Noises in edited midi file

Hello,
i edited a midi file (deleted the cymbyls) and now i hear some cracks when i play it.

Can anybody help me?

Werner

Can you attach the MIDI file so I/we can take a look at it?

Okay here it is.
The first 8 bars are the problem where the cymbals were deleted. Please use the Drumkit “Rock with Bass”

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1nyaqzk3iji283d/Drums with Bass.DRM?dl=0

Werner

Wow that sounds to me like the Bass Wav’s in the Kit might be the issue - still playing around with it

Are you using the new firmware? The problem is that your bass notes don’t have a “duration”, so they are being quickly cut off instead of being allowed to play. That quick cut of will make a noticeable “click” (it’s called the zero crossing issue). See if this is better:

What does that mean, that they do not have a duration? How do you check that? Thanks!!

It depends on your midi editor. I use Reaper, and it uses a “piano roll” system. I’ll attach a couple pics, one with “duration” and another without (those are drum hits).
[ATTACH=full]2357[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=full]2358[/ATTACH]

A drum hit is a single event… a bass note, like most other musical type notes, has a beginning and and end. Did the midi I posted help with the issue?

What do your screen shots tell you? Sorry, I am new to this.

the top ones show that time passes between the start of the note and the end of it. it is actually encoded with two notes: a note-on, and a note-off.

with drum instruments, there is no note-off, just a note-on

Oh okay. I am new to this midi stuff, but I really want to learn. I thought that the BeatBuddy only supported the midi drum map? How does it support bass notes?

Also, why does the new firmware mess it up? If I create a bass note, what’s the “duration” I must make it?

By the way, I looked up Reaper. It costs money and I am on a limited budget, are there any midi editors just as good that you would recommend? You seem to know your stuff lol. :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

P.S. I have a Mac and it comes with GarageBand. Will that do everything Reaper does? Will I be able to do what you do?

Hi aashideacon,
thank you for editing my file. It was a part of a downloaded song for beatbudddy “Rockin in the free world” an i didnt append any notes to this file.
I looked to my midi file wirth “Midi editor” but could not locate the problem you described but i know what you mean.
Yes i use the new firmware and im happy with it. Is there a way with “Midi editor” to find such notes without duration?

Werner

GarageBand does not export midi files (probably because Apple does not want it to compete with Logic Pro X). Until the BeatBuddy Manager (BBM) midi export and drum editor issues are resolved, you might consider using BeatBuilder, which was crafted especially by Charles Spencer for the BBM. If you don’t have Java installed or enabled on your Mac, it will require that you do so.

So from the BB’s perspective, GarageBand is useless? I want something that can not only make midi files for the BeatBuddy Manager, but can also check midi files for errors (like aashideacon did up above) and everything else. Some people in this forum wrote that BeatBuilder gave them some problems and is limited?

I would just rather get something good that covers everything. If paying for something is the only option, then I’d do that, although of course I prefer free. What do you recommend? I have a Mac Yosemite.

'Fraid so, Rocker1961. Here’s a link with a midi export workaround for Garageband:
http://www.brighthub.com/computing/mac-platform/articles/116114.aspx. There’s a small app mentioned in the comments at the bottom of that page called GB2MIDI and I’ve tried it but it’s still a workaround and does not appear to have been updated for a couple of years. Last time I checked, it worked in both Yosemite and El Capitan.

You would have to be the best judge on whether or not BeatBuilder works for you. If you are looking for other solutions and in order of how expensive they are, you can try

  • Aria Maestosa (free)
  • Reaper (not terribly expensive and there’s lots of forum users that are using it); you can evaluate it for free
  • Cubase; read a comparison with Logic Pro X: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/239546?start=0&tstart=0
  • Logic Pro X (most expensive of these three choices); some forum users are using it

Whatever choice you make, you will most likely be able to find help and advice on using it for the BeatBuddy here in the forum.

BeatBuddy allows you to make your own drum kits, which are just a collection of WAV file samples. So, put in bass samples instead of drums, and you can play both! The new firmware actually honors “note-off” events, so it makes the basslines sound much better.

The duration of the note is how long you want it to play. Once you see a piano roll editor it will make sense, because the notes with a longer duration are actually physically longer.

I’m on a mac, so I use Reaper for most hard core editing. I use Aria Maestosa to “preview” midi files because you don’t have to specify which tracks are which instruments. There is a java based one written by a guy here called BeatBuilder, which is really good for simple beats. (You can’t do ones with bass, however). The new version of BB Manager will have a midi editor in it, but I don’t think it will allow bass notes to have a “duration” either.

I used Reaper for a while before buying it, so I’m not sure what the limitations-time or features-are without buying it.

So Reaper is good for making beats with bass notes? Is this because it has an extended midi mapping ability that both Aria Maestosa and BeatBuilder don’t have? (Because you said that the bass notes are just wav files in the drums, not the midi files) What kind of “hard core” editing do you mean?? What kind of cool things can it do?

So piano rolls are kinda like putting the notes in, but giving them characteristics like how long they last and velocity (versus just the mere existence of a note)? What are note-offs?

And if Reaper is better, why would you use Aria Maestosa for checking midi files? Can Aria do everything that Reaper does, and vice versa? Or if I wanted to do everything, Reaper is my best shot? Also, it’s GUI is a lot more simpler looking than Aria’s, isn’t it?

Aria’s piano roll editor isn’t as easy to use as Reapers, and BeatBuilder uses a grid system instead of piano roll. In Reaper, you have to assign an instrument to each channel, but Aria just uses the generic midi system, so, no manual assigning–easiest for preview. There isn’t a perfect midi editor yet, though. The best I’ve found is to connect the pedal directly to my computer, and have Reaper drive the pedal. That way you get instant feedback as to what the pedal will sound like, instead of most other ways where you get an approximate sound, then you have to put it all together into the pedal to see what it actually sounds like.

I haven’t seen Midi Editor, but if it has a piano roll editor (as opposed to something that looks like a grid) it should show your notes durations as longer lines.

Hi Rocker, Here is a couple of posts you might want to read
http://mybeatbuddy.com/forum/index.php?threads/beatbuddy-with-bass-lines-is-here.1962/
http://mybeatbuddy.com/forum/index.php?threads/create-your-own-songs-for-dummies.4898/