Need advice for 84 year old MIDI user please

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BarkityBark

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I have an elderly friend who is still using an old Windows MIDI program called SOFT CONCERT. It won't run on Windows 7 (somehow got it to run on Windows ME though). He runs this on an old Compaq Presario with a PCMCIA Card that has a dongle to two MIDI connectors, which go to his Korg i5M, then to his sound system. He uses this setup to make backing tracks for band practices with his old crew. The Soft Concert program lets him add multi-MIDI tracks and adjust the pitch on the fly to match his trumpet tuning. Anyway, how can we upgrade him into the 21st Century please, by using his Windows 7 laptop to accomplish the same thing (economically). I need suggestions for an easy to understand MIDI software program and a proven MIDI-USB adapter that actually works with Windows 7 Professional 64. I bought one of those $7 el-cheapo adapters from ebay and could not get it to work correctly after playing forever with Windows settings/drivers etc. and MIDI-OX (could get the built-in MIDI-OX keyboard to work, but the built-in MIDI Player would only play .mid files out through the PC speaker). Appreciate all the advice. We don't want to get oversold some stuff at Guitar Center, etc!
 
There are many solutions. But one piece of information that would help is to know what he is using to generate the audio from the midi.

Just about any audio application will allow you to record, create or import midi. Just about any will allow you to generate audio by using virtual instruments, on board sound, or sound generated from outboard modules.

I don't have a lot of experience with MIDI-USB adapters or plain MIDI interfaces. In the days of Amiga I used Midi connectors on flying leads that plug into a serial (or parallel, I can't remember which) port. I use a Presonus interface (which is way more than he needs, by the sound of it), which has midi in and out.

Maybe others can chime in,
 
He is mostly just playing the .mid files from backing track CDs he purchased over 10 years ago. Also turning some of the instruments (tracks) within these pre-recorded songs on/off and adjusting the pitch and tempo is about all he does.
 
If I understand correctly, he has the midi file on CD. He loads the midi file into his computer. Using Soft Concert he does some editing. He then plays the file. The midi goes out to the Korg, where the voices are generated. The Korg is connected to the sound system. Recordings can be made form the sound system.

Ok . . . that's all good.

So: two issues

1 an application to do the editing, then the playing

2 a means of getting midi in and out of the computer (well, at least out).

So, referring back to my earlier response: just about any audio application will do this. I would recommend Reaper (because it is one I know and use and will do the job very easily).

1 Open Reaper
2 Insert Media File (this will allow him to select a midi file off the CD)
3 Select the file (Reaper will ask whether he wants to keep the midi tracks separate and keep the tempo)
4 Go to each track and select an output midi channel
5 hit play

But stuff needs to get in and out. This where someone who has experience needs to chip in.

However, you should be able to find something like this:

https://www.storedj.com.au/products/ROL-UMONEMK2
 
I only have a few forum comment to draw on and a year or two ago but inline "dangly" MIDI to USB converters things seem to have had some driver/latency issues?
By contrast you rarely read of problems with MIDI integrated with an AI.
if budget is an issue the M-Audio M track seems ok. Better would be the Steinberg UR22 and top dollar, the Ni KA6. The last two come with MIDI friendly Cubase but yes, Reaper is good.

Best of.

Dave.
 
I found this info while searching the internet as well, thanks for looking. No, it is NOT the same SOFT CONCERT program resulting from that search, but in name only. This original Soft Concert opens on the Windows ME screen displaying the title "TUNE 1000". It will also run entirely from a floppy, so I'm thinking it harkens back to the days of Windows 3.1 possibly. The files generated and used by this player/MIDI track editor are indeed .mid files as well.




arcaxis said:
I did a search on Soft Concert and came across below...

.KAR - MIDI Karaoke file type 1 (Soft Karaoke). The dominant in shareware/public domain market. Just about every karaoke player software on this page can play these files. Click here for detailed file format description. There are numerous shareware utilities written that allow making a .kar file from a regular MIDI file.
.MID + .TXK - KaraDOS. This is actually a combination of two files. The first is a MIDI file containing the music. The second is a text file with the song lyrics. This file format is used by KaraDOS player. The files of this type are available in the Albums section.
.MID - MIDI Karaoke file type 0. This is the new standard of Tune 1000 Corp. - the original designer of MIDI Karaoke. Tune 1000 has created numerous songs in this format. Check out their catalog. These files are not available on this page because they are commercial. Click here for more information on how to get these files. These files can be played by the commercial program Soft Concert made by Tune 1000. Currently the following shareware programs can play these files: GSPlay, Midi Songs Karaoke System.
.CRT - Soft Concert. These files are created with Tune 1000's Soft Concert program and are not compatible with any other program.
.ST3 - Star 3. This file type is only used by Star 3 Karaoke software. This file format uses a compression scheme that makes the file smaller than a regular MIDI file. Currently there are no files contributed to this page in this format.
Midi Karaoke FAQ

The Soft Concert MIDI files evidently are non-standard (*.CRT) and unlikely playable on anything current (perhaps you could look at the files on the CD's to confirm *.CRT files), so any upgrade would mean new MIDI files or if possible playing the SOFT CONCERT files on the old computer and re-recording them as a standard MIDI file on another computer. I'm pretty sure there is software available that can do what he wants easily. Is track editing done ahead of time and saved or rather done on the fly while playing?

Still on my first cup of coffee this morning. Will try to get back to this thread when more awake :)
Click to expand...
 
The real issue here is not equipment, it's the user. Does he embrace and understand modern computers, and does he actually understand what the software is actually doing? He could be what is called a legacy user, and has no interest in technology or the actual software. The software he has been running is ancient in design, and light on complexity. Dragging him into todays function and feature heavy maelstrom can simply stop his workflow totally. Would it not just be simpler to source an old version of ME, and install it on a clean a tested older PC?

You've not said what is wrong with the old one, apart from mentioning windows 7. I assume his computer is dead/dying and a new one will initiate his problems. For a non-technical or non-interested user, happy with his product, then back up his data, make security copies of the floppys and get a him a brand new, old style PC. If he is happy with the feature set, why rock the boat. In fact, every current sequencer may well cause him endless grief, simply because of the advances.

I have a friend who still runs Cubase lite, which was bought around 1995/6? and then morphed into Cubasis. It was in the Windows 3.1 days. It still works.

If he is a computer keen and technically savvy 84 year old, he could buy many of the current crop of software, but what does he think?
 
1. He is definitely what you called a legacy user. Your idea of sticking with the old instead of bringing in the new may well be what we will have to do. I just hoped he could utilize this new HP laptop he bought, find a simplistic MIDI player/editor, and keep him rolling along.

2. I was finally able to get MIDI files to play from his CD using MIDI-OX when I select the "PLAY MCI FILE" option. Not sure why it works, but it does. I do not have to do that though, to just punch away at the software keyboard within MIDI-OX. Perhaps this el-cheapo $7 USB-MIDI adapter isn't bad afterall? It certainly does garner a lot of great reviews on Amazon.. Amazon.com: VicTsing USB IN-OUT MIDI Cable Converter PC to Music Keyboard Adapter Cord: Everything Else
 
If you have a copy of ME it might be possible to install it on the W7 laptop as "dual boot".
Failing that there is "Virtual Machine" mode that might allow it.

ME is certainly available to download but be aware of the usual nasties. I still have discs for 95 and 98 but sadly not ME otherwise I would gladly FedEx it over!

Dave.
 
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