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Tutorial: Converting a Single Instrument Audio File

Included in the Samples subdirectory is an MP3 file representing a portion of the 2nd movement of Ludwig von Beethoven's 8th Piano Sonata in C Minor called Pathetique.  The audio file was recorded using the recommended settings described in the manual.  We will use this music as we use the New Project Wizard to give you practice at adjusting conversion settings.  You can compare your work to the project and MIDI files we came up with.  Feel free to experiment, however.  That is the best way to learn how to use all the features of intelliScore to their maximum potential.  To preserve the original files, back them up to a different folder or rename them, or else you will be prompted to replace them as you follow the tutorial.  You can also preserve and compare the results of your experiments using different file names.  This tutorial assumes you are using the default settings in the Options window.

1. Click the Blank Document Icon in the Tool Bar to start the New Project Wizard.

2. You are asked from where the audio will be obtained.  Choose the first option at the top next to the folder icon, since an audio file for this tutorial already exists.  Click the Next button to continue.

3. You are asked to specify the name of the audio file.  In the Select Audio File dialog box, select the file My Documents\intelliScore\Samples\Pathetique Sonata.mp3.  Click the Next button to continue to the next step.

4. Select I know what instruments comprise the original audio.  Click the Next button to continue.

5. Since the audio file contains a single type of instrument, a piano, choose the Single option and click Next to continue. (If you have the Polyphonic Edition of intelliScore, you won't see this step in the New Project Wizard.)

6. Now select the instrument from the list box.  Choose 0 - Acoustic Grand Piano.  You can click the speaker button to hear what the instrument sounds like through your sound card.  Click Next to continue.

7. You are asked to enter the polyphony level.  This section of Pathetique Sonata only contains four notes at the same time, so type or use the spinner to enter the value 4 and click Next to continue.

8. Now you are asked if you want easy or notation timing settings. For this tutorial, you want to look at the generated MIDI file as notation, so you need to select the Notation radio button.  Click Next to continue.

9. It is time to tap in the tempo so intelliScore knows where the beats fall.  Start the audio file playing by pressing the arrow Play button.  Tap the <SPACE BAR> in time with the music until the audio file finishes playing.  If you tapped the same way we did, the tap count should finish at 31 with a tempo of 50 beats per minute.  The Tap Extender window appears.  Since we tapped the entire time span of the audio file, we do not need to extend the taps, so click the Cancel button to close the window.  Click Next to continue.

10. For the Timing Resolution, select Eighth, since we tapped on the quarter notes and there are two notes per tap.  Click Next to continue.

11. Accept the suggested MIDI file name of Pathetique Sonata.mid and click Next to continue.

12. Click the Finish button to close the New Project Wizard and start the converter.

13. When it is finished, a Results window will display.  Note the location of the MIDI file and the information about your music that intelliScore has automatically estimated.  You will see that intelliScore determined that Pathetique Sonata is in the key of A-flat Major, which seems correct.  Select the Open MIDI file in MIDI editor/notation software option.  (Click the Setup button if you have not yet told intelliScore the path to your MIDI edit/notation software.)  If you have Anvil Studio set up as your MIDI editor/notation software, you will see that the names of the chords intelliScore detected are displayed above the musical staff.  While looking at the notation, you can see that there are some extra notes that you may not have been able to hear because they are too quiet.

14.  Now from the Results window, select the Play original audio and MIDI together in SyncPlayer option.  In the SyncPlayer, select the MIDI only option.  Listen to the range between the high notes and low notes being played.  Also listen to determine if the faster notes were detected.  Click the Close button to close the SyncPlayer.

15. The MIDI file turned out pretty well, but if you want to adjust it further, you can select the Modify project settings option to reopen the Project Editor and make some changes.  For example, to help eliminate the extra quiet notes you saw in the notation, you can switch to the Dynamics tab and increase the MIDI Threshold from its current setting of 5 up to 10.  When you are finished, click the OK button to close the window and restart the converter with these optimized settings.

16. When it is finished, the Results window will open again.  You may want to select the Open MIDI file in MIDI editor/notation software option again and edit notes individually as desired in the editor.  Be sure to save the final touched-up version of your MIDI file.  You can also select the option to Save project settings if you desire.