The last time you listened to a midi file cover?

[tapper mike]

The other night I was rummaging around an old computer that I've had for 10 years. Of which I transferred many files that I've had stored for years before. I stumbled on a ton of midi files and proceeded to listen to them.
It was highly entertaining to me. Last night I spent a few hours working out my chops to songs long forgotten.


Then I remembered. Way back when I actually transcribed songs to midi and was part of a Usenet group that shared our midi files. It was a blast from the past.

[harryupbabble]

Just maybe a week ago, to some not-so-famous Beatles songs.

It seems like there are thousands (maybe even millions) of songs in midi format that are free to download. I think I pretty much have all of the Beatles ones and other classic rock songs.

I always wondered what kind of time and labour it took to transcribe CD songs to midi (or maybe even songs taped from FM classic rock radio or whatever). I wanted to do it myself but I presumed it would take me at least one week to transcribe a song like A Day In The Life and so I never even tried to do it because of that and plus I figure I would make tons of mistakes if I were to do it by ear. Are there special software to do it automatically (and faster/accurately) or do most transcribers just use their ears (and eventually go deaf like Beethoven... of ear-overuse)?

[tapper mike]

There are some programs which can analyze song structure and from there make conclusions about what the chord structure is. That's puts a huge foot in the door.
Like... https://play.riffstation.com/

Though I prefer the one in band in a box. It tries to pull every note out. Which can be a problem discerning which instrument produced which note. I can transcribe... Okay but I don't do it everyday and note / rest durations really get the better of me when trying to score a piece.

It's funny... I get extremely frustrated with highly creative yet very inaccurate renditions of rock standards. And yet if it's jazz.... Jazz is supposed to be an interpretation of a piece not an exact recreation of the original performance. So I just accept that the key and even the supporting harmonization, rhythmic devices and solo sections to be different.

Back when I was young (a very very long time ago) Live performance was a must at anywhere that sold alcohol and many places that didn't. There was no shortage of work for musicians. Some were great, some where so/so. and some were hacks. Most everyone could read a chord chart / fake book even though a lot of fake books were absolute crap. The general public was more accepting two "interpretations" of pieces rather than exact replications. If someone didn't know a song and an audience member requested it... The keyboard player / guitarist would open a book on the spot and try to fake their way through.

Before the internet I had tonnes and tonnes of fake books. A quiet evening at home would be trying to learn songs. Midi song format and later powertab / guitar pro changed all of that for me. Still some "highly interpretative" renditions of songs out there. Many of my own early transcriptions fall into that category. Nonetheless making the effort even if you think you'll fall short will eventually make you a better transcriber. It just takes a lot of practice and not taking yourself too seriously when you start out.

[kevvvvv]

Midi in any shape or form is a blast.

Always loved it.

Hardly ever touch wav files.

[Winstontaneous]

After Bowie died last year, I downloaded MIDI files for a bunch of his tunes and created some truly horrendous Casio-tonal renditions.

[trewq]

And its always fun to transform a part of one into a seed for totally new music.

[manducator]

I don't know if this counts but I like old game music like this:

https://stuartrynn.bandcamp.com/album/d ... aliens-ost

If any body knows more music like this, please let me know.

[ELECTRONICHAOS]

Every now and then...
I go on vgmusic fairly often to find interesting remixes I can work with.

[jancivil]

[...] what kind of time and labour it took to transcribe CD songs to midi (or maybe even songs taped from FM classic rock radio or whatever). I wanted to do it myself but I presumed it would take me at least one week to transcribe a song like A Day In The Life and so I never even tried to do it because of that and plus I figure I would make tons of mistakes if I were to do it by ear.

pro tip: this is how people that are good at it got good at it

[jancivil]

I heard Satie Gnossienne 1, maybe for the first time, back in 2011 or whenever...
The person I was working with, who was writing some word things for the project at that time, suggested doing some covers. So this tune captivated me. I wanted to get on it tout de suite, so I found a MIDI! Hey...
(kunstderfuge dot com)

Yes, that's lazier than transcribing it (et de plus, trés moderne, tout à fait)... so is hitting the URL button rather than typing the code. This one would have been easier than... a lot of things, and I'm fecking old. I was apprx one century less old then so that's not really my excuse. I digress...

AHEM, so this particular .mid was one of the straight quantized jobs they got there, and my idea was to do it reggae so I did a whole bunch of work to get a rhythm track together anyway (and it turned out to be such a production). BUT! By the time I had this really lame scratch track, with a not-too-stellar harpsichord patch out of like Kontakt 2's deal, I was really rearing to go with a lead guitar thing so I hit record. And I was really buzzed now. So pleased with it now I forgot to, and I forgot that I hadn't even fully stated the 2nd part of the tune. Oh well. So I wasn't so familiar...

This is when I started titling shit in French. I still do not have a pet lobster tho

[harryupbabble]

[...] what kind of time and labour it took to transcribe CD songs to midi (or maybe even songs taped from FM classic rock radio or whatever). I wanted to do it myself but I presumed it would take me at least one week to transcribe a song like A Day In The Life and so I never even tried to do it because of that and plus I figure I would make tons of mistakes if I were to do it by ear.

pro tip: this is how people that are good at it got good at it

Getting good at? At transcribing existing music to midi format? Oh yeah, I know. That's one way. Work at it till you get good at it. But I trust machines/software more than my own ear. I could tune my guitar and the songs would sound right to my ear but when I use a guitar tuner the strings were not really tuned. So if I were to transcribe a Beatles song I suspect it would end up being in the wrong key, with having inaccurate drum fills, etc. I consider just listening to my CD/Mp3 collection in the background while multitasking already a type of training and it's not like listening to all that music has really improved my ears nor my so-called songwriting skills, it seems. And so how would transcribing songs improve my ears if listening to my CD/mp3 collection didn't seem to have helped? And what's the point of transcribing stuff badly and uploading it to the net? It's like spreading false information. No?

Yeah, for example, I had a bunch of downloaded Beatles midi files and I couldn't recognize them even though I have actually heard some of the songs before from actual Beatles CD's or the radio. Songs like Old Brown Shoe, Boys, and One After 909. A few KVR members couldn't recognize them either because the transcribers did a bad bad job, I presume. Again, what's the point of transcribing songs, uploading them on the net... just so people can say "Jesus H Smith, what a bad transcription job, it's completely unrecognizable!!!"? I suspect that bad transcribers do not think they are bad transcribers because like me I thought I could tune a guitar.. but really I can't. Not accurately, at least. And I could have stayed on that path forever thinking I was tuning my guitar correctly if I didn't eventually became aware of free VST guitar tuners.

So yeah, who knows, maybe there are other ways. Maybe some of those "professional" midi transcriptions didn't require transcribers to be good at it. The "transcribers" maybe just had tools that are super-expensive, to get the job done and accurately, and they could do it in so much less time (like 5 minutes). No creativity required.

Anyways, I just decided that I didn't want to be a transcriber because I presume it requires so much time that I didn't always have and I can't afford expensive transcribing tools that may or may not exist and yeah I am already super-busy with scrabble and trying to write simple pop songs (which aren't simple to me because songs required lyrics and technology can't really help in terms of writing lyrics, it seems, and because Brian Eno said so) and transcribing, in my case, wasn't really that necessary because, come to think of it, there are like tons and tons of transcribed songs like A Day In The life in midi form already even though some transcriptions seems more accurate than others.

[jancivil]

[...] what kind of time and labour it took to transcribe CD songs to midi (or maybe even songs taped from FM classic rock radio or whatever). I wanted to do it myself but I presumed it would take me at least one week to transcribe a song like A Day In The Life and so I never even tried to do it because of that and plus I figure I would make tons of mistakes if I were to do it by ear.

pro tip: this is how people that are good at it got good at it

Getting good at? At transcribing existing music to midi format?

NO, at transcribing music period.

Oh yeah, I know. That's one way. Work at it till you get good at it.

And these other ways {>to get good at a thing<} ARE?

But I trust machines/software more than my own ear. I could tune my guitar and the songs would sound right to my ear but when I use a guitar tuner the strings were not really tuned. So if I were to transcribe a Beatles song I suspect it would end up being in the wrong key...

Well, so you won't get good at transcribing music. This is so absolutely basic to musicianship, you know? If this is fun anyway for you, who am I to say anything. Especially if it isn't very frustrating for yez. If it is, well, don't worry about it, there's other things you're good at, surely.

and yeah I am already super-busy with scrabble,

and writing super simple pop songs.

Y'know why the simple pop songs that are good are good?
Because the person writing them has a great ear.
Anyway...

[harryupbabble]

The other way(s)? In the case of transcribing music to midi, maybe some transcribers has not worked hard at all but simply have access to better transcribing tools. And they would not be good at all at transcribing without those tools but achieved "professional" results because they used the right tools. That would be the other way.

And I would rather use those tools than get good at transcribing music because I need more time to use for other tools that has nothing to do with transcribing but more to do with rejecting/keeping sequences that are spewed out randomly by those tools. Selection rather than transcription.

Scrabble. Right there. I suppose there are people who are good at other things without putting in hard work because I know I'm good at speed scrabble and I've never worked hard at it. Oh wait, I did study the top 1,000 7-letter words and the top 100 8-letter words one summer about 5 years ago but haven't done any study since then and have probably forgotten half of what I studied but I don't find 99 percent of my opponents a challenge. So yeah, I don't think hard work is "always" necessary. But... in my case, hard work is necessary when in comes to writing even simple pop songs of which I haven't made one decent one yet. Okay I am off to play speed scrabble. Play doesn't count as work.

[ghettosynth]

And its always fun to transform a part of one into a seed for totally new music.

Yeah, I do this quite a bit. I like transforming classical pieces into ambient/noise works.

[donkey tugger]

This is still the best midi file ever;

http://freemidis.net/Slayer/Angel_Of_Death/

The solo in particular is a thing of beauty when played, as Jeff Hanneman would have wanted, through the crappiest GM soundset possible.