ALL INSTRS - HOW TO USE VAN BASCO for learning - 1

[Admin]

WELCOME Why not also click here to enter our competition to win some of our software courses, or sheet music or tutorials FREE

REMEMBER TO PRESS THE NOTIFY BUTTON ON EVERY POST in this category  to be automtically sent notifications of new lessons in this category. Also PRESS REPLY and add your own thoughts or questions - the more replies the more similar lessons added[/color]
FOr the basic educational use ( to help with learning to read, hearing sound files etc ) see the more basic applications of these programs
here

For more advanced uses this will start a discussion. Im also making scrrenshot graphics of the sequence of buttons in the programs to perform different functions - a lengthy task so bear with me , Im going to answer Les' questions below to give the basic idea for now:

I need some midi rap so I can modify it for a little project I am working on.  How d you download it so an application can read it?? So it can be fuither modified??
Les
Toronto.

Breaking Les question into a few parts :
1 - I need some midi rap
2 - so I can modify it
3 - How d you download it so an application can read it??
4 - So it can be fuither modified??

STEP 1
"I need some midi rap" * steo 2 and 3 etc on the way"

Use the V B software here to search efficiently and save the mid rap file or search google etc.

Using van basco ( also read more about it here I came up with pages of reuslts to download . heres the first page of what I saw . Clicking on any of the titles below when you use the software to do the search you then save the MIDI file to PC ( Van Basco only finds MIDI files thats why its great - unlike a normal search engine
please fee fre to give feedback to this 1st part of tutorial replyng here here and vote here if youd like more about how to
"2 - so I can modify it
3 - How d you download it so an application can read it??
4 - So it can be fuither modified??"

[kobusPX400]

Thanks, I think this "Van Basco's" is great. Both the search engine and the program itself. I am busy downloading a lot of MIDI files with lyrics. Will upload some of them to my PX-400 during the weekend to see if the lyrics will display on the PX-400's display.

Will let you know,

Kobus.

[Admin]

Thanks Kobus your feedback really appreciated - this is a kind of MINI TUTORIAl to ascertan what interest there is - more to come - on what to do with midi files etc

Thanks, I think this "Van Basco's" is great. Both the search engine and the program itself. I am busy downloading a lot of MIDI files with lyrics. Will upload some of them to my PX-400 during the weekend to see if the lyrics will display on the PX-400's display.

Will let you know,

Kobus.

[kobusPX400]

Thanks, I think this "Van Basco's" is great. Both the search engine and the program itself. I am busy downloading a lot of MIDI files with lyrics. Will upload some of them to my PX-400 during the weekend to see if the lyrics will display on the PX-400's display.

Will let you know,

Kobus.

OK, I did it and it works.

1). I installed "Van Basco" and use the "van Basco's" search to get midi files or .kar files that contains the words of the songs.

2). Then I upload them in the normal way with "CASIO SMF Converter" through the USB port to the PX-400. Both the .mid and .kar files can be uploaded, but for the .kar files you have to use a trick. When you open "CASIO SMF Converter" it only allows you to select .mid files. For .kar files you can right click on the file, select “open with” and then “Choose program” and then “CASIO SMF Converter”. The first time you do this, there won’t be an option to choose “CASIO SMF Converter”, and so you will have to click on “Browse” en select the file “SMFConverter.exe” from where it is installed. (The default place will be at C:\Program Files\CASIO\SMFConverter\ SMFConverter.exe)

3). Then you will be able to play it on your PX-400 from the song/user location where you have uploaded it to. Make sure “Sing Along” is selected and the words of the song will be on your display.

4). OK, now the bad news. Some of the uploaded .mid and .kar files do not display the words on the PX-400, even if the words are there when you play it on your PC in the “Van Basco’s” karaoke program. I am still trying to figure out if there is a way of knowing if the words will display on the PX-400 before you upload the file. Will let you know if I find something.

Hope this helps and enjoy singing along.

Kobus.

[Admin]

Thanks again for your help to everyone one and hopefully other will tell about uses of van basco they are finding too.
If Im getting you correctly - sometimes the lyrics display and sometimes they dont on the PX400 ? That is most probably because the "lyrics track" has to have certain predefined midi channel no .and ths would have to be changed, whilst van basco would read a lyrics track on any midi channel -
Quotes from how sibelius notation software handles mid for instance

Sibelius will export lyrics included in your score as text in MIDI files, though there is no such thing as "lyric text" in MIDI files, so it just gets exported as text attached to a specific MIDI tick.

There is lyric text in '.kar' [karaoke] files, which are basically midi files with lyrics embedded.

Often the lyrics in a midi file are in a separate "track" (i.e. staff) with no notes at all. If there was more than one voice part, there is no way to tell which lyrics belong to which part.

.
STep 1 will be which midi track must the lyrics be transferred to if this problem occurs now and again - will research this
STep 2 One of my projects here is to make a tutorial of how to change midi channels on software that Ill upload here) .Quite atime consuming project so no promise when but will be done .If you want to go ahead and try yourself. you can so long come  up with answer step 1 . Step 2 is more complicated

FOr Step 1 . Take the midi files whos lyrics DO work in the PX400R. Play them in van basco . SOLO all tracks in van basco .Hoipefully only 1 track will allow the lyrics to appear. Thats the track that the other midi file lyrics would have to be changed ...but as I said step 2 - changing midi channles in a file  ..thats another project presently half done - about 2 weeks and should be complete

 Some of the uploaded .mid and .kar files do not display the words on the PX-400, even if the words are there when you play it on your PC in the “Van Basco’s” karaoke program. I am still trying to figure out if there is a way of knowing if the words will display on the PX-400 before you upload the file. Will let you know if I find something.

Hope this helps and enjoy singing along.
Kobus.