Any Korg X50 And Sibelius Users Here, Got A Question

[JimL]

Question: I am setting up/plugging in my Korg X50 to my computer with Sibelius v4 installed. I'm not a keyboard player but I do want to create sheet music of a few of my original tunes. I've managed to get notes to appear on the staves but there's no sound. The computer & Sibelius 'see' the Korg but no sound set in Sibelius' menu show up. Any idea how to get the program to see the X50 sounds and play/record/playback those sounds? i am brand new at this computer/music stuff so please go easy with any terminology above a basic grunt & nod...;>)

Thanks,

-Jim

[typo]

did you sort this out jim?

[JimL]

Yeah, I gave up. The software is too old and the synth is too new. Just another reason to not deal with computers and music...;>)

[Steve]

Yeah, I gave up. The software is too old and the synth is too new. Just another reason to not deal with computers and music...;>)

Come on Jim! Even the oldest software should do what you want it to! If you played into the program and notes appeared on the stave, then all you need to do is make sure that when it plays back, it plays back through your synth! There should be an option on one of the menus to select 'Midi Out' , then you just need your synth plugged in to some form of amp! (With the volume up)

[JimL]

Nope it doesn't work that (exact) way. Sibelius v4 doesn't exactly have midi in/out, it has a mixer with faders and below the faders are where you choose the midi channel. here's a pic, the blue areas with the numbers are the only midi choices other than selecting your playback device in preferences:

http://www.mydatabus.com/public/tavernstuff/e/sample.jpg

Sibelius does have 'sound sets' where (I guess) 'older' synth communication/language/whatever info is so the program can talk/see a particular synth. The Korg X50 is too new and neither Korg nor Sibelius has a patch.

Yes, I can play the synth and notes do appear on the stave I intended them to but on playback, the program will play some parts/staves back and not others or sometimes 2 different sounds from one stave (?) but it won't play back the same sounds i used from the synth. So overall after dealing with it for 2 weeks, I gave up. I'm not a programmer and midi stuff is the last thing I want to learn. It was just an experiment on my part to see if it would work thinking that midi was supposed to be a musical instrument universal language, but it's more like windows plug n' play, neither one works as advertised...;>)

i'm still waiting for someone to come up with metric sized guitar cables...;>)

Edited February 28, 2008 by JimL

[Steve]

ha ha ha! Midi is just like the postman. You send a letter, The postman delivers it. Thats what Midi is! You play some notes on a keyboard (Write the letter) and send what you've played to Sibelius. (The postman delivers) If you want a reply, You need to set the program to send back the data you've put in. Otherwise it will send out that data to whatever is the default, probably your soundcard! Somewhere on there, one of the menus on the top bar, is an option to return the midi message. i.e. I use Sonar. On the top bar I have a menu item marked Options, when chosen, I can click on Midi Devices, and I get this!

Where I can choose which Midi device I want! In this case, it's a choice between two soundcards, and a virtual Soundset. That's because my keyboard doesn't make any sounds.

Give it another go Jim. You might have to look under Preferences or Options on one of the menus. Sibelius is one of the top Software applications. It's worth persuing!

[JimL]

Oh I can choose the keyboard when it's plugged in, there's drivers & such for the synth but the program doesn't 'see' all the sounds or apparently what sound was used.

F'rinstance, i experimented and played a nice string sound, holding the chord for 4 measures and when played back, there's some form of typical piano sound that goes 'plunk' at the beginning of the first measure and nothing for the rest of the measures. Now the notation 'looks' like it 'says' i'm holding the chord, I don't know, I'm musically illiterate but there's the vertical chord notes with arcing lines at the top & bottom that extend across the bars as opposed to just the chord notes that appear when I just 'hit' a chord. The program can't play back or 'know' the correct sound and I monitor the synth output through headphones.

You mentioned soundsets, S4 does have other synth SS's but none for the X50. I even called and talked to a Korg tech and he said they have no plans to make a SS, that's Sibelius's job and of course with v5 out I'll be SOL, UTCWAP and not LOL... GMD? Emailing Sibelius, they have no solution other than setup the midi channels...? WTF does that mean? Isn't it automatic? Isn't that what midi is/does? I have to sit and figure out how to assign the 2.3 trillion different sounds from my X50 to the 128 midi things or is it 12? Sounds like I need the services of a (free) programmer...

Anyway until I find another X50 user in the same situation (which I won't be cause it's not worth the time) who's got a workaround or fix, well...

;>)

[typo]

you should be able to get instrument definition files for standard libraries and you can usually make your own instrument definition. most decent progs let you completely customize instrument set up. can be a bit of a pain in the ass to set them up to begin with but it's worth it. I used to have the same prob with my korg and cakewalk. once i got the instrument definitions set up it was a breeze.

Edited March 17, 2008 by typo

[typo]

should say that the chances are you're using the wrong way to address the programs. some synths use bank select, some don't. some have 4 banks, others 2. Also program numbering can be different.

[JimL]

I wish I could say I knew what you guys meant but I'm not into programming. All I know is Sibelius has 'sound sets' for other synths and older (?) Korg synths like Triton. Korg (via tech support over the phone) has no plans to create one, Korg tech said it's up to Sibelius, and from the looks of Sib's site, their done creating patches/updates for 'older' versions.