Re: midi for orchestral scores

[Ralf Mattes]

On Thu, 28 Jun 2012 13:36:59 +0200, Nils wrote:

> Shevek <address@hidden> wrote:
> 
> 
>> I was wondering if anyone has developed a good workflow for dealing
>> with midi playback for scores using more than 16 instruments. I've been
>> playing around with the various options for midiChannelMapping and
>> playback programs, but I can't seem to figure out a way to get playback
>> of all the parts with all the right instruments. I realize the
>> technical hurdles of actually implementing multiple port playback in
>> Lilypond, so I'm not asking about that. All the same, it doesn't seem
>> that what I want is that complicated from a user perspective. I don't
>> want to be able to tweak my midi in fancy ways or use different special
>> soundfonts or sample libraries: I just want to be able to check the
>> pitches and rhythms for all the parts with the correct midi sounds.
>> Does anyone have a good way of doing this?
>> 
>> I thought maybe the simplest way would be to make, for example, a midi
>> file for the wind parts, and a midi file for the string parts, and then
>> play them simultaneously to two separate midi ports, but I can't seem
>> to figure out how to get the files to play in sync.
>> 
>> Suggestions?
> 
> 
> We are dealing with midi here, that means 16 instruments max. at each
> given time.

Are we? Since when can Lilypond talk Midi? IIRC Lily does produce Midi
files (Format 1, to be precise) and those can hold way more than 16 tracks
(65,535? I think the track count is a word/2Byte). So there would be 
plenty of space to export even larger orchestra scores  .... ;-)


 Cheers, Ralf Mattes