Re: [LAU] Getting started editing and playing a score

On 04/10/15 07:20 PM, worik wrote:
> Friends
>
> I would like to get started editing a simple score and producing some
> sound from it.
>
> I have tried rosegarden recently but I can get no sound out of it. It
> is far more than I require, as my confidence increases perhaps it is
> what I will need but I simply cannot tell at this point.
>
> In the past I have used csound, it has a less useful interface (suits
> me) and is the closest to what I want but I need to get a colleague
> entering a score and a text editor will not do.
>
> I am at my wits end, what I might need is a beginners guide for
> rosegarden, or better still a simpler programme, or virtual keyboard
> (best). [...]
>

First question... are you using JACK yet?

One reason that you might be frustrated getting sound of out Rosegarden is if
you're not running JACK as your audio server. (Audacity doesn't require it, but
Rosegarden and other more serious music production software does.)

But, even when running JACK, I can relate to the frustration of trying to figure
out just how the heck to get sound out of Rosegarden at first. The magic answer
for me was "synth plugin" -- you need something to voice the MIDI from
Rosegarden, and setting the instrument up as a synth plugin is the easiest way
I've found to do that when I was a beginner.

e.g. see http://rosegardenmusic.com/wiki/doc:manual-en#the_instrument_parameter_box

Quick instructions... for each MIDI track, select it, and then under Track
Parameters on the left-hand side, change the device from "General MIDI Device"
to "Synth plugin."

Then, under Instrument Parameters (the box below Track Parameters), click where
it says "no synth" and select a plugin from the list.

My favourite synth plugin to use for string arrangements (so far, it was the
first I got working and I've stuck with it) is the FluidSynth DSSI plugin.

I select it from the list of plugins, and then click the "Editor" button below
in that synth plugin pop-up window. From the FluidSynth editor window, I click
"Load SoundFont". I've only used the FluidR3_GM.sf2 sound font (available as
fluid-soundfont-gm package in many distros). I'll select an instrument, and then
you can click "Send Test Note", and that may be the first successful sound
you'll get out of Rosegarden!

If that works, close those windows and go back to the notation editor, and
you'll be getting sounds.

Pro-tip: I set up an empty Rosegarden file with the FluidSynth synth plugin and
that sound font for Violin I, Violin I, Viola, Cello and Bass and used the "File
> Save as Template..." feature so that I can get a string quintet right away
when ever starting work on a new song rather than mucking around with plugin set up.

Also, I believe Rosegarden is an excellent tool for music notation, and is worth
investing time to learn. BUT I've stuck with it because it has other features I
like, such as the ability to drop in audio files and write string arrangements
against a recording, or the ability to function as a MIDI sequencer. You may not
need those features, and there are other excellent notation programs that might
be a better fit for you.

HTH... let me know if I can help further by sharing specifics of my setup.

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Received on Mon Oct 5 08:15:01 2015