Apps / Tech / Gear recommendations.

RuthPower

alexx88 I am putting word out on this again to see if any of my piano teacher community know a good option - I find recommendations are the best when people have used the apps/software. Will keep you posted, once again!

RuthPower

alexx88 This ios app comes highly recommended by other piano teachers I've asked. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/notion/id475820434 it's called 'Notion' - it costs a few bucks, but has the ability to play in apparently. Have not tested it myself.
Otherwise most people use MuseScore as I do - other teachers have mentioned there are lots of tutorials for getting quicker at using it. The problem with these programs are usually the rhythm input, because it's difficult for software to guess the right guess - in terms of your exact timing. Most people can't play exactly, and so software will write the wrong rhythms... however, if you use an app like Garageband to record your part - you can then 'quantise' the playing which means it zips it all into a grid - you can edit it to sound just right - and then export the score from the midi. I'm not sure exactly how to do that last part but it's worth playing with.
I'm going to put this on the list of future coaching topics and demonstrate it properly -but if you want to go ahead and have a go with those in the meantime -you can be my canary!

alexx88

RuthPower Thanks for checking around for some more options! Before I shell out $15 I think I'll hunt for MuseScore tutorials well as research how involved the GarageBand option is. I really do need to get a handle on GarageBand anyway.

I do love the idea of playing into an app & having it transcribe though.

Gerry1

Before the Songwriting workshop I spent hours trying to record my song using both MuseScore and Garageband, so I could have an mp3 and also the sheet Music. I gave up. Fortunately, my piano has a record facility so I could record a midi file and an mp3 to a USB stick. I then opened the midi file in MuseScore and got a very impressive looking printable score that seemed to bear no relation at all to what
I had been playing. Put the same midi file into Garageband and it looked fine BUT, at the time, I found no way of exporting it for printing. So frustrating!

After reading your recent posts, I decided to re-investigate. It's actually so easy to print from Garageband - go to File, select Print and that's all there is to it!!!!! (why didn't I think of that before?) I've now saved my piece as a PDF and it looks good. The problem I find with any added tools: Garageband; MuseScore/Sibelius or the like, I waste so much time trying to learn how to use them when I need all my time to try and learn the piano!!! However, now I know I can print what I play, I will hook my piano up to Garageband and try recording directly again.

Hope this has helped you - this discussion has certainly been great help to me, so thank you.

alexx88

Gerry1 Yes!!! I having been spending HOURS trying to get this notated, & have been so frustrated that it's been taking time away from what I really want to be doing. Playing & creating. I need to spend a little time with GarageBand & get a recording into it, then try this printing feature. Thank You So Much for this tip! This sounds like a Huge game changer!

Gerry1

Thanks for the response - you wouldn't believe how long it took me to manage to sent my post, kept getting a message in red saying 'You are not allowed to do do this!' I nearly gave up, but wanted to let everyone know my discovery! I needed a 'How to use the Forum' lesson, too. I normally manage to figure things out, but it is such a time-waster as it is I had wanted to address it to Ruth and Mike as well, but hopefully they will come across it.

Good luck with your recording - let me know how it goes.

alexx88

Gerry1 That happened to me once. It was right after Ruth tightened up the Forum page after spammers made a post. So glad you persisted to get your post out! My plan is to try to get a GarageBand recording & printing today. We'll see how my time management goes. I'll keep everyone posted!

RuthPower

Thank you @alexx88 and @Gerry1 - I love the printing from Garageband solution! Isn't it funny when you feel like there's a simple solution but you just haven't found it yet! I'm going to try this one out too.
I've started a thread for technical difficulties - it's here: https://chat.pianopicnic.com/d/38-technical-difficulties
Please let me know what the trouble is and I will do my best to fix. The problem is that I'm not a website coder, so it does take me hours to try to find solutions! But I will always give it a shot!

alexx88

Well I'm getting closer to getting my song notated, but I'm not there yet. 🙁 To get GarageBand to notate a song it must be a midi file.

Day 1. I recorded directly into GarageBand. That didn't work.
Day 2. I tried the usb route in my keyboard. That didn't work either.

The usb recording from my Roland RD-2000 yielded an audio only .wav file. I've searched the manual & online, & haven't yet found a way to get a midi file out of the RD, unless you're using DAW programs other than GarageBand.

I started searching for free online .wav to midi converters that are reliable, but my head was starting to explode lol. know I'll get this figured out soon. I was so excited. I thought I was steps away with my little thumb drive in hand.

alexx88

@"Gerry1 Hi! What kind of keyboard do you have that records both audio & midi? I’m in midi hell trying to figure this out. Just went to Guitar Center for help. I was told the Scarlett 2i2 I bought almost a year ago that I never use, should be ditched for a 4i4. Not what I want to hear. There has to be a way I can get a midi recording easily. Or some free way to convert a wav file to midi easily. Ugh. More wasting time & not playing Day 3.

alexx88

@"RuthPower Hi Ruth! I have a question maybe you know the answer to. So, I still don't have my notated song. Day 4. I recorded a wav file of the song on a usb thumb drive direct from my keyboard. Unless i'm connected to a computer or have a midi capable interface I can't get a direct midi recording. Now contemplating ditching my unused year old 2i2 for a 4i4. Another story.

I used the free online Bear File Converter to convert the wav file to a midi. Put it onto GarageBand as a software track (Steinway Grand). Not only is the notation WAY off, it doesn't even sound like the audio recording. Any insight as to why? Is it the way I played it, or just an unreliable conversion? I saw some forums suggesting Melodyne, but that can be unreliable too, evidently. Plus it's free for 30 days, then it's $99-$849. Um, no thanks.

RuthPower

alexx88 yeh that sounds way too expensive for what you want it for! So does your keyboard have a usb out? Those interfaces are usually used for capturing an audio file from an electronic instrument.. but the keyboard should easily output the electronic info (ie the midi) through a usb cord straight into your computer. have a look and let me know!

alexx88

@"RuthPower Yes, it does. The problem is my iMac isn't in the same room as my keyboard. It would be a hassle to unplug it & move it every time I wanted to record. It's 55 lbs & connected to 2 speakers. Would I have to bring the speakers to the computer also? I have an old MacBook Pro that I tried to connect today, but got a message that it was unable to download the Roland driver. It was the correct one for it's iOS, but I can't download the latest Safari or Firefox versions because it's old. Maybe that's why. If I had the Scarlett 4i4, it would have 2 midi jacks on the back & I could record a midi track to my iPhone or iPad & then I could import it to my iMac & work on it there. This is the back of my keyboard.
Guess you can't see it. It also has a usb A & a usb B.
https://www.roland.com/global/products/rd-2000/

alexx88

@"alexx88 Day 5. Did a re-record & re-sent to Bear Online Converter. Midi different than yesterday, but the audio still doesn't look or sound or correct. Noticed that it converts through MuseScore. Hmmmm. Maybe that's why? SO frustrating. 🤪

RuthPower

alexx88 in that case definitely do the iPad connection -cos you can play it directly into garageband using the camera connector dongle thingy. Have you tried that one?

alexx88

@"RuthPower @"RuthPower That will probably be the easiest way, without having to convert, but I would have to upgrade from the Scarlett 2i2 to the 4i4. The 4i4 has 2 midi ports on the back. I can't usb the keyboard directly to the iPad with the 2i2 because the Apple camera connector only has 1 usb port, & that's what I need to use to connect the Scarlett to the iPad. Would be awesome if the onboard usb record did both midi & audio. Then I could just take the thumb drive & put it into the computer/GarageBand. It only does audio.

RuthPower

alexx88 apologies if you've already given this a go - but have you tried the dongle straight from the keyboard usb out to your ipad? - ie, unplug and don't use the scarlett connection at all when you want that midi signal instead of audio.

alexx88

@"RuthPower I'm not quite following how this would work. The Apple camera connector/dongle doesn't have the male usb end. One end has a lightening connector to go into a phone/pad, the other end has a female usb end, & a female lightening port to plug into a wall charger to power the phone/ipad. There's no way to plug it directly into the keyboard.

Yesterday I traded in my Focusrite 2i2 for a Focusrite 4i4. It has MIDI ports on it, where the 2i2 didn't. The length MIDI cable I need won't be in till the end of the week, which is fine, because the 2i2 was plug & play. The 4i4 has to be configured on a computer 1st. I still need to figure that out. What I did wasn't giving me any sound or gain lines , but it did show it was connected to the iPad. I need to tweak some settings I guess.

RuthPower

alexx88 yes sorry I didn't specify - you need a USB cable to connect the piano and the dongle like in this video:

alexx88

@"RuthPower I remember connecting the iPad directly like in the video before I got the Scarlett. It did connect & record audio only in GarageBand. I used the rectangle cord, but I do have both of the cord types. I didn't go in & change the setting from Vendor to Generic back then.

I will go back & try that this time & see if that will allow for a midi recording without connecting to the midi ports. I'll try with both usb cords & report back. Thanks!

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