Hi Florian

Hi,
i just sent you a messege through the 'contact' page becaues i hadn't recieved a confirm email after registering. It came about five mintues later, i guess it was just delayed.

Someone on the 'newgrounds.com' forum directed me to your site in
response to a request i made for a qwerty keyboard music player i need.
I already have one called HappyEO made by some dude in China. I
bought that one because it was the only one that allows me to assign the
qwerty keys to what note i like. But it still has its limits as to which
keys can be assigned.

Florian i am desperatly trying to find a simple on screen music
player that lets me use my qwerty keyboard as an input for playing music live. But . . . i need total control over which key plays which note.
Most players, free and comercial, impose their own layout. The
HappyEO one i have gives me quite a lot of freedom. That's good for me
because i don't want a 'left to right' sequencial keyboard as a piano is.
The positions i want them in are totally random. Also, i want to be able
to assign notes to the 1-9 +'0' keys and even the 'F1 to F12' keys.
Not only that, i really need to asign sharp/flats to keys as a piano
has specific keys for sharps/flats instead of holding down 'shift' or
'space' and pressing a regular key/note.
I have looked all over the internet for a year to find a program that
will give me this freedom and still can't find one.
Could you please tell me if your player can be configured to cater to
my needs. I'm really desperate at this point.
Hope you can help.
Peter.

Hi,

as you may have found out, Bome's Mouse Keyboard's key assignments cannot be configured (yet?).

There is one thing which may be suitable for you: another app of mine, Bome's MIDI Translator, allows conversions from keystrokes to MIDI. For that, you need the Pro version. Then, you can create single "Translators", e.g.

INCOMING: Keystroke A Down
OUTGOING MIDI 90 40 7F

INCOMING: Keystroke A Up
OUTGOING MIDI 90 40 00

It'll be quite some work to define an entire keyboard layout like that, but it'll work. Plus, the pro version has the powerful Rules, which allow you to implement arbitrary shift/alternate assignments.

Check it out:
http://www.bome.com/midi/translator/

Feel free to post any further questions here in the forums.

Regards,
Florian

Hi Florian,
thank's for your prompt reply here.

Im very interested then in buying the MIDI Translator but i have some questions first as to be honest i don't know anything about MIDI. All i know is that it's some kind of music interface with computers.

I really don't mind assigning all the keys manually as it will be a one time thing and i can save that config right?

Also, The HappyEO music player i currently have has loads of instruments to choose from. I have the demo of your keyboard program but is it only Piano it has?
Also, if i use the MIDI translator program can i interface it with either the music player i have or your keyboard one and how would i do that.
Otherwise, after i set up my key config with the MIDI translator then what would it interface with in order for me to use my qwerty keyboard to play music?

Lastly, i dont totally understand your example. What is 'A down'. do you mean the 'A' key on the keyboard and by down do you mean pressing that key?
Whatt is 90 40 7F? is 7 the number of the octave and F the key? then what does 90 40 refer to?

So basically if i use your MIDI translator can i set up my computer so i can use my qwerty keyboard to play sounds and assign a note to any key i like including the number keys and the F1-12 keys.

Lastly, using that Translator can i assign a key to play a Sharp/flat?

Sorry i'm such a dumbo on this

I look forward to your answers.

Peter.

Peter wrote:I really don't mind assigning all the keys manually as it will be a one time thing and i can save that config right?

Yes, it is saved in Presets.

Peter wrote:Also, The HappyEO music player i currently have has loads of instruments to choose from. I have the demo of your keyboard program but is it only Piano it has?

The instruments depend on the kind of synth you use. Mouse Keyboard can change to any available instrument (with the "program" up/down). You can also load Cubase compatible patch lists to be able to choose the instruments by named.

Peter wrote:Also, if i use the MIDI translator program can i interface it with either the music player i have or your keyboard one and how would i do that.
Otherwise, after i set up my key config with the MIDI translator then what would it interface with in order for me to use my qwerty keyboard to play music?

Midi Translator will output MIDI messages. I don't know the HappyEO player, so I don't know if it accepts MIDI input. Mouse Keyboard does accept MIDI input. BUT, you probably don't even need a "player", since you can select the synthesizer directly from Midi Translator in the MIDI OUT menu.

Peter wrote:Lastly, i dont totally understand your example. What is 'A down'. do you mean the 'A' key on the keyboard and by down do you mean pressing that key?
Whatt is 90 40 7F? is 7 the number of the octave and F the key? then what does 90 40 refer to?

With A I mean the key on the computer keyboard. Down is when you press it down, up is when you release it.
90 40 7F is a MIDI Note On message in hexadecimal notation. 90 is the first number, the status. In this case, the status means: start a note on the first MIDI channel. For Note On messages, the second hexadecimal number (40) is the key number, in semitones. 40 hex is 64 decimal, which is note E in the 5th octave. If you use 41 instead of 40, it'll play E#.
The last number (7F) is the velocity, i.e. how hard the key is pressed, i.e. how loud to play the note. 7F in decimal is 127, the maximum value for velocity. If you specify 00, the note is stopped (when you release the key).
Check out Harmony Central's MIDI links for good MIDI resources.

Peter wrote:So basically if i use your MIDI translator can i set up my computer so i can use my qwerty keyboard to play sounds and assign a note to any key i like including the number keys and the F1-12 keys.

Yes.

Peter wrote:Lastly, using that Translator can i assign a key to play a Sharp/flat?

Yes, Midi Translator is very flexible. Whenever you get stuck, ask on the Midi Translator forum.

Peter wrote:Sorry i'm such a dumbo on this

no problem at all! Your problems are my problems!

Regards,
Florian

Thank's so much Florian.
It looks like your Midi Translator program is exactly what i've been looking for.
before I order it. I basically just need as i said to configure the keys as i want and dont really need to do any combos or anything so will i be ok with the regular program or do i need the pro version for some reason.

Peter.

You should definitely test first before purchasing!
You will need the Pro version though, because "Keystroke input" is only available in the Pro version. The "classic" version can only convert MIDI to keystroke and MIDI to MIDI. You need Keystroke to MIDI...

Regards,
Florian

Florian i downloaded and am trying the MT pro beta.

But not knowing anything about midi i dont understand how to use the program at all.
I know there is no tutorial but how can i learn how to use it?

This thread continues in the Midi Translator forum:
http://www.bome.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=698

Florian