Midi Editing Software

[maiya]

Any recommendations for midi editing software? Or is there such a thing, that is, software that's just for editing midi files?

I ask because I use Encore to notate music, and it often includes unwanted midi commands. For instance, I might change my mind and change a quarter note to a dotted quarter note. Encore usually still plays it as a quarter note, although it allots enough time for the dotted quarter note. It plays the quarter note; then there's silence until it's time for the next beat. The extra half beat doesn't sound. If I enter a dotted quarter note to start with, it usually plays okay.

I'd like to find a midi editor that I can use to fix things the Encore codes in wrong. Right now, the only way to fix them is to delete the whole measure with the problem and enter it over again. If I have several staves, that gets tedious in a hurry.

So I'm looking for recommendations.

Thanks,
Maiya

[JohnG]

Hi Maiya,

Welcome to the MIDI tutorials forum.

Here are a couple of MIDI editors that can be downloaded for free.
One is called Anvil Studio and it can be found at anvilstudio.com/.
It's an editor that I've played around with a little bit but don't use myself. The basic version is free but the various extensions are not. The basic version should be enough for simple MIDI file editing.
Some like it, others don't! I think it works well for beginners to MIDI as it uses the bottom half of the screen to display context based help.

The other one that I've also used a bit is another piece of freeware known as Sekaiju. Details (in English) can be found here openmidiproject.sourceforge.jp/Sekaiju_en.html.

The original project was authored in Japan, so the program loads with Japanese as the default language, but in the menu bar it can be changed to English. (See the picture on the web page, and select the fifth item from the left (setup) and the fifth item (language), set it to English. Close the program and restart it and it should be usable.) This suits my needs better, as I'm pretty experienced with MIDI, and the screen isn't cluttered with unwanted messages.

Sekaiju also has a notation view recently built into it, but I'm not sure how accurate it really is in depicting notes. Certainly nowhere near as accurate or flexible as Sibelius or Finale, but it wasn't designed as a notation program but as a MIDI file editor. As far as I recall it doesn't have the options to add things like hairpins and staccato marks etc., just a basic notation representation.

The program I use myself is one by Yamaha called XGworks which is, unfortunately, no longer sold. This is primarily a MIDI editor with a basic ability to record and play audio. You'll see on the forum that I've written a few tutorials for it over the last few years. It works especially well with Yamaha synths and keyboards, etc. I do 99% of my editing in this.

Some considerable while ago, 2007, Sound on Sound magazine did a short review of what was around at the time. The article can be found here www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep07/articles/pcmusician_0907.htm.

Hope that helps as a starter?
Any more info needed, please ask again.

Kind regards,
JohnG.

[dvjduck]

I just came across this thread so I may be too late with the info. But, My recommendation is PowerTracks Pro Audio by PG Music
www.pgmusic.com/powertracks.htm . They also have Band-In-A-Box and Real Band. You don't need either of them, just PowerTracks Pro Audio. PTPA is a full featured DAW but I only use it for midi sequencing production and/or editing. It costs $49.00 (US) and has complete owner manual instructions as well as wonderful forum support.
DVJ

[JohnG]

Yes,

I've just subscribed to PowerTracks Pro myself.
It's quite an interesting programme, but more close to a fully fledged DAW (in today's parlance) than a straight MIDI sequencing program or editor. It focusses quite strongly on the audio side of things rather than just MIDI. There's quite a lot of audio VSTs and so on.

That's not to say that it's wholly unsuitable for MIDI editing, but there's quite a lot to understand about the program before you can get to the MIDI.

Regards,
JohnG.