How were the musical examples made?

[Simon56]

One for Gary this? Could you tell me a little more about how the Flash examples were made for the Rimsky-Korsakov exercises. Is the orchestra in the audio a real one? Or is it GPO or better. If it was an excerpt of a real orchestra - how was it aligned with the graphic file of the music?

Thanks
Simon
Open University
UK

[Garritan]

One for Gary this? Could you tell me a little more about how the Flash examples were made for the Rimsky-Korsakov exercises. Is the orchestra in the audio a real one? Or is it GPO or better. If it was an excerpt of a real orchestra - how was it aligned with the graphic file of the music?

Thanks
Simon
Open University
UKSimon,
The orchestra in the interactive scores in the Rimskey-Korsakov course is not a real one. :D The orchestral parts were realized for the most part (over 95%) with GPO. In a few cases the Strad, JABB or parts of GPOA were also used.

Making the Flash examples was a multi stage process. First the scores from the text were analyzed and in some cases corrections or substitutions made. The scores were then painstakingly rendered in Finale or Sibelius (one note at time) by Bob De Celle and Luk and other volunteers. MP3s were then made for each score by Robert - mostly from a sequencer and some from a notation progrm.

Once we had the mp3s and the scores, Sean assembled the elements in Flash, synced them together and created the red line that follows the score.

Since all of the scores are rendered in Sibelius and Finale it would be possible to make a MusicXML version or to make Finale or Sibelius versions. We are working on technology that we hope will open up more possibilities for interactive learning.

Gary Garritan

[Aeterna]

Since all of the scores are rendered in Sibelius and Finale it would be possible to make a MusicXML version or to make Finale or Sibelius versions. We are working on technology that we hope will open up more possibilities for interactive learning.

Gary Garritan

I would love it if you did this!

Sorry, don't have much to add besides that.

[greatgreybeast]

Gary,

Does this mean that, in the sequencer, mod wheel data was simply added to the original (perfectly paced) MIDI notes, or was the music entered via live performance? And, could you point to which examples were recorded from a notation program? (What I'm getting at is that I want to hear how good GPO sounds with nothing more than an automated performance by something like Finale's human playback.)

[Garritan]

The music was entered by live performance. In a few examples the music was rendered directly from notation.

Gary Garritan

[greatgreybeast]

Thanks much. "Natural" performance algorithms always intrigue me, of course, but I was skeptical that it could be that good.

And, speaking of GPOA... well, I won't pester you about it. :rolleyes: But I did have to dig pretty deep to find satisfactory answers about what's going on with it, as the threads keep aging and disappearing. I suggest making a sticky in General Discussion with a title like "ALL KNOWN FACTS ON GPOA -- NOW SHUT UP."

Unless you like it when we pester you. :samurai:

[Simon56]

The tools sound very interesting indeed - I presume they might provide away of automating syncing between an mp3 and a music XML file output by Finale for example -- That would be fantastic. Keep me posted on their development

Simon
Open University
UK