knzaudio/Midifier help

Controls Help

Audio In Controls
Midi Out Controls
Record Controls
Other Controls

AUDIO INPUT MONITOR: This is the small, green square-shaped window found in the upper area. Use it to continuously monitor the audio input level in order to find the optimum settings for note-on and note-off level sliders (see below).
NOTE-ON THRESHOLD SLIDER: The note-on and note-off sliders act much like a noise-gate. When the audio input level exceeds the note-on threshold, Midifier recognizes it as the onset of a new note.; It is best to set it a little below the level of the softest note. If you set it too high, Midifier will ignore some or all of the notes. If you set it too low, Midifier may detect erroneous notes in the breaks between real notes. In most cases the default value of -25 dB will suffice, but make sure your audio input track level is set properly.
NOTE-OFF THRESHOLD SLIDER: This threshold slider determines the point where a long decaying note fades out. It must be set lower than the note-on level, usually you can set it 10dB below.
BASS INSTR: If disabled, Midifier recognizes notes from D2 to A6. If enabled, the range is B0-B4, suitable for bass instruments. (note: the middle C key on the piano keyboard is C4)
IGNORE SHORT NOTES: If enabled (default), Midifier ignores notes shorter than 60msec since they are mostly noise. However, if you play very fast notes or trills, Midifier may miss real notes. In this case it is best to disable the setting.
EXTRA ATTACK DETECTOR: If you play legato notes, this control determines which notes should be separated. It is especially useful if the ENVELOPE control is in the FLAT or VELO setting. When the extra detector is disabled, those notes will be separated where there is either a short pause, a very fast transition or where the notes have strong attacks. When the control is enabled, certain bends will be treated as separate notes. Hint: enable it only when you experience the Midifier recognizing a single note where you want multiple, separated notes.

MIDI OUTPUT MONITOR

This is the lower little green square-shaped display. Use it to continuously monitor the pitch (yellow line) and velocity (gray vertical lines) of MIDI the output.

LEVEL SLIDER

Boosts or attenuates the volume (velocity) of the MIDI output.

ENVELOPE

Controls the volume envelope of the MIDI notes. There are three choices:

FLAT: The output MIDI notes have uniform velocity, set by the level slider. The 0dB setting corresponds to the velocity 64. IMPORTANT!: This means that FLAT mode eventually acts like a ∞:1 compressor. Therefore, you must set the note-on and note-off sliders carefully to avoid noise (remember, the note-on and note-off sliders act like a noise-gate).
VELO: The velocity of the MIDI notes reflects the attack levels of the input notes. The level slider is also in effect. Note: don't use this for instruments or playing styles with a slow attack.
CLONE: The MIDI output envelope will be the clone of the input envelope. Midifier uses the MIDI volume controller to achieve this. Level slider also in effect.

DISABLE PITCH BEND

If disabled Midifier doesn't generate pitch bend data. Make sure your instrument is in-tune to avoid alternating between two semitones.

CHANNEL

Number of the output MIDI channel.

PITCH BEND RANGE

This control is provided against possible MIDI incompatibility issues. There are three choices: 2, 12 and 24 semitones. The default value (12) will be good in most cases. Use the '2' option if your MIDI sound module is not capable of 12-semitone pitch bends. The only difference between using the '2' and the '12' option is that if the audio input is, say, a bend from C to E, then selecting the '2' option forces Midifier to generate two MIDI notes for this bend, one from C to D and one from D to E. Use the '24' option if you have more-than-one-octave bends or slides.

FILENAME and Browse Button (...): The FILENAME edit box displays the path the next MIDI file will be saved to. You can edit the path by clicking into the edit box or clicking the (...) button opens a file dialog box.
Warning: when you press the REC button the previous file will be overwritten.
PATCH: Select the GM instrument (program, patch) of the MIDI file. Select NONE if you don't want to specify an instrument.
BPM: The tempo of the MIDI file in Beats Per Minute.
REC: Press this button to enable recording. The MIDI output of Midifier will be written to the file specified in the FILENAME edit box.
Important: the REC button must be released after recording otherwise the MIDI file will be unreadable. This can be done either automatically or manually (see the AUTO-STOP control below).
1ST NOTE TRIGGERS: If it's checked, recording starts at the first note. If it's unchecked, recording starts when the REC button is clicked. In this case there can be some silence at the beginning of the recorded MIDI file.
AUTO-STOP: If it's unchecked then you must release the REC button manually when the recording is done. If it's checked then recording stops automatically. In some cases Midifier is unable to detect the end of the recording and you must release the REC button manually even if the AUTO-STOP option is enabled.

HOLD DISPLAY

Freezes the AUDIO INPUT MONITOR and MIDI OUTPUT MONITOR displays.

AUDIO OUT

Controls the audio output of Midifier. There are three choices:

MUTE: the audio output will be muted.
PASSTHRU: the audio input will be copied to the output
SYNTH: enables a simple built-in synth (a square-wave generator). The result of the audio-to-MIDI conversion will be resynthesized with a square-wave in real-time.