PC Musician 2000/PC_Musician_2000.iso/PCMUSIC/MISC/PAREQ12A/README.DOC

Text File | 1996-01-09 | 10.5 KB | 327 lines

The mtm program was written by a Mup user.
It is not supported by Arkkra Enterprises.


mtm: Midi to Mup formatter
--------------------------

NOTE: At present this program is considered to be in beta test.
      I haven't seen any major bugs in a while, and for various
      reasons I'm not likely to put a lot more work into MTM.
      (Mostly because it does about everything I need it to do.)

      MTM's major limitation is that it will only read a single
      input note at a time per input track.  In other words, no
      chords.  I've got some ideas on how to somewhat easily
      accomplish that if someone wants to take the time to do
      it.  Contact me for more details if you're interested.

      Lastly, no attempt has been made to get mtm to compile
      anywhere but a Sun running SunOS 4.1.X.  It should
      probably compile on most or all Unix systems, but few
      have been tested.  As for PCs, well you're on your
      own.  (Hey, I'm a Unix developer. :-)


Compiling
---------

     First, extract the files into a directory.  If you're using
a Unix system, just type make. You may need to make some minor
changes if you are using gcc or another compiler.


Description
-----------

     Mtm takes midi files as input and creates MUP files as output.
It allows assigning keys individually to each track, translation of
track numbers to different staff numbers, header creation, and
different beamstyles for each time signature.  However, despite all the
limitations I list below, mtm has saved me tens of hours of work
entering notes.  I do a lot of complex brass quintet arrangements, and
with mtm, it generally takes me fifteen minutes cleanup on a 350 bar
piece as opposed to three-four (or more!)  hours of note entry.

Limitations
-----------

     Lots of them:

    o mtm accepts only one note per track at a given tick.
      No chords.

    o Notation is sometimes awkward.  For example, within a
      single measure, a dotted half is always a dotted half,
      even if it starts on an eighth note boundary.

    o Accidentals may be handled awkwardly.  In a sharp key,
      all notes are output as sharps, in a flat key, flats.
      No double flats/sharps output, ever.  And MTM doesn't
      understand enharmonic notation.  No attempt is made
      to look at the context of a note.

    o On a similar, er, note, mtm puts in too many accidentals.
      I found at one point that it was missing accidentals, and
      so the current code guards against that.  Unfortunately
      the cure presents other problems.  The good news is that
      the new problems are a lot easier to find and deal with
      than a completely missing accidental.

    o Mtm assumes all input has the same default octave.  This
      means manually resetting the bass clef defoct parameter
      to "4". (See example below.)  Other clefs may also be
      affected.

    o No notes smaller than 32nd notes are notated.

    o Mtm may not be able to figure out how to notate some weird
      length note.  I think that most are covered, but I know that
      some odd lengths aren't.  The good news is that when you run
      MUP on the output file, MUP will give an error at the
      affected line, which can then be manually edited.

    o Duplets are handled only in three cases.  Mtm handles
      quarter, eighth, and sixteenth note triplets, but not
      anything else.

    o Probably more that I haven't yet thought of.


Usage
-----

     With no arguments, mtm reads from standard in and writes to standard
out.  The following arguments are understood:

    -f <filename>    Read from filename instead of standard in

    -i <filename>    Use <filename> instead of ".midtomup" as the
            filename to read commands from

    -g        Try to "fudge" the notes to a real value.  This
            is *not* true quantization.  Fudging simply
            checks to see if the number of ticks of note
            length is within a certain fudging factor
            (normally 10).  Without the -g option, if a
            note length is 115 ticks, and a quarternote
            is 120 ticks, then you'll get an error in the
            output file.  With the -g option, a note length
            of 115 will automatically be set to 120, and
            a quarter note will be output.

            Any errors from fudging will also produce
            errors in the mup file.  The same note lengths
            are used.

    -a <factor>    Set the fudge factor (normally 10) to <factor>.

    -n        Normally MTM places the measure number as a
            comment in the output file before each new
            measure.  This option disables that feature.

    -v        Print version and exit.

     If translated file has one or more lines with the word
"BADLEN" in them, then mtm has found notes it can't figure out
how to notate.  With this error you are given three different
bits of information, more than enough to correctly translate the
note yourself.  The format is:

    BADLEN=AAA,BBB: quarters=CCC

The letters "AAA" will be replaced by the length of the note from
the MIDI file in ticks.  The letters "BBB" will be replaced with
the number of ticks that make up a quarter note, and the letters
"CCC" will be replaced with a floating point number telling you
how many quarternotes "AAA" ticks are. (That final number probably
won't be anything close to an even number.)  Using these numbers
you can determine how long the note is and how to notate it.
For example:

    BADLEN=255,120: quarters=2.125

Well, a half note = 2*120=240, so our note is longer than a half
note by 15 ticks.  15 is 1/8 of 120, so we have a half note tied
to an eighth note.  Or if you know the .125 = 1/8, then you can
tell by "quarters=2.125" that you have a half note tied to an
eighth note.

     As mentioned above, mtm reads a file named ".midtomup" in the current
directory, or optionally specified by the "-i" option.  In most cases,
a comment is placed in the output file saying what action mtm has taken.
All commands *must* begin in column one of the input file.  Below is
a description of the available commands, and following that is an
example input file.

     #header
     <text>
     #headend

    All text between "#header" and "#headend" will be placed,
    *without* error checking, into the output file as the first
    line(s) of the file.  This can be used to set up staff names,
    labels, key signatures, clefs, and any other header information
    you wish to place in the file.


     #beamstyle
     <styles>
     #beamend

    Text between "#beamstyle" and "#beamend" should be in the
    form "numerator/denominator=<beamstyle>". "<beamstyle>"
    is a beamstyle as described in the MUP user's manual.
    Set the beamstyle you wish for each numerator/denominator,
    and as time signatures change within the midi input file,
    the beamstyle will automatically be set.


     #translate <input_track>=<output_staff>

    Translate is used to translate an incoming midi track number
    to a different staff number.  For example, you may use midi
    track 11 for some of your work, but wish those notes to be
    on staff five.  For that output, use the command:

        #translate 11=5


     #key <input_track>=<key offset>

    Key is used to set the key signature for each track. IF NO KEY
    IS SET FOR A TRACK, THE TRACK DEFAULTS TO THE THE MIDI KEY
    SIGNATURE.  Also note that "translate" does not change the
    track, so regardless of the staff output, you must set the key
    using the input track.

    This command sets the "key offset" for a track.  For example,
    If the true key signature is three flats, and track 2 is a horn
    track, you might want to have the horn line print in two
    flats.  The key offset would be equal to "-1", and would be set
    using the following command:

        #key 2=-1

    A key offset is the number of flats you would add to a key
    signature to produce the key signature you want. (A flat
    negates a sharp, so adding flats to a sharp key sig,
    makes fewer sharps.  Adding negative numbers of flats
    to a sharp key sig makes *more* sharps.)

     //<text>

    This is a comment, and is placed immediately into the
    output file.


A Sample .midtomup File
-----------------------

     Below is a sample .midtomup file I use for one of my arrangements.
The header, translations, and beamstyles are pretty standard for me
across pieces, while the key sigs change (of course).


#header
header
    title (18) "Not Very Pretty"
    title (12) "" "John Composer"
    title (12) "" "arr. by Sean L. Gilley"
header2
    title "- \% -"
score
    staffs=5
    time=4/4
    measnum=y
    barstyle=1-5
    key=0&
    label="Trumpet 1"
    visible=y
staff 2
    label="Trumpet 2"
    visible=y
staff 3
    key=1&
    label="French Horn"
    visible=y
staff 4
    key=2&
    clef=bass
//
// Mup gives bass and treble clefs different default octaves,
// which is good for typing stuff in.  But mtm assumes everyone
// is in the same octave.  Not good.  As it turns out, setting
// defoct=4 for bass clef parts put everyone in the same default
// octave and solves our problem.
//
    defoct=4
    label="Trombone"
    visible=y
staff 5
    key=2&
    clef=bass
    defoct=4
    label="Tuba"
    visible=y
music
#headend
#beamstyle
4/4=4,4,4,4
3/4=4,4,4
#beamend
//
// My midi output has 1st trumpet on track one,
// 2nd trumpet on track two, French Horn on track 11,
// trombone on track three, and tuba on track four.
// I want staff 1=1st trumpet, staff 2=2nd trumpet,
// staff 3=French Horn, staff 4=trombone, and
// staff 5=tuba.  The translations below accomplish
// this for me.
//
// Trombone part
#translate 3=4
// Tuba part
#translate 4=5
// French Horn part
#translate 11=3
//
// Key signatures. Trumpets in key of C, FH in key of
// F (one flat) and trombone/tuba in key of B& (two flats).
//
#key 3=-2
#key 4=-2
#key 11=-1


Bugs
----

     Probably quite a few that I haven't seen.  The only recent bug
I've seen has to do with ties.  Sometimes mtm won't recognize that
a note is the second note of a tie, and will go ahead and place the
accidental.  MUP just flags this as a warning, so it isn't critical,
just annoying.

Credits
-------

     This code is based upon "mftext" and the accompanying files
by Tim Thompson (att!twitch!glimmer!tjt) and Michael Czeiszperger
([e-mail]).  Without that code, mtm probably wouldn't have
been written.  Really.

Support
-------

     Well, I'll try.  But I'm got a job plus doing my own arrangements
so support is, shall we say, limited.  But feel free to ask, and
feel just as free to fix the problem if you're a programmer.  If you
do modify the code so it works better, please send me a copy.
That way I can keep this code here up to date.

E-mail:    [e-mail]