Creating scores from midi files

We loved the digital ocarina concept so much that we created a utility to convert midi files to ocarina scores. This should give users many more opportunities to play their favorite tunes.

Simply search for a midi file you like on the Internet to your computer and upload it to our converter and we generate the score for you.

There is no charge for this. We just think that there are a lot of people who don't read music or know how to transpose a piece to a range that the ocarina can handle.

You can find the converter at http://www.thegoodblogs.com/ocarina.php.

You can also read about why we did it at one of our blogs http://www.theideadude.com/2008/11/latest-in-digital-expression.html.

Have fun.

How fantastic! I can't wait to try this.

Just fixed a bug with the Ionian scales. Should work a little better now.

It seems to work very well with the midi files I'm generating from Finale. Great job.

I tested this a while ago. I noticed that the Zeldarian mode seems to be broken. At least every song I tested, the Zeldarian version were always wrong. Mostly the problem were that when the song should have gone down the scale, the Zeldarian version went up. Other problem, which affects every mode, is that sometimes some long notes are displayed as many tabs. I can post more detailed post tomorrow if needed, writing this from iPhone. :)

Other than those problems this is a really great website. I will post some songs tomorrow hopefully. :)

Nice tool. People have to keep in mind that it's a tool, not a substitute for an actual person. Sure, it may throw in a few stray notes--so you play through and sort them out. I just converted part of a song I've been learning on guitar, and the whole process- conversion (about 2 secs) and playing through the melody to straighten out a few mistakes (a few minutes) saved me a great deal of work.

I think it's great and can only help people to post more music.

Feel free to send me a midi sample or a link to one and I'll try and see why it's not doing what you're expecting.

You're absolutely correct Steve. Converting from a midi will never be as good as from original sheet music (it's like eating a cake and figuring out all the ingredients :D . But if it gets you 80% there and you just have to tweak, it will save a lot of time. Glad you approve!

As you say, the goal is to get more people to post their scores and contribute to a greater ocarina community.

We had a lot of fun doing it. I'm glad people are finding it useful.

Of course it's just a tool, and requires some attention from a human, but if there are bugs in it they should be fixed right? The MIDI files I used have only one track (well, 2 actually, but the other one is just a controller track) which I have made to create sheet music for ocarina. I just find it little strange when the MIDI to Ocarina sometimes decides to split some notes, like an eighth note, to 2 tabs. It's of course possible that there's something strange in the MIDI files, but it's also possible that there's something strange in the MIDI to Ocarina converter. Anyways, I'll PM TheIdeaDude and he can check where the problem is and if there's a cure for it.

One quick suggestion: Would it be possible to add a link which will open the generated song in the Smule's Online Score Generator? It would make it that little more easier to create those tabs. Of course you can just copy paste the pitches and the other information, but if all that could happen with just one click, it'd be nice.

But yea, good job with the converter! I'll start converting my sheet music collection to Smule Ocarina tabs with this handy tool. Based on my testing yesterday, I can add about 10 songs to the tabs collection.

Great idea for a link to open the pitches in the Smule score generator. I've just added that. You can either copy the url if you're posting or click to get to the Smule score generator if you need to tweak the score.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Teidon found a bug for me. Thanks!

It's been fixed and posted.

Did I mention that this converter is awesome? Just in case, it rocks!!!

Glad to be of help. :D

I never really understood Rob's post about the Zeldarian scale having a different fingering sequence until teidon pointed it out to me I was using the same sequence as the other modes. Thanks Teidon.

I've modified the Zeldarian scale to follow the ascending notes as per Rob's pdf but with the following fingering sequence as he indicated.

1, 5, 6, 7, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 2, 3

Hope this works better.

I tested the Zeldarian mode again, but I didn't notice any change. Or maybe it was little better now, not sure.

But I think that Karjalan Kunnailla (MIDI / PDF) will probably help you to solve the mystery.

Karjalan Kunnailla also reveals another bug in the converter. When you click the link to open the C# Zeldarian mode version in the Online Score Generator, nothing appers on it. That's because there's no C# in the Score Generator, there's "C-sharp/D-flat" instead. ;)

And also one minor bug is that when you open a song generated by the Converter in the Online Score Generator by clicking the link, there's 3 spaces between the pitches. Not exactly a problem, but 1 space would be enough. :D

But once again, great job with converter! It's really helpful.

I think I finally figured out why the Zeldarian mode has a weird sequence. It is to keep all the common notes in all the modes with the same fingering i.e. in C Ionian there are 3 notes between G5 and B5 and non in C Zeldarian it goes straight from G5 to B5 so in order to keep the fingering for B5, C6 etc the same across modes, they add notes (D7, D#7 and D#6) seemingly out of sequence at 2, 3, 4.

Made the fix hope this is the one that does the job.

Also fixed the # and b scales that weren't appearing in the score generator.

Finally, the 3 spaces are gone if you click the link in our converter.

Yay, the Zeldarian mode is working now. \o/

Good job TheIdeaDude!

The land of Zelda is now at peace :)

Thanks Teidon for helping out! Couldn't have done the debugging without you.

I found one more bug. Sometimes the Converter generates a version of the song that can be played in several different modes. Like it tells that root is "D" and mode is "Dorian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, Zeldarian", meaning that you can select any of those modes and play the song. The bug is that if you play it using Zeldarian mode, it sounds wrong. So I guess someone forgot to update some code when he fixed the Zeldarian mode. ;) Varpunen Jouluaamuna is an example of this bug (MIDI). The first version sounds wrong when played in Zeldarian, other modes are good though. The second version, in Zeldarian, is also good.

Thanks. I'll take a look and see if I can find anything. :shock:

Hi, finally found time to take a look at this anomaly. Looks like my assumption about the same fingering for all modes in the same key doesn't quite apply in Zeldarian mode. While most of the time is true, there are exceptions. e.g. in D Dorian mode, the fingering pattern for F6 is #8.

But in D Zeldarian mode, the fingering is #4. If you follow, Rob's post, the Zeldarian mode fingering is 1 5 6 7 4 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 2 3 which makes #8 F# in D Zeldarian.

All it means is I need to show different fingering for Zeldarian even if it shares the same key as other modes.

Note that for songs that don't have F6, then you would be able to play D Dorian and D Zeldarian with exactly the same fingering.

Will post again when I have the fix.

Hmm, I think I understand why the fingering worked for C Zeldarian and not D Zeldarian. In all modes, the root always has the same finger pattern. e.g. for C it is always #6. But pattern #8 can be one of two notes, for the root of C it is either an E (Ionian) or a D# (Dorian) depending on the mode.

Here's the kicker, in Zeldarian both E and D# exists, so one of them has to be moved out of position. To be consistent with the Ionian scale, they chose E to be #8 which means D# can no longer be played at #8 but must be played as #4.

Ergo, C Zeldarian will always be played correctly but you have to change the fingering slightly for D Zeldarian.

Back to the patch :(

Ok, I think it's fixed. If the fingering for Zeldarian mode is different (as explained in the previous post), I put the result into it's own section. Hopefully this will keep the Zeldarians happy! :)

(Apologies if our error in pitch woke any angry elves in the land of Zelda from their winter slumber! :D )

Quick note to let everyone we upgraded our ocarina midi converter. The application converts midi files into ocarina notation. http://www.thegoodblogs.com/ocarina.php

We implemented one of the suggestions we received. Some of the midi files are pretty long, so the ocarina output is just a long continuous stream of notes without rests. If you have a midi editor, you can add an arbitrary note wherever you want a rest. When you submit the midi file, let us know what note it is and we insert the rests in the ocarina output.

To test drive this without an editor, submit a midi file to our converter. Look at the notes listed next to the channel column with the corresponding midi note numbers below. Choose a number and resubmit the midi file with that number as the rest note. You'll see a rest (blank note) wherever that note appears.

Have fun.

TheIdeaDude at TheGoodBlogs.

We've added the shorthand notation as an alternative output to the ocarina scores. When you convert a midi file you will see the ocarina score and underneath that will be the shorthand notation.

Explanation of the shorthand notation can be found here. http://ocarina.smule.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=941

Our free converter can be found here. http://www.thegoodblogs.com/ocarina.php

TheIdeaDude

Hey i have a midi file i wish to show you to see if you can help me because it says it cant create a score. I dont know how to post the midi here so tell me first. Its D.Gray-Man's the musician song also known as Tsunaida te ni kiss wo.

Please and thank you