MIDI Setup

How to get there

Choose MIDI > Device Setup > MIDI Setup.

What it does

In the MIDI Setup dialog box you can edit a number of settings pertaining to your MIDI interface setup.

• Auto-Detect Input Devices. This check box allows you to automatically assign MIDI Input devices to banks. For example, if you unplug one external MIDI keyboard and then plug in a different model, PrintMusic will automatically detect the new device and add it to the Input Device for base channel 1. When checked, PrintMusic disables the other Input menus.
• MIDI In Device • MIDI Out Device. Use the MIDI In and MIDI Out settings to tell PrintMusic which MIDI drivers you’d like to use. You can specify up to 8 slots (using one or more MIDI drivers) to receive and send MIDI information. You can specify different configurations for MIDI In and MIDI Out (see Advanced below). Under MIDI In, select the MIDI In device for your computer (for example, SoundBlaster MIDI Input). Under MIDI Out, select a device where you’d like to hear the music played back. To use an external MIDI device, choose a driver with “MIDI Out” or “MPU 401” in its name. To use your computer’s speakers connected to your soundcard, choose a driver with “Synth” or “Synthesizer” in it. By default, PrintMusic uses “SmartMusic SoftSynth,” which is PrintMusic’s own General MIDI SoundFont. Since this option does not use your sound card’s synthesizer, playback will sound the same on other computers as long as SoftSynth is selected for the MIDI Out device (and the “Synthgms.sf2” file hasn’t been replaced by a different SoundFont in the Finale PrintMusic 2014/Audio Support folder). Select SoftSynth Settings to fine tune SoundFont playback. See SoftSynth Settings dialog box.
• Match On/Off. This check box controls how PrintMusic handles simultaneous MIDI messages of the same pitch on the same channel. When this box is checked, PrintMusic attempts to ‘match’ each simultaneous note on message with a corresponding note off message. For example, in a measure containing a whole note on middle C and a half note on middle C, the note off message at the conclusion of the half note applies only to the half note and the whole note continues for the full duration. If the MIDI output device supports matching on/offs, this option should be checked so that note off messages do not interrupt playback of the longer of two or more unisons on the same channel. If the MIDI device does not support matching note on/off messages, this option should be unchecked.

  To test if your MIDI output device supports matching note on/off messages, open a new default document. Enter a whole note middle C in the first measure in layer 1. Switch to layer 2, and then in the same measure, enter a half note on middle C and then a half note on D. Play the measure back. If the whole note C gets cut off with the half note C (you can’t hear the C against the D), the MIDI device does not support matching, but PrintMusic thinks it does - uncheck Match On/Off. If the whole note C continues to play over the barline, the MIDI device supports matching, but PrintMusic thinks it doesn’t - check Match On/Off. If you can hear the C against the D, and they both cut off at the same time, PrintMusic is setup correctly.

• Show/Hide Advanced. Click this button to expand the MIDI dialog box to show all eight slots. There is a limit on all single MIDI devices of 16 Channels, therefore 128 are possible in PrintMusic. When the expanded options are showing, click Hide Advanced to minimize this dialog box.
• MIDI In Latency. Enter a value in this text box to delay PrintMusic’s translation of MIDI information for entry in HyperScribe. The MIDI latency value compensates for the short delay it sometimes takes for MIDI information to travel from an external MIDI device into the computer.
• SoftSynth Settings. Click this button to open the SoftSynth Settings dialog box where you can select the software synthesizer you want to use for output, and change the volume. Changes in this dialog box apply to audio files created using the Save As Audio File feature under the File menu.

  Note Also: If you experience erratic playback while using SoftSynth (such as incorrect rhythms), and are using a machine with a dual processors or hyper threading capability, set PrintMusic to run on a single CPU. To do this, press Ctrl-Alt-Delete and then select Task Manager. Choose the Processes tab, right click “PrintMusic.exe” and choose Set Affinity. Then, ensure only one CPU is selected. Click OK, close out of the Task Manager, and the erratic playback problem should be resolved.

• OK • Cancel. Click OK to confirm, or Cancel to discard, the changes you’ve made to the MIDI settings in this dialog box and return to the score.

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