Maestro MIDI to ABC converter for LOTRO

[Mellana]

Thank you very much Digero for your hard work! *cheers*

[Katiepie]

Sure. You can have several folders with different versions of Maestro on your HD all the time. I have 1.4.1, 2.0, 2.1.1 and 2.2.1 available at the moment.
My advice is to download the ZIP version of the package and just unpack it to a new folder. In that folder can execute Maestro.jar directly. You can run several Maestro clients of different versions at the same time if you like. There is no need to start Maestro.exe or install the software at all.

Have you a link to the old zips? I can't seem to track them down. Sorry to be a bother

[Fratonia]

Have you a link to the old zips? I can't seem to track them down. Sorry to be a bother

https://github.com/digero/maestro/releases

On the bottom of the page you will find older versions. Click the ... button (Show 6 other tags) to expand the list of downloads.

[SchorschiSchrumpf]

Hmmm, something is weird with the newest versions of the ABC player:

The tracks are played loosing sync between them - I first noticed that on an ARM system - first I thought it's related to some java bug, but it turned out it's because I used the recent version of the ABC player. It maybe related to the huge fractions of tone durations my converter produces, they don't cause any issues in lotro itself - only with the recent versions of the ABC player.
Did anyone observer similar problems (changes of synchronicity between the game itself and maestro/abcplayer?).

So currently I can only listen to my tracks using an old version (anything before 2. I think) with the new .sf2 file (just replace the lotroinstruments.sf2 file with the most recent one) - then all the timings are correctly played.

[zedrock]

Hmmm, something is weird with the newest versions of the ABC player:

The tracks are played loosing sync between them - I first noticed that on an ARM system - first I thought it's related to some java bug, but it turned out it's because I used the recent version of the ABC player. It maybe related to the huge fractions of tone durations my converter produces, they don't cause any issues in lotro itself - only with the recent versions of the ABC player.
Did anyone observer similar problems (changes of synchronicity between the game itself and maestro/abcplayer?).

So currently I can only listen to my tracks using an old version (anything before 2. I think) with the new .sf2 file (just replace the lotroinstruments.sf2 file with the most recent one) - then all the timings are correctly played.

I Agree. I got the same problem on Windows 7. Oldest versions of ABC/Maestro still works fine! Problem is appearing with the NEW ones!

Zed'

[Keli]

Ha, maybe it's too accurate as I've had a few songs losing sync/rhythm on live!

[SchorschiSchrumpf]

Ha, maybe it's too accurate as I've had a few songs losing sync/rhythm on live!

Oh that rather indicates that the issue might also affect Maestro and not just the ABC player :/

[Belka]

The White Flames thank you for Maestro. It is and has been the major reason to why our band still exists.
Since the latest update we are going through all our songs (almost 500) to adjust volumes and to prepare the songs for the search system in SongbookBB. It is a huge work since more than half of the songs are made for 6 up to 12 instruments.

I have noticed major differences in volumes between Maestro 2.2.1/AbcPlayer and the game. In Maestro the Lute is very loud. Cranking it down to have a balance with the other instruments makes it almost unheard in game.
The opposite goes for the Harp. In Maestro it is rather low in volume, so it needs to be turned up a little. Doing this, the harp will be overpowering the other instruments in the game.

There are also slight differences in volumes between Maestro and the game for other instruments, but nothing that breaks it. The Lute and Harp differences are so huge that it is very difficult to have this in mind for every song: *keep the Lute up so it is uncomfortably loud, keep the Harp down so it is barely heard* when adjusting volumes.

Has anyone else noticed this big difference?
Is there a chance that this can be fixed?

I am Trincia in game, leader of Order of the White Flames and the band The White Flames
(6 years of education in music and sound production, and 40+ years as a professional musician)

[Keli]

Has anyone else noticed this big difference?

Yes, several of us have noticed this. I have hesitated from asking Digero for a fix as it is likely that the music system will change again now U16 is live and I don't want to have him waste his time too much. Better that it is done once when all is fixed.

But if you have nothing better to do Digero..........

[Orlor]

I noticed the lute being loud but I didn't notice the harp. When doing our last concert, I had to skip a good many songs because in ABC Player, the lute was really over-powering but when played in game, it didn't sound as bad as in the player.

[SchorschiSchrumpf]

I noticed the lute being loud but I didn't notice the harp. When doing our last concert, I had to skip a good many songs because in ABC Player, the lute was really over-powering but when played in game, it didn't sound as bad as in the player.

There is a soundfont editor called viena, which is free and allows adjusting volumes in the soundfont files. I'll post the required values here later but it's just minor tweaks, biggest is the one for lute (approx -3dB).


@Digero: I could also upload my modified version of the soundfont file if you'd want to put it in your up-to-date versions of Maestro/ABC player.

[SchorschiSchrumpf]

Looked it up again - to roughly align it with the game these values can be used (with that soundfont editor I mentioned above):

Lute: -5 dB
Theorbo: -4 dB
Harp: -1 dB
Horn: 0 dB
Clarinet: +2 dB
Flute: +4 dB
Pibgorn: +1 dB
Bagpipes: -1 dB
Drums: 0 dB

The volume dynamics of the game and Maestro/ABC player still differ from the game though, so without playing ingame there is no way to be certain. Also I'm not sure about the flute .. all the high frequency noise screws up my volume measurements.

[Tulipan]

Hello Digero!

With two added instruments and several other instruments 'adjusted', I am eager to adapt my arrangements to 16.1 music. Do you plan to update Maestro and ABC Player? If yes, when may we expect it?

While there are other music arrangement tools, I know of no alternative to your ABC Player. It has been invaluable in the past.

[Ingleton]

No response to your inquiry Tulipan

Transcribing on outdated Maestro without the new instruments is still possible, but it is tiresome what with having to go back to the old-time method of testing each song ingame (over and over), while you transcribe.

Hopefully Digero will add the new instruments to Maestro soon, but no posts from him in this thread since April makes a minstrel wonder if he is still around...

[Orlor]

Looked it up again - to roughly align it with the game these values can be used (with that soundfont editor I mentioned above):

Lute: -5 dB
Theorbo: -4 dB
Harp: -1 dB
Horn: 0 dB
Clarinet: +2 dB
Flute: +4 dB
Pibgorn: +1 dB
Bagpipes: -1 dB
Drums: 0 dB

The volume dynamics of the game and Maestro/ABC player still differ from the game though, so without playing ingame there is no way to be certain. Also I'm not sure about the flute .. all the high frequency noise screws up my volume measurements.

I downloaded the Synthfont program and loaded up Maestro's soundfount file and was able to see all the samples. However, I could not find a way to alter the volume on the tracks. Could you show me where to do this?

[Keli]

There is a slider called Volume Offset above the keyboard, right hand side.

Remember that the figure for lute that Bruzo uses is for the Basic lute not the Lute of Ages.

[zedrock]

Hello,

Here's a screenshot for Vienna :



1. You must be on Presets and select the instrument
2. Here is the slider
3. Value is reporting in "Attenuation".

On my exemple, theorbo is at -4, which means attenuation = 4
For clarinet, +4, Attenuation should be = -4

Zed'

[Orlor]

Ok...I did a search for Viena and it took me to synthfont which does not look anything like that. Is there a link to the program that you are using?

[Tulipan]

No response to your inquiry Tulipan

....

Hopefully Digero will add the new instruments to Maestro soon, but no posts from him in this thread since April makes a minstrel wonder if he is still around...

I made similar inquiry after 15.3 and Digero only rsponded when he released 2.2.1 (and explained then that some of the work with extracting sounds from LOTRO were time-consuming), so there is still hope.

Alternatively, Digero's "Maestro and ABC Player for The Lord of the Rings Online " project is available on GitHub under a MIT License which means everyone is free to modify it (well, "fork" and modify it, but I'll spare you the technicalities) and - importantly - release a version. Kudos to Digero for this.

Just saying, as I do not have the skillset to do this myself. It will take somebody who knows Java (a programming language) and has insight into music (and/or lotro music) to do it properly.

[Vellrad]

Kinda stupid question, is there any option to split a large (like 10 minutes) song to 4 shorter?

[zedrock]

Ok...I did a search for Viena and it took me to synthfont which does not look anything like that. Is there a link to the program that you are using?

You got it
It's on the Synthfont webpage, by Download in upper menu, then just take a look a bit lower in the web page, at Viena (V0.973) section, then full installation package link.

Zed'

[Emere]

Kinda stupid question, is there any option to split a large (like 10 minutes) song to 4 shorter?

The only way I know to do something like that is using a program like Anvil Studio to edit the midi file before you transcribe it to .abc format. There are other programs such as melody assistant and a few others I've heard people talk about. I like Anvil Studio since its free and does everything I need it to do.

[Digero]

Hey all! I'm working on getting the new instrument sounds and volume adjustments into Maestro. Hopefully I'll have it ready sometime this week.

Question: when you open songs in ABC player, would it be better to have parts with "Lute" in their name use the new Basic Lute or the Lute of Ages? (A part named "Basic Lute" or "Lute of Ages" would always use its respective instrument.)

[Glenwin]

Thank you so much for your great work! Maestro makes transscribing easy as pie!

As for the instrument names: I'd go with the original names. It's least confusing for everyone, especially new players who dabble into the music system.

[Keli]

For playing purposes I favour the names Basic Lute and Lute of Ages. If the abc only has Lute then I think it should default to the original sounding lute (Lute of Ages).

For searches/spreadsheet stuff etc it is a nightmare having 2 harps and 2 lutes lol