Music Notation Software and MIDI

[Naagzh]

Hi, I'm trying to convert a MIDI performace (recorded onto a MIDI track w/in PTLE) into music notation, using Finale. Does anyone here have any experience with this?

[stmiller]

Yes, you pretty much have to transcribe it to make a nice notated copy. There are no automated processes or programs that can do this. Lots of the LA film composers have 'midi translators' and copyist on their teams who do this.

The exported midi file can be a starting place, and go from there in the notation program.

[spkguitar]

You can just export the MIDI from Pro Tools and import it into Finale.


This is much easier with Sibelius, as the export is built into Pro Tools.

Neither way is perfect, but they will both get it close.


This is for MIDI data only; not audio.

[Naagzh]

Thanks to you both.

I'm still going to try; a friend of a friend claims he does exactly what I'm talking about all the time. And I should be able to do it with Finale, whose manual claims it's possible. I just have to figure out how to tell Finale that this MIDI channel is this note, and belongs on the top, and then this MIDI channel is this other note, and belongs in the first space, and so on. The dialog boxes within Finale are impossible to navigate; there just isn't enough explanation as you go along, even while reading the manual.

I'd love to try Sibelius, but it's pricey! Spkguitar, is it way better than Finale? Most institutions and performers around these parts (Detroit) use Finale.

[spkguitar]

Spkguitar, is it way better than Finale?

The only way that it's better is that Avid (Digidesign's parent company) now owns it, and is slowly integrating it into the Pro Tools software. That is really the only advantage.

Otherwise, I feel both programs are pretty close feature-wise.

They are also exactly the same price (at all of the music stores I know, anyway), so "pricey" should describe them both for you.

[Naagzh]

Yeah, I guess I meant "both = unaffordable". Especially since I'm barely scratching Finale's composing potential.

[stmiller]

The 'send to Sibelius' option just simply creates a midi file (.mid) in your pro tools session folder. So perhaps you can still use that option, even if you do not have Sibelius. Then open that midi file in the program of your choice.

[Elwood54]

I use Finale PrintMusic, which lists for $99, but I got it on sale for substantially less. It would be nice to have notation software that had second endings, repeats, etc., and could seamlessly transfer the music to and from Pro Tools, but I really doubt such a thing exists. I just finished a project doing an arrangement for our church band. Everything was built in Pro Tools as instrument tracks (editing and composing is much easier, I think, in PT than Finale) and I exported it as MIDI (each instrument in a different channel, drums in channel 10). Then I imported that into PrintMusic. There I gave each staff a meaningful name, added repeats where they made sense, added lyrics, etc.. I arranged the staves and printed out an overall score for the music director. Then I used PrintMusic to separate each instrument to print separate sheet music for each musician. I think that's pretty much what you're trying to do, and it's really pretty affordable. Check out Finale's Web site for the features of each tier of the product. If Sibelius offered better integration with this much choice, I'd switch, but they don't so I'll stick with Finale.