Increasing the volume of a MIDI

Factual Questions
1

I’m trying to take some longer MIDIs and turn them into cellphone ringers. A few of them, however, are really reaaallly quiet, and I’d like to increase their volume. I’ve been using Anvil Studio to edit the files, and have truncated them, etc., but when I play them on my phone at the highest volume, they’re still very quiet compared to others.

In Anvil Studio, the Volume slider for these files is at 100%, but I was hoping someone could tell me how to make them even louder, with a freeware program, hopefully. A Google search yielded some utilities for $20 that claim to be able to do this, but a lot of them don’t offer demo versions.

Does anyone know a quick and easy way to boost a MIDI’s volume?

Thanks

2

The volume of a midi depends on four things:

  • The volume setting on each channel. How loud a channel, usually a single instrument, is in the mix.
  • The emphasis setting on each channel. This is effectively a relative adjustment on the volume.
  • The velocity of each note. i.e. how hard the “instrument” is getting hit.
  • The instruments selected on each channel. Some are naturally quieter than others.

If you want to crank up the volume of a midi you need an editor that lets you modify these.

3

Obvious suggestion - but have you checked the taskbar volume control (assuming you’re in Windows)? It controls MIDI separately from other audio.

4

Irrelevant. I’m playing them on a cellphone, not my computer.

5
      • I had caphis e-mail them; the track levels were all at 100% but I set the notes velocities all to 128; most were at around 70. I have not heard yet if that was the problem or not.
  • There was like seven instruments on a couple of them, with three or four at once in a few places… how many voices can a cellphone do at once?
    ~
6

Hey- just listened. They’re much louder, some instruments are distorted a bit, but I suppose it’s the trade-off one gets for having it louder =) Great job!

My cellphone can play polyphonic MIDIs of up to 32 chords. Can also play MP3 files as ringers, but that’s a major memory drag.

7

I’m doing the same thing as you right now, caphis - I’ve been tinkering with Anvil Studio - a freeware MIDI sequencer/editor etc. It also allows you to truncate tracks - I’m trying to make a half-decent MIDI rington of O Fortuna.

8

Yep yep… I’ve been working with Anvil, but their volume controls leave something to be desired.

9

Oops, I completely overlooked your mention of Anvil; sorry.

10
      • Some of the notes in the two longer files are doubled in two instruments. Mebbe I go take them out…
        ~