[seqfan] Re: Question: best format for playing sequences as "music"?

[Gordon Charlton]

Hugo is correct that Quicktime player no longer supports MIDI, but you can
drag MIDI files into Garageband.

For a quick preview of a MIDI file on a Mac I use MIDIplayer X (
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/midiplayer-x/id954177929 ) which is free and
basic but rock solid.

On the assumption that you have some coding skills, I have also used to
make music from sequences are to programmatically create text files of ABC
notation ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABC_notation ) and then use an
online convertor (several are available) to make it into MIDI. This gives
more control over the finished product, and for even more control I have
imported lists of numbers into Sonic Pi ( https://sonic-pi.net ) which is a
simple Live Coding language. (You don't /have/ to manipulate the code
during a performance, it functions fine as a sophisticated music box.)

I used all three of these approaches on my album Notes From The Analytical
Engine. If you're curious, it's here:
https://beat-frequency.bandcamp.com/album/notes-from-the-analytical-engine
- I forget which tracks used which approach. (I hope you enjoy listening to
it but appreciate that it may not be to everyone's taste.)

Gordon

On Wed, Oct 18, 2023 at 11:01 AM Hugo Pfoertner <yae9911 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Please leave the MIDI output of the OEIS music function unchanged. MIDI is
> still a standard format for encoding music in a space-saving manner without
> using time signals. The Midi files generated by the current version can
> easily be imported and further processed using, for example, Mathematica or
> the widely used program Audacity. For example, you can change the
> instrument, which would no longer be possible with a waveform time signal.
> The problem seems to be that the now somewhat ancient Quicktime player no
> longer supports Midi, nor does VLC for Windows. However, the standard media
> player works in Windows, and I was told that "GarageBand" produces perfect
> playback on Mac. So it appears to be more of a local setup issue on Neil's
> MAC.
>
> Hugo Pfoertner
>
> On Wed, Oct 18, 2023 at 5:51 AM Jay Anderson <horndude77 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Some tools for accomplishing creating an mp3:
> >
> > - Timidity can be used to render a midi to audio (
> > https://sourceforge.net/projects/timidity/). It requires a bit of setup
> > and
> > you'd need to choose a sound font. FluidSynth is a common option:
> > https://github.com/FluidSynth/fluidsynth/wiki/SoundFont.
> > - ffmpeg is a popular option for converting audio to mp3 (
> > https://ffmpeg.org/).
> >
> > The above can be piped together.
> >
> > Another option is to play the midi in the browser itself. That'd take
> some
> > integration (example project: https://github.com/surikov/webaudiofont).
> It
> > looks like wikipedia is doing this:
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MIDI_sample.mid (some details:
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Media_(MIDI) ).
> >
> > Also I agree with the option of using VLC as an option for playing midi
> > files on a mac.
> >
> > -----Jay Anderson
> >
> > On Tue, Oct 17, 2023 at 1:06 PM Jean-Paul Allouche <
> > jean-paul.allouche at imj-prg.fr> wrote:
> >
> > > Hi
> > >
> > > IMHO mpeg / mp3 are good options, in particular because the actual midi
> > > files can be converted easily (even online)
> > >
> > > best
> > > jean-paul
> > >
> > > Le mar. 17 oct. 2023, 21:57, Neil Sloane <njasloane at gmail.com> a
> écrit :
> > >
> > > > Dear Sequence Fans,  Many years ago David Applegate wrote the
> > > >  program that is called up when you click the "listen" button. It
> > > > produces a midi file, .mid
> > > >   The trouble is, my MAC doesn't really know what to do with a .mid
> > file.
> > > > It used to call up a program called QuickTime, but that doesn't work
> > now,
> > > >  so my MAC starts up Garage Band (and the result sounds horrible).
> > > >
> > > > So my question is, what is a good format to convert a sequence into?
> Is
> > > > mpeg better?  It should be a format that most platforms can convert
> to
> > > > sounds.
> > > >
> > > > Best regards
> > > > Neil
> > > >
> > > > Neil J. A. Sloane, Chairman, OEIS Foundation.
> > > > Also Visiting Scientist, Math. Dept., Rutgers University,
> > > > Email: njasloane at gmail.com
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > Seqfan Mailing list - http://list.seqfan.eu/
> > > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > Seqfan Mailing list - http://list.seqfan.eu/
> > >
> >
> > --
> > Seqfan Mailing list - http://list.seqfan.eu/
> >
>
> --
> Seqfan Mailing list - http://list.seqfan.eu/
>