Disappointed with MIDI from MusicSoft site

[Leigh]

I recently bought and downloaded a MIDI song from the Yamaha MusicSoft site but am quite disappointed with it. I have a CVP-407 and I had intended to use the MIDI file to play along with but when looking at the score the music seems to be jumbled into one staff, then switches to the other staff so I am constantly playing with the right hand, switching to the left then back again. I'm not actually playing using both hands at the same time. Also, some of the background piano parts aren't displayed on the LCD but play in the background. I'd like to be able to see the background parts and play them as well. What can I do? Do I need to import this file into some external software package and then manipulate it? I would have thought that Yamaha would have created their MIDIs to have at decent scored music using 2 staves. Very frustrating! I don't think I'll be buying any more MIDI files from them in a long time.

[kempedkemp]

I have purchased some Yamaha Musicsoft songs but not to play along. I noticed that for some songs there are several versions and usually one is labeled play along. I don't think you'd have any better luck with other free or purchased midi files. Sometimes there is nothing in the score window. But if anyone knows the answer to your question about manipulating what will appear in the score window, it will be Danny.

[dbjorck]

Hi!

Most MIDI files are for listening to, not playing along (unfortunately; it is what I want most as well). As Ed pointed out, for that you would need to buy the "Play-Along" titles.

The files that are not "Play-Along", can have any configuration of piano tracks, so it is difficult to say without knowing how your particular MIDI file looks like.

But here are some things you can do with it on the CVP:
1. To select which tracks are shown on the display, on the Score display, press the Setup button (button 8). Here you can select which tracks to show for right hand and left hand.
2. If the track you want to play contains both hands (which it sounds like), if you select the same track on this Setup screen for both left and right, it does a guess of what goes in which hand. But this is of course just a mechanical guess and in no way an actual recommendation of the best way to play it.

But it sounds like you have several piano tracks. Then you would need some PC software to merge and/or split those channels into what you want (I always recommend Notation Composer). But remember you only have 2 hands. In all of this, you first need to decide which track/s it is you want to play.

Brgds

Danny

[Leigh]

The MIDI file I bought was actually advertised as a "Play Along" file, that's why I bought it. I have downloaded a few free MIDI files from around the Internet and yes, their scores are all on one staff and difficult to decipher, but I had expected a "Play Along" file from Yamaha to have the proper score so at least one could play along with the background music.

I did as you recommended and yes, I did manage to see the other tracks and both hands did split across the two staves so I guess this is what I'll have to do in the future. I just hope Yamaha get their act together and publish real "Play Along" files.

Thanks for your help, by the way.