A short tutorial on importing riffs with MidiInc.

It's pretty easy, but a step by step never hurts! Here is what I did to
create a short introduction to a song (The Summer Knows).

1. I created a normal MMA file with a 4 bar intro and a 2 bar metronome.

2. Compile the MMA file into a MIDI.

-- we now have 2 files: summer.mid and summer.mma

3. I imported the MIDI file into Rosegarden (however, any other recording
    program will work just as well). 

4. I played a simple, one note-at-a-time, introduction and saved it in
   channel 1. Just 4 bars of note data.

5. Save the MIDI file under a new name (in Rosegarden this is File-Export).

 -- we now have 3 files: summer.mid, summer.mma and solo.mid

6. Modify the original MMA file so we can analize the solo file. Just add
   the following line AFTER the metronome:

     MidiInc File=solo.mid Report=On

   save the file and  run "mma summer.mma".

   You should get a print out on the screen with a bunch of information.
   The key line we want to look at is:
 
     Channel  1: First event 0        First Note 4361     Total Notes 15 

   This is the melody we played. Note that our first note is played at
   offset 4361. Make a note of this value!

7. Modify the original file again. This time we want to listen to the
   solo data, so change the MidiInc line to:

   MidiInc File=sol.mid Solo=1,riff Volume=200  StripSilence=4361

  Save and compile with "mma -P summer.mma". The song should play with
  a fairly loud solo, probably played with a piano. If the start time
  matches, go on. Otherwise you can modify the "StripSilence" value and try again.

8. Modify the original file one more. This time we will suck the note data out:

     MidiInc File=sol.mid Solo=1,riff,print Volume=200  StripSilence=4361

   and complile. You should get a bunch of RIFF command lines on the screen.
   If it's working you can cut/paste off the screen or redirect into a
   scratch file.

9. Back to the MMA file. Add some solo tracks, etc. and delete the MidiInc
   line (it's done it's work). My file ended up looking like this:

/////////////////////////////////

// Summer Knows

Tempo 80    /// I think it was much slower in the movie
Keysig F minor

Groove Metronome2-4
  z * 2

Groove GuitarBalladSusIntro

Begin Solo
   Voice Strings
   Articulate 120
   Volume m
   Octave 5  // no effect since we're using midi pitch values
   Riff <Offset=0> 180t 68/102;<Offset=178> 92t 72/108;<Offset=272> 294t 68/98;<Offset=648> 49t 68/127;<Offset=757> 175t 68/127 ~;
   Riff <Offset=168> 102t 72/82;<Offset=274> 338t 68/104;<Offset=656> 96t 68/127;<Offset=756> 104t 70/102 ~;
   Riff <Offset=124> 90t 70/120;<Offset=248> 97t 70/127;<Offset=354> 107t 73/124;<Offset=462> 162t 70/127;<Offset=635> 127t 68/106;<Offset=762> 291t 67/118 ~;
End

Begin Solo-1
   Voice ChoirAahs
   HarmonyOnly OpenBelow
   octave 8         // Again, no effect
   Articulate 130
   Volume f
End
    
Solo DupRiff Solo-1

1         Ab
2        Fm
3       Bbm
4        Eb7      /      z

////////////  Song continues ......


A few points to look at and remember:

- Octave settings have no effect on Riff Solo data entered with MIDI note values. So, the octave settings in Solo and Solo-1 have no effect.

- Use of DupRiff saves a lot of time!

- The HarmonyOnly track notes are in the same octave at the Solo. We could have done 2 different imports, but it's not really necessary since we have lots of harmony choices.

- I added "~" to the generated RIFF lines to turn off the long note warnings.

There you go. Sounds a lot more complicated than it is. Try a few songs on your own. My creation is in the example song distro as "summer-knows.mma".


bvdp   July/2010