Converting MIDI Files into Music Scores for any instrument
What are midi files?
MIDI is a digital language for reading audio files. They are far smaller than wave files and can even be opened and read as sheet music.
Where can I find Midi Files?.
A Google search for Midis or Midi Files will bring up plenty of results but personally I like Music Robot, a midi search engine. Browse through google.com msnsearch.com and yahoo.com for the particular genre, band, or instrument your looking for with the keyword "midi" included. This site has a list of RPG Piano Midis or General Midis that can easily be converted to music scores
How does it become a music score?
You'll need a program like Note Worthy Composer (only 800k) or Finale. Finale and Noteworth both are demos if you want it free but noteworthy continues to function after 30 days. It may seem a little overwhelming at first because both programs require a time commitment to get the results you seek, but please be patient. For this tutorial I will use Noteworthy Composer. Finale would likely overwhelm you with too many features. If you're looking for PDF files, try Project Gutenberg. Below is a a picture of what can usually be found on the emule servers.
Getting Started
I've added a video tutorial to this section AVI Mpg 1 (1.96mb). Right click on A Ship of Regret And Sleep and click "save as", put it on your desktop.
Download Noteworthy composer and install.
Open Noteworth Composer.
Now this is it. Don't be worried at all the buttons, I'll guide you.
Click file->open and select 4.mid.
Click Next a million times.
Ahh! There's 5 tracks!
Click the play button to listen.
Clearing Redundant Tracks
If you'll watch the notes, you'll notice the second part just follows the first. So it's just a harmonic part and unnecessary.
There's a red minus side on the lower most tool bar above the score.
Click the track, then click the minus sign to delete the track.
Do the same for last two bottom tracks.
We've isolated the melody, leaving us two parts. If you're a piano player, you're done! If not Read on.
Changing Octaves
Say you're a tuba player wanting to play this piece as a duet with the computer (muting the part you're playing). The octave is way too high, and transposing requires skill, time and or effort that just (laziness) is not worth it when assessing other priorities (T.V.,staring, etc).
Delete the staff as if it where text (click after it and click backspace).
Right click that spot and click notation->clef.
You can change the clef, but doing so makes the music sound weird, because you just basically raised it or lowered it a whole step and messed up the key signature.
Keep the same clef but select the bottom option as setting it an octave down, or up depending on your instrument.
It'll put a little 8 on the clef.
Try Playing it again.
You've changed the octave yeay!! But- ehh, you still can't read the notes. Same problem.
Save as, make sure you have save it as a midi, close it, and open it up again.
The little 8 dissappeared! The notes have moved an octave. If you still cannot read it, repeat the process until it's at your playing level.
Conclusion
Ahh finally, we're done. I estimate 97% of those who read will get overwhelmed and quit this tutorial. Let me know how I can make things more clear, or where you got stuck by sending an email to webmaster_jimmy@yahoo.com.