I am resending the original message with the correct patch. Is it OK to
include the ChangeLog entry as part of the message?
ChangeLog entry:
2005-06-25 Stephen Charles McCarthy address@hidden
* scm/midi.scm: changed midi volumes in absolute-volume-alist from
0.05 - 1.00 to 0.25 - 1.00
* scm/midi.scm: moved the default-instrument-equalizer procedure to
just
under the insturment-equalizer-alist it takes as an argument.
end of entry.
The neat logic of assuming that midi volume zero is the point of zero
volume
coming through everyone's speakers is the sort of logic that rarely works
when dealing with Multimedia on the computer. There are three assumptions
being made with that kind of thinking:
1) The volume difference between adjacent dynamic levels you want,
corresponds
to the differences you get when they all are spaced evenly along the
entire
volume range from 0 to 1.
2) All midi volume levels are audible until you get to zero.
3) The volume levels are linearly arranged along the midi volume range.
Instead, midi volume level 1.00 is the default and we should assume the
user
has just set his volume level for that before he plays a pianissimo piece.
So all the dynamic levels should be as close to 1.00 as possible while
still
maintaining an audible difference between them.
Tackling the problem from the other side, it is as if I decided that midi
volume 0.20 is a closer approximation to zero volume than 0 on most
peoples
systems, added that to the volume level of ppppp, and listened to the
output
from set-midi-absolute-volume.ly that I propose be added to
./input/no-notation to verify that they seem to be spaced the way I would
want them if I were playing them on the piano myself.
The patch file is twice as long as the original, because all I did was
move
a procedure from near the end of the file to near the beginning under the
insturment-equalizer-alist to help developers see that someone already
made
a pass at providing a procedure for that alist. So this is just midi.scm
with the changes in it, is that OK?
I made these changes because parts of my midi files were becoming
inaudible
when I added dynamics. I could fix this either by removing the
dynamic_perfomer the way I demonstrated how to do earlier or by
compressing
the dynamic levels. I think compressing them makes sense in light of the
fact that they don't need to be spaced out as wide as possible in order to
get the desired effect. There is no substitute for auditioning the levels
with your own ears to verify they are were you want them. Try setting the
volume level on your system for a piece with no dynamic marks in it first.
Stephen
patch.midi.scm