How to use EasyKar (version 0.5 beta)


1.  What is EasyKar?

EasyKar is a program written for helping people in creating and editing their 
own Karaoke file, starting from a standard MIDI file (extension .mid) and a text file 
containing the song lyrics. 
Present version (0.5 beta) contains just a few of the features that I'm planning 
to add to the final program, but nevertheless it's working. Moreover, this beta version 
is distributed as freeware. Users are kindly requested to contact the author for 
information/comments/suggestions and bug reports.

2.  EasyKar Features

The program can be used for creating, editing and converting Karaoke files. The File 
pull-down menu allows to choose between these options

2.1  Creating new Karaoke file (New...)

	For creating a new Karaoke file you should first open a MIDI file. Then you 
will be prompted with a message, asking you to choose among the different Tracks of 
the MIDI files the one containing the song melody. This beta version is limited with 
respect to the final release in the sense that you cannot insert a Lyric event in a place 
where there is no melody (KaraDos/KaraKan philosophy). After you open the MIDI 
file and choose the melody Track, the Lyrics list will show a series of numbered empty 
cells corresponding to the single notes of the melody line. You can either fill these cells 
by hand (use Up and Down  arrows to navigate) or you can open a file containing the 
song lyrics for automatic association of  lyrics to song melody. The format of the lyrics 
text file should strictly follow the KaraDos format (see the enclosed example):

First line: Song Title
Second Line: Song Author / Singer
Commands (preceded by a # sign, the only command recognized is #tc = <number>, 
which indicates the track number where song melody is)
<Song lyrics>

The lyrics syllables must be separated by a - (minus sign). Melody notes not 
associated to lyrics must be marked with a  . (dot)
The number of syllables in lyrics text must be equal or less than the melody 
notes, syllables in excess will be ignored.

Once the lyrics are transferred in the Lyrics list, they can be changed/edited 
using the command buttons (Cut/Copy/Paste/Delete). Then, the Karaoke file can be 
saved using the Save... command in the File pull-down menu.

In the same way, you can use the EasyKar New... command for converting in 
.kar format Karaoke files written in KaraDos style (.mid+.txk files).

2.2  Editing Karaoke files (Open...) 

	Lyrics of an existent Karaoke file can be transferred in the Lyrics list by 
opening it (Open... command in the File pull-down menu) for editing. This feature can 
be interesting for translating lyrics of a famous song in different languages, or for 
writing parody songs. Song lyrics can be read from an external file, too (the file should 
be in KaraDos format).

2.3  Converting Karaoke files (Import...)

	EasyKar can be used for converting in .kar format some commercial Karaoke 
files (Format 0 MIDI files), for use with Midi-oke! or other programs which don't 
support Format 0 Karaoke files. For translating these files, you must first convert the 
MIDI file from Format 0 to Format 1; for this purpose it can be used the enclosed 
midi0to1.exe file, an excellent freeware utility written by Guenter Nagler (see the 
the file midi0to1.doc for specific instruction). Once the format conversion is 
completed, you can use the Import... command for reading the MIDI file. Once again, 
you will be prompted for the Track in which the song lyrics are. After conversion with 
midi0to1, this should be the first Track in the list (Tempo Map); clicking over this 
track will transfer the lyrics into the Lyrics list, for eventual editing. Before saving, you 
should probably delete the first couple of lyrics lines, usually containing copyright 
messages. I'm not sure if these line are part of the standard or not, so I didn't program 
any automatic instruction for removing them from the song lyrics.

3.  What next ?

	The final version of EasyKar will contain many additional features with respect 
to this beta, among which automatic formatting of text files for lyrics insertion and 
piano roll window for .kar files creation/editing. Part of the code is already working, 
and I hope to finish soon the Graphical User Interface. The program will be distributed 
soon under the shareware concept.

How to contact the author:
Vincenzo Palleschi
vince@risc.ifam.pi.cnr.it
http://www.ifam.pi.cnr.it/vince.htm