little Chinese ditty I call tu-ning

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guttadaj

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Actually, MIDI tuning.

Does anyone know of a way to adjust the tuning of MIDI synth output? Not transpose, but just adjust by microtones/cents?

My keyboard has the option of tuning from A427.4 up to A452.6, with A440.0 as the obvious default in the middle. Is there a similar setting in Cakewalk HS2002?

Or, am I looking in the wrong place - would it be on my soundcard? If so, I think I am screwed, since I don't see anything like it anywhere on the Santa Cruz Control Panel.

Thanks,
-Jeff
 
I couldnt find anything in Sonar that would do that to midi notes, all I found was dealing with full 1/2 steps. Sorry, perhaps somebody knows something more and will post it. I`d think you gotta deal directly with the oscillators on the sound card.
 
You can alter the pitch of individual MIDI tracks with the Pitch Wheel function. You have to maximise the Piano Roll view of the MIDI track and drag the bottom of the window upward to reveal a window beneath it. There is a zero pitch line and you can draw a line (or a dot if you prefer) to alter the pitch of successive notes.

Alert! Be warned though, every time you go back to that point in the track, the pitch will be altered again by that same amount. You'd best have a half bar of silence before it to return the pitch to zero.

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BluesMeister
 
The tuning is best done on the keyboard, sound-module or whatever... not in the sequenser.
 
moskus said:
The tuning is best done on the keyboard, sound-module or whatever... not in the sequenser.
Click to expand...
I've no doubt that's absolutely true :) But he asked the question :Is there a similar setting in Cakewalk HS2002? Which is what I was endeavouring to explain.

But thinking about that now, MIDI recorded from an instrument into HS2002 is recorded as a series of note-on note-off events is it not? So in the sequencer, wouldn't the pitch be independent of the tuning of the synthesiser? If the play back was by DXi, wouldn't the pitch be concert pitch (assuming the DXi was tuned correctly to concert pitch).

My brain's beginning to hurt :D

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BluesMeister
 
Haven't you almost answered your own question. The keyboard has a tuning control whjich can adjust locally - and you may be able to send a SysEx message (or similar) from Cakewalk to adjust this from within a MIDI sequence.

If you are asking can you do the same to any other MIDI sound module, you will need to look locally at the facilities it offers. If you are talking about the MIDI synth on your sound-card thats where you need to look. It may be tunable, and you may be able to drive this from within a MIDI sequence...

I hope that at least rephrases the question helpfully...
 
OT - How do you get those smilies in the middle of your text?!?!?!?!
 
shuggy said:
OT - How do you get those smilies in the middle of your text?!?!?!?!
Click to expand...
Example: Just write a ":" and a ")" next to each other. This will give you :)


First, click here and make shure that "Use vBCode quick links on your message input screens?" on the bottom of the page is set to "Yes". :)
 
BluesMeister said:
But thinking about that now, MIDI recorded from an instrument into HS2002 is recorded as a series of note-on note-off events is it not? So in the sequencer, wouldn't the pitch be independent of the tuning of the synthesiser? If the play back was by DXi, wouldn't the pitch be concert pitch (assuming the DXi was tuned correctly to concert pitch).
Click to expand...

Yeah, initially I tried adjusting the pitch on my keyboard, but the pitch is independent of the keyboard's tuning as just note-on note-off messages are being sent like you said. If I knew how to send a SysEx message like shuggy brought up, that sounds like it would probably do the trick. Anyway, I will try playing with it by editing the Pitch Wheel messages like BluesMeister mentioned. Otherwise, this is probably most likely controlled by the soundcard's synth controls, and my soundcard does not appear to have anything for this.

Thanks,
-Jeff
 
Nobody's asked yet, but what are you doing that you need to tune by such a small increment? Are you trying to match the midi instruments to the tuning of an audio clip? I do lots and lots of midi stuff, and I've never needed to tune by more or less than the standard semi-tone. Just curious.

ed
 
Sending Sysx messages can be a bit challenging. From what I can gather from your post it seemingly would be easier to enter the pitch adjustments in the event window using controller data.

Depending on your equipment you might have to control pitch through RPN messages or through the modulation wheel controller. This stuff varies with each piece of equipment. Now, if you are trying to change the pitch on sounds generated by the synth on your sound card check the MIDI documentation that came with your sound card to see what controller the modulation wheel is assigned to. Once you figure that out then you can proceed and alter the controller data as needed.

If you are trying to tune to audio samples, you can always adjust their pitch and leave your midi be.


Good Luck,


Vice
 
Thanks for the input, guys.

Yeah, I'm trying to tune to an audio clip that's just a little sharp, so my MIDI tracks at normal tuning sound flat. I haven't tried to adjust the pitch of it, but I will. I'm a bit skeptical of the quality of the Cakewalk Pitch Shifter effect, after getting a nasty warble when trying to shift up an octave, but I've been told that a large adjustment like that is not feasible except on a passage of single notes while small adjustments should be ok. I'll try it though. I'm also going to try the suggestion of just putting in a "Pitch Wheel" Controller event right at the beginning of the track to bring the pitch down.

Thanks again!
-Jeff
 
If you use the pitch wheel controller to adjust a "flat" midi section you will want to bring the pitch will up, not down...

Pitch wheel will control the midi data. Pitch shift will control audio data.


Good luck!


Vice
 
vicevursa said:
If you use the pitch wheel controller to adjust a "flat" midi section you will want to bring the pitch will up, not down...
Click to expand...

Yeah, misspoke there... Not slipping anything by you guys! ;) Love this BBS.

Thanks again!
-Jeff
 
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