Tips for TM Jammers - Updated Again

[Tapper Mike]

Hi, I'm the new guy.

I'm assembling backing tracks for mixcraft users. In these projects you will find an animated video of the chord chart. I've created a little screencast here - http://tappermike.com/mixcraft/jams/display.html This is how I like to set up the environment so I can view the chord changes and still have access to the transport and tracks view. You may find it useful yourself.

For midi jammers
You may notice midi tracks with nothing in them however the name of the track states something.... like "horns" When I put together an arrangement I add these parts so you can simply select the track and use it to jam over. You can of course simply select a different instrument by clicking the keyboard icon displayed on the track.

If you choose a third party plug in for your midi sound that is not part of the mixcraft selection then please. Convert your midi jam part to an audio file. If you are not familiar with this I've created a screencast here - http://tappermike.com/mixcraft/help/miditoaudio1.html

mbliss is much more organized then I. Rather then copying and pasting his post here please view his treatment on other matters pertaining to sharing and the like
http://forums.acoustica.com/bbs/viewtop ... 23&t=14919

I may update this post as time goes by. As I offer up more of these jam tracks I'll add a link from that thread to this one and vice versa.

Current tracks:
Blues for Tom - http://forums.acoustica.com/bbs/viewtop ... 23&t=15127
Walled Lake - http://forums.acoustica.com/bbs/viewtop ... 23&t=15149
Satin - http://forums.acoustica.com/bbs/viewtop ... 23&t=15171

[outteh]

We are having fun! Join in and add some sounds to the efforts!

[Tapper Mike]

I'm working on a "Campfire" Folky thing. And a "Smooth Jazz" project. Expect them up within the next few days.

[Mark Bliss]

Here's one potential snafu in the plan for you to consider Mike.
If someone alters the pattern, say for example as I just did to the "blues for Tom" project by duplicating sections to extend the backing tracks length, the video guide becomes out of synch, and so forth.
I think it might be solved by editing the video tracks to split at the song sections so it is easier to edit with the project.
Just a suggestion of something to experiment with.

Hmm, changing the project tempo might be a bigger issue. Off to experiment!

[Tapper Mike]

I'm releasing my work under the creative commons license,

Just as my next release will be handled
http://www.tappermike.com/?q=node/38

"Walled Lake" should be up in about a day.

I'll present the original and maintain the original. However I'm not responsible for any alterations done by others.

I do however thank you for your efforts Mark. A simple still image would suffice for the chord chart but if you've worked in biab as long as I have you get real comfortable with the chord animation. I'm going to leave it for now. Perhaps on the next ones I'll simply have a still screen capture of the chord chart. The section markings in the timeline should suffice along with the chord chart to figure out where they are in the song.


I have requested that a text track be inserted to mixcraft 7
http://forums.acoustica.com/bbs/viewtop ... 857#p64857

This would alievate the whole import video / tracking issue.

[Tapper Mike]

So I've learned some things and improved then on my latest outing "Walled Lake"
I'm sure I'll learn a few more before I release "Satin" which is an easy "Smooth Jazz" thing.

I've increased the frame rate of the video. I noticed that when selecting a specific measure or trying to go into loop mode. I think I've got a better handle on trimming the video to align with the audio. The kicker is that I use the audio in the wmv to align the video. And when I delete the audio in the video within mixcraft the audio is still around. It's extra file space that the project doesn't need.

[Tapper Mike]

Update. I just saw the scrolling text in action. I may not need the screencasts at all.

[Tapper Mike]

So,

Any feedback on my recent changes?

[outteh]

Forgot to mention, in the Satin project I didn't see any video, it didn't,t seem to work. Didn't really need it but thought you might want to know. The markers with text were fine.

[Mark Bliss]

Video is in the folder, but didn't load into the project, which was fine with me too. Saved a step.
The Marker notes were all I needed to tell me playing in the key of F wasn't going to work......

[Tapper Mike]

Thanks guys.

In the last version I just dropped them both into the same folder and zipped it. Rather then have mixcraft zip the mix.