midi to mp3-no audio

[crm]

Hello: I've just installed Audacity 1.2.6. and LAME on Windows XP and am using Windows Media Player 10 which indicates that I have converted a MIDI to MP3 but when I run the player there is no audio. In addition, Audacity does not show any audio fluctuation. Can anyone be of help? Thanks very much.

[steve]

If other mp3s play correctly then my guess would be that your "convert midi to mp3" process has not worked and has produced a silent file.

[crm]

Any suggestions as to what I need to do to correct the problem? Thanks!

[steve]

You could use Timidity to render the midi files http://timidity.sourceforge.net/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TiMidity%2B%2B

[crm]

I've checked out the Timidity link you provided but noticed that it does not specifically state that it converts Midi to MP3. Does it do that? Thanks!

[steve]

Timidity "renders" MIDI to WAV (see Wikipedia article).
You can use your favourite MP3 encoder (or Audacity if you have installed Lame) to encode the WAV file into MP3 format.
If you intend to edit the file in Audacity you should do so before you convert the WAV file to MP3.

[crm]

I appreciate your willingness to be of help but I am not inclined to used Timidity. Surely, there must be a better resolution to the Audacity issue. I have read the only line manual but have not found the answer that I need. Still looking for answers. Thanks!

[kozikowski]

What you're trying to do is modest magic. MIDI is not sound. MIDI is machine instructions how hard to strike a piano key and for how long. It has nothing to do with the sound the piano key makes.

Software somewhere has to convert that instruction set using internal instruments to music and then save it as a file. What's the possibility you didn't actually save a sound file? Much more likely, Windows Media saved a Windows Media file which Audacity 1.2 will not open.

Try Audacity 1.3.12...

http://audacityteam.org/download/

And install FFMpeg software, too.

Audacity 1.2 is old and not the most stable software in the world and we try to get people to stop using it.

Koz

[steve]

I appreciate your willingness to be of help but I am not inclined to used Timidity. Surely, there must be a better resolution to the Audacity issue. I have read the only line manual but have not found the answer that I need. Still looking for answers. Thanks!

What exactly is the question?
You've said that you've converted a MIDI file into an MP3 file using Windows Medial Player?
How did you do that? As far as I'm aware Windows Media Player is not capable of converting MIDI files to MP3.

[crm]

I did not say that Windows Media Player converted the MIDI to MP3. I stated that I used Audacity with Lame to convert the MIDI to MP3 and that Windows Media Player showed that it was a MP3 but that there was no audio. I also stated that Audacity showed no wave modulation on the converted MIDI. Hope that clarifies my basic problem. What I need is to figure out how to use Audacity to produce a MP3 from a MIDI. I was unable to find the answer in reading the manual.