9 replies to this topic

[kurt91]

I found a song I liked on VGMusic and downloaded it. I messed with it for a bit in Anvil Studio, swapped around some of the instruments, and messed with the individual volume levels of each track, and ended up with a unique, awesome tune for a forest theme. I saved the resulting MIDI, but when I tried listening to it, it didn't save the new instrument choices. It kept the edited volumes and muted tracks, but the end result sounds horrible without the changed instruments.

 

Does anybody know why it's not working?

 

EDIT: Er... Obviously the title has a typo. I meant Anvil Studio, not Audio Studio.

Edited by kurt91, 19 August 2013 - 11:12 PM.

[Aevin]

It's strange that it would be different in Anvil Studio and any other playback method. This may not be related, but my only suggestion is to make sure the instruments each have their own unique channel. Any tracks with the same channel will retain the same instrument sounds, even if the instruments themselves are different.

 

But there's something else I feel obliged to point out ...  The midis on vgmusic may be publicly available. By posting them there, I believe all the sequencers have implicitly given their permission to use them in games as long as it's not for profit. However, I question the ethics behind taking someone else's work and altering it in any way. Personally, I'm nervous about so much as changing the volume of a track on someone else's midi sequence, much less changing around a bunch of instruments. Who will you credit for this midi?  The original sequencer (who may be offended at having your instrument changes credited as something they've done)?  Or yourself (in which case you're falsely claiming someone else's work as your own)? If you've already asked permission, I apologize for this. But if you're editing it, intending to use it in a quest, without asking the permission of the original sequencer, I urge you to contact them first. As a sequencer myself, I'd be VERY bothered if someone altered my work without at least asking first.

Edited by Aevin, 19 August 2013 - 11:20 PM.

[kurt91]

I figured I'd credit them as making the original version of the MIDI, and then myself for editing it. I hadn't thought of contacting the original creator first, though. I had assumed that since it was on VGMusic, and it's generally considered okay to use music files from that site for not-for-profit games, that it would be okay. I suppose you're right. Once I get the song sounding how I want it to, I'll put a copy on my MediaFire account and see if I can contact him/her with a link. They'd be able to hear what I had done to it compared to their original, and tell me if it's okay with them or not. Even if it isn't, I think what I did sounds really neat and I'd like to at least keep a copy for myself.

 

Regarding the issues I'm having with Anvil Studio, I noticed two tracks, one of which was using the same channel as another track, and another was a drum beat I had muted anyways, so I deleted them both. It still didn't fix it in any other players, though. I wonder if I should just write down the tracks, instruments, and volume levels, and then ask if anybody here would be willing to take a look at it and see if they can fix it for me.

 

By the way, to whoever fixed my typo in the topic title, thanks!

Edited by kurt91, 20 August 2013 - 12:36 AM.

[Aevin]

It'd still be nice if you contacted them, but it's probably not a problem if you mention that you edited it. Forgive me for assuming the worst.

 

I'd be happy to look at the midi if you put it up for download somewhere. I'm curious to see whether the same problem is on other computers, too.

[kurt91]

Here, take a look at it for yourself.

 

http://www.mediafire...zm89yyyrepo5szz

 

It seems to save the instruments when opened in Anvil Studio, and plays correctly in that program, but everything else has it play with the incorrect instruments. Let me know if you need me to list off what instruments go in which track, just in case you don't get the proper ones on your sequencer program.

[Aevin]

I use anvil studio. One strange thing I notice when I open the file in Anvil is that there's this big blue "Converting song" message that I've never seen with any other file. Different midi sequencers handle percussion tracks differently. One thing I found odd was that when I played it in Anvil, it had drums, but when I tried in Winamp, the drums disappeared. Then I tried it in MediaPlayer, and it played everything as piano.

 

I can safely say the problem is with the percussion track. Once I deleted it, the midi played fine in all programs, and the converting message disappeared when opening it with Anvil. The drums are on the "staff editor" right now. If you could replicate the track on the "grid/loop editor" and delete that track, it will probably solve the problem.  (If this is too difficult I can probably do it for you.)

 

By the way, the midi sounds very nice.

[kurt91]

Do you think you could do that for me? I don't know much on how to use the program beyond switching around instruments and volumes, and manually adding notes on the Piano Roll Editor.

 

By the way, the reason the drums still appeared on the file is because I had uploaded the wrong one. Beyond the drums still being there, everything else was the same as the ones I had been working on. I tried testing the midi in ZQuest's player, and it ended up sounding correct, but it still doesn't work in my other player programs, and I'd like to be absolutely sure that it's going to sound right when other people play it. (That, and if I want to listen to it, it'd be nice to open it in a normal player rather than ZQuest every time.)

[Aevin]

Are you saying you don't want the drums there at all? Because deleting the drum track is what fixed the problem for me. If you don't want that track, then there's no use in trying to copy it ...

[kurt91]

Yeah. Originally, I had already deleted the drums entirely. I probably uploaded the wrong file if the one you got has drums in it. The version I had been trying to get to work only has:

 

Channel 1: Pan Flute

Channel 2: FX 1 (Rain)

Channel 3: Piccolo

Channel 4: Lead 6 (Voice)

Channel 5: Choir Aahs

Channel 6: FX 3 (Crystal)

Channel 7: String Ensemble 2

Channel 8: FX 3 (Crystal)

Channel 9: FX 2 (Soundtrack)

[Aevin]

I see ... I'm sorry, not sure what the problem is. My only other suggestion is to try copying the tracks into a new midi. I still suspect it's something about how Anvil interacts with other midi sequencers, so maybe making a fresh midi in the program will fix it.