Sticky Idea - How to Make Pdfs and mp3s.

I think we can all agree that pdfs and mp3s are the best file formats to use on this forum. All operating systems can handle both with ease and they are relatively compact.

Perhaps there should be a sticky in each of the forums that gives you detailed instructions on where to download free pdf drivers and mp3 converters.

Taken a step farther it would be cool to see it done for each of the major sequencers. The finale people get different instructions then the sibelius people and such.....

I've been asked a couple of times now to convert people's scores to pdf format.

Just a thought.

mp3's are cool for people with high-speed connections, but some of us are still on dial-up for reasons beyond our control.

Point being that I can convert midi's into mp3's on my computer with no problem. So why download them? Downloading a midi is much faster, then I can just convert it to mp3 after I have it downloaded.

So I'd rather see the midi files. In fact, as it is right now, I really can't even download mp3's, they're just too large for my dial-up connection to handle.

I know I'm probably in a minority here, but I just don't have high-speed Internet yet. Verizon is promising to put it in by this fall, but they said that last year too and it never happened. It just isn't available in my area yet. So mp3's are out of reach for me right now.

Bring on a midi or forget it. Nothing wrong with posting BOTH formats! Like I say, I can convert it in to mp3 on my computer. I have a fast computer, it's just my Internet that's slow.

come on.. midis aren't that hard to upload.. and who cares if you hate the sound. For some of us.. its the only way to get an idea of a piece... Dial up here...

Exactly!

For me it's either a midi or nothing.

It's not that I can't download an mp3, I can. But it takes forever, and I'm not going to be doing it with a whole lot of pieces.

And like I say, I can convert a midi into mp3 AFTER I download it. :thumbsup:

So please include a midi whenever possible. You can always upload an mp3 too for those with high-speed access. But don't forget to include a midi for those of us still stuck on dial-up. :huh:

Ive been wondering how to do pdfs.

anyone anyone

I'm just saying we should provide information here.

Midi files are fine. For me, it's mainly about this pdf thing. If you port a midi file into sibelius it looks like donkey. I suspect it's similar in finale as there's no formatting. I'd comment on WAY more people's pieces if they used pdfs.

Ive been wondering how to do pdfs.

anyone anyone

I use cutepdf, it's free and easy to use.

It just acts like a printer, only in prints to a file instead.

CutePDF - Create PDF for free, Free PDF Utilities, Save PDF Forms, Edit PDF easily.

I'd comment on WAY more people's pieces if they used pdfs.

Well, the forum instructions request that people post both a midi and a pdf. (mp3's are optional)

The idea is to share composition ideas. But I think a lot of people just want to post pretty mp3's to showcase their work and show it off. I don't think that's the purpose of these forums. The idea is to share composition ideas. It's hard to know what people have done if you can't see the work.

Yes, pdfs work for that probably better than midis. But that can depend on how well they wrote it in the first place. I've seen some pretty sloppy pdfs too.

How well a midi loads into a program can differ drastically between programs. Melody Assistant has been working pretty well for me. It opens most midis in nice seperate tracks that are well marked. There are some that don't look very good. It depends on the program that generated them. I've had much better luck opening midis with Melody Assistant than I have with Finale's Notepad. They quite often look like garbage in Notepad.

I don't care what people post, but I look for midi files myself. I just don't have the bandwidth to download mp3 right now.

I upload midi files and pdfs myself so we're in agreement.

If people are uploading pdfs that are so sloppy they can't be read then they shouldn't expect any reviews.

I actually think information like this would be better placed in a "Welcome to YC" type wiki page, which users with 0 posts are linked to upon first logging in. Of course, existing members would also be made retroactively aware of it somehow.

This is probably one for the editors and such. I'll set the ball rolling. :)

Sweet. Even better.

hEY guys, I'm with you on the MIDI file things. i am on dial up most of the time myself so downloading mP3's is something I usually won't even consider. I also tend to like the option of looking at scores as pdf files b/c I can do that on downtime at work but I can't listen to music so . . .

I still like .MUS files cause then I can watch the little green line as I listen :blink:

Abracatabra:

Hem...

midi vs mp3.

I have spent around 3000$ currently on sample libraries (no hardware in that total). I am using it professionally and make the tracks as best as I can (since I make money out of it as well). There are no chances of seeing my midi files.

On the contrary I always try to provide pdf files of the scores, and in some cases analytical notes. I use Finale, but a very old version, so there is little reason to include the MUS file really.

But honestly, in most cases I spent a lot of time working on the sounding of the work, not only the composition, so I don't want to give away the midi. Most people lack the imagination that is needed to go from midi to mp3 (meaning that hearing the midi file, won't make you understand exactly what the music is about).

I know that you are on a dial up, and I also know that in some cases (quite a lot actually), the mp3s are not toop quality, so a midi wouldn't be much of a change. But in my case, for example, I also have live recordings of my works, which makes it impossible to make a midi really...

Just my 0.02$

You get live recordings.... lucky dog.....

I too also happen to spend a lot of time getting my mp3's to sound good. I work in Finale 2002 because that's all I've got. I use a Demo version of 2005 to playback the .mus with SoftSynth, and I record the output with Sound Recorder. It's not exactly GPO, but I guess I get what I want out of, and I better, considering the time I put into making the recording, and since I use a Demo version to record, I usually don't have a tweaked file, so its just a one-time deal. I'm not afraid to share midis, unlike Nikolas, but I do discourage people from listening to them if I have an mp3 version somewhere abouts.

I too use CutePDF, it works absolutely great, and it can be used for more than just Finale, too.

Just my penny. :thumbsup:

I'm not afraid, but in the games industry, it's HOW a piece sounds, even if the composition is simple, or rubbish in the end (of course in my case everything is perfect! :(:D:D:D).

So... it makes sense to make the best/most realistic mp3 possible... And this is what I do.

I sort of agree with nikolas. When you're writing with sample libraries you have to step back a bit and instead of composing for a performer, you compose for the samples. That is to say, you write something that you know the samples will make sound amazing.