an example to explain the problem: when translating an crescendo to Midi, most (not all) notation software do a linear interpolation between 2 volume levels ( MIDI controller 7). Pianists do not use it to have their nuances, thus the appropriate controller should be the velocity or/and aftertouch (most GM instruments respond only to channel pressure and not to the polyphonic one).
Lilypond IS a sheet music editor and a nice one , I like it:
LilyPond... music notation for everyone ,http://lilypond.org/index.html
you could find useful to have a GUI for it:http://lilypond.org/easier-editing.html
My suggestion is to do the MIDI-to-OGG conversion with a known conversion set - timidity with the FLUID soundfonts - rather than be dependent on the whims of an arbitrary GM implementation
Good suggestion, did I say it wasn't?
I don't actually suggest MIDI as a source or final format, simply say there is no reason to avoid it as an intermediate form; we only need to document under what software conditions the conversion was made.
[...]I have admitted my ignorance in some aspects. However, you are also ignorant by claiming that MIDI cannot have quality in any case, citing falsely MIDI's inability to do things I know MIDI can do because I have done it.
Nard wrote:Midifiles are the bare minimum which can include some interpretation and nuances. They cannot include samples though (drum loops...)
That's what I said. It underlines midifiles limits as a source, nothing else, they are TRUE, and I never said that it was a reason not to use them. Where did I suggest to avoid them? Where can you see I wrote midi could not have any quality?
The truth is, MIDI, can't cover all cases. But I believe it could be used to generate some good music.
It is my opinion too.

Actually the best Music production software for Linux system is definitely RoseGarden
http://www.rosegardenmusic.com/
It is included in ubuntu studio.http://ubuntustudio.org/
software list at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Studio
Audio editing and sequencing Ardour is, in my opinion better for Musicians than Audacity which I use it though for hard editing (with a very nice shareware called Amadeus). Finally, it could be necessary to lave a look on MusicXML (i haven't yet done it)
I'm sorry if I came across so, it was not my intention.
You did. You read my post as if it was a negative critic on your suggestion. It was not. On the opposite I highlighted the interest of LilyPond. (and it's limits). And even if it was one, you do not have to think it is directed to the person. I would NEVER place a positive or negative opinion post if I didn't think something positive could result from it. Relief is better seen with several eyes than with one as long as they point in different directions


Note: I said:The problem with these (nice) /software intended/ for typesetted music is that they are not that much convivial to a lot of musicians. mistyping, sorry for that.

cordially

Nard
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Re: Open Source / Free software for music authoring

Post by Nard »

For those who, as me, like contemporary music: Iannix is a very interesting tool:
IanniX is a graphical open-source sequencer, based on Iannis Xenakis works, for digital art. IanniX syncs via Open Sound Control (OSC) events and curves to your real-time environment.
  • Sequencer: IanniX can be used with a diversity of software and hardware tools.
  • Real-time: IanniX can be modified and operated in real-time.
  • Space & Time: IanniX's graphical space spans several dimensions and time scales.
  • Open Sound Control: The OSC protocol allows fast network communication.
  • Open-source: IanniX is licensed under GPL 3, free and cross-platform.
  • Programmable:Scripts for IanniX can be written using JavaScript to create complex and generative scores
http://www.iannix.org/en/
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Re: Open Source / Free software for music authoring

Post by Nard »

Ubuntu Studio now features a VERY promising Audio/Midi sequencing software: Qtractor wich s still in alphastage though usable.

Qtractor site: http://qtractor.sourceforge.net

Features:(from site)
  • Multi-track audio and MIDI sequencing and recording.
  • Developed on pure Qt4 C++ application framework (no Qt3 nor KDE dependencies).
  • Uses JACK for audio and ALSA sequencer for MIDI as multimedia infrastructures.
  • Traditional multi-track tape recorder control paradigm.
  • Audio file formats support: OGG (via libvorbis), MP3 (via libmad, playback only), WAV, FLAC, AIFF and many, many more (via libsndfile).
  • Standard MIDI files support (format 0 and 1).
  • Non-destructive, non-linear editing.
  • Unlimited number of tracks per session/project.
  • Unlimited number of overlapping clips per track.
  • XML encoded session/project description files (SDI).
  • Point-and-click, multi-select, drag-and-drop interaction (drag, move, drop, cut, copy, paste, paste-repeat, delete, split, merge)
  • Unlimited undo/redo.
  • Built-in mixer and monitor controls.
  • Built-in connection patchbay control and persistence (a-la QjackCtl).
  • LADSPA, DSSI, native VSTi and LV2 plug-in support.
  • Unlimited number of plug-ins per track or bus.
  • Plug-in presets, programs and chunk/configurations support.
  • Unlimited audio effect send/return inserts per track or bus.
  • Loop-recording/takes.
  • Audio/MIDI clip fade-in/out (linear, quadratic, cubic).
  • Audio/MIDI clip gain/volume, normalize, export.
  • Audio/MIDI track and plugin parameter automation (dynamic curves, sample&hold, linear and spline modes).
  • Audio clip time-stretching (WSOLA-like or via librubberband), pitch-shifting (via librubberband) and seamless sample-rate conversion (via libsamplerate).
  • Audio/MIDI track export (mix-down, merge).
  • Audio/MIDI metronome bar/beat clicks.
  • Unlimited tempo/time-signature map.
  • MIDI clip editor (matrix/piano roll).
  • MIDI instrument definitions (a-la Cakewalk(tm)).
  • MIDI controller mapping/learn/assignment (mixer and plug-in parameters).
  • MIDI system exclusive (SysEx) setups.
  • JACK transport sync master/slave.
  • JACK session support.
  • MMC control surface enabled.
  • MIDI Song Position cueing support.
  • Configurable keyboard shortcuts.
"The language of everyday life is clogged with sentiment, and the science of human nature has not advanced so far that we can describe individual sentiment in a clear way." Lancelot Hogben, Mathematics for the Million.
“There are two motives for reading a book; one, that you enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about it.” Bertrand Russell, Conquest of Happiness.
"If you optimize everything, you will always be unhappy." Donald Knuth.
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Re: Open Source / Free software for music authoring

Post by Nard »

The Freesound project is now at http://www.freesound.org/
"The language of everyday life is clogged with sentiment, and the science of human nature has not advanced so far that we can describe individual sentiment in a clear way." Lancelot Hogben, Mathematics for the Million.
“There are two motives for reading a book; one, that you enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about it.” Bertrand Russell, Conquest of Happiness.
"If you optimize everything, you will always be unhappy." Donald Knuth.
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Re: Open Source / Free software for music authoring

Post by Speiros02 »

Wow...all this shows me how much nothing I know about sound mixing, etc.

A name is to be chosen rather than abundant riches...Solomon's words (Pr.22:1)

[url=http://speirosmusic.tumblr.com]Speiros' music page[/url]

A.K.A "Speiros"...(not being smart...this name is speiros)

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