Midi to wav conversion

[Wodd]

In the past, I have used Winamp to convert midis to wavs. How do I do this with version 5.581? I read what I belive that I had read before (which can be found at http://users.lmi.net/bblackie/music/.../midi2wav.html), but that did not work. Perhaps it is a different process or I am missing a needed plug-in.

[Koopa]

You have 2 possibilities:

1. DiskWriter

Go to Prefs - Plugins - Output and select 'Nullsoft DiskWriter' as output plugin.
Additionally go to Prefs - Plugins - Input - 'Nullsoft Midi player'. Make sure, that 'Sampling' and 'Send to Winamps output system' are checkmarked.

When you start playing a file in Winamp, it won't be played, instead it writes the data on the disc. Don't forget to change it back to 'Nullsoft DirectShow decoder. when you are done.

2. Format Converter.

You must have the media library and the format converter installed.

Right click on the file(s) you want ot convert - Send to - Format converter.

The easiest solution.

Edit: Formater converter doesn't work, thanks for pointing it out, JM.

[JonnyMac]

Unless something has changed and I am unaware of it, the Format Converter does not work with MIDI files.

@Wodd
The method in the link you provided has not changed and it still should work in Win 5.581. Here is another tutorial that has the same method, but with slightly different instructions...
http://forums.winamp.com/showthread....37071#MIDI2WAV
The red notes (Note: ) from that tutorial are areas where people easily get stuck on. I have a feeling you may have missed out on one of them. Which is one of easy mistakes to make during the MIDI to WAV conversion.

The DiskWriter method provided by Koopa is the same idea, but has a different functionality. It may not work in all cases.

[Koopa]

Argh, that was my bad.

Module decoder was updated for extended read support, not in_midi.

So JM is totally right, the format converter doesn't work for midi files, sorry.

[JonnyMac]

No worries.

[Wodd]

I think that I do remember the song behaving as described (it being played without audio while being converted) when I see the post.

[JonnyMac]

So, any success now?

[Wodd]

It did work indeed. Thanks for the help (which was more of a memory refresher, but still, thanks for it).

[Wodd]

Hmmm…I cannot seem to get the midi to wav conversion working with version 5.61. I tried everything in the tutorials that I read, but I receive a dialog that reads: "Cannot find decoder."
Note: I am trying to use the format converter option. Perhaps this is the issue, although I have used it before and it has worked. Wow, it would be much nicer I think if Nullsoft created a separate plug-in for midi decoding, but perhaps that is too challenging and that is why they have not done so.

[ujay]

If all else fails - use a separate output recorder such as X-Ripper (it's served me well for hundreds of years). Similar to Winamp's Diskwriter but not as fast.
It captures what's actually being played, so will only record in real time.

UJ

[MarkRH]

Lot of soundcards (well, mine will anyway) let you select MIDI or "What you hear" as the recording source. Then, just use some sound/WAV editor program to record it in real time. Doing it this way, you can play around with the best sounding MIDI driver/soundfont options.

[JonnyMac]

The Format Converter does not work with MIDI files. To convert MIDI files to wave, try the DiskWriter method.

[Wodd]

Hmmm…perhaps that is a recent change because I have used the format converter to do it before. As has been stated multiple times. The song plays, but inaudibly. Instead it is recorded to a wav. The playlist seems to be playing. I will see if I have some wav files after it completes. If I do, then I am guessing that that is what I did and perhaps forgot.

[Koopa]

The Nullsoft Midi Player was never updated to use the extended read function, which is needed for the format converter. So the transcoder never worked. I've no idea, what you did before, or why you were able to even start the transcoder for midi files, but I can guarantee, that it never worked.

[JonnyMac]

When using the Disk Writer method then music will not be heard during the conversion process. Don't forget to change the output plug-in back to DirectSound after you have converted the songs. That is one of those things that is too easy to forget.

[Wodd]

Yep, it worked. Fortunately for the second part, there is the reset button. As far as I know, I went back and clicked it.

[Wodd]

I discovered something about X-Ripper. It does not actually convert files, but it can rip files from discs. This included Hasbro's Sorry! disc! I was able to rip the pawns' voice clips! Unfortunately, I was unable to rip the music. I would like to extract those as well. My guess is that it is not in midi format. I am guessing that it is a set of MP3s, which X-Ripper does not search for. It could be ITs or MO3s, but I am guessing that the music is a set of MP3s. Obviously, since it is in the game, it must be on the disc. Finding it and extracting it is the challenging part. There are a couple of files called midi.dat and oldmidi.dat, but it is either not in either of those files or, as I stated above, it is not in midi format.

[Titus Lorkson]

Mid to .wav can also work using winamp and audacity. You set audacity to record the main output of the soundcard.
Not as quick as a direct conversion from within winamp method, because you will have to do at least some editing (remove blank at both ends of the track), then export the outcome as a .wav file.
But hopefully, it will work fine for you as it does for me.

[Wodd]

I have done the recording method before. This can be a tedious process indeed. There is an extremely nice recorder that I have used in the past to record some of my musical arrangements, but I cannot recall the name of it. It allowed recording to MP3 (or wav? I do not remember) and adding special effects such as rain, forest sounds, thunder, fire, etc. to the recordings. I wish that I could remember the name of it so that I can post a hyperlink. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the application. Perhaps somebody can based on the description.