I'm trying to create either midi or mp3 files of already printed music by copying the notes in the program using the staff view. The problem I am having is that the software is too eager to insert rests in the staff that are inappropriate and often end up changing the note values rather than correcting the automatically inserted rests on the staff. This is very frustrating as it means that later I have to go back in piano roll view and adjust everything. I'm also having trouble with playing back anything to where I can hear it which means that I have to save a midi file, convert it in another program to mp3 to see if it is working. I'm using a new computer. It's a Lenovo V750 with Windows 7 and Realtek HD sound. I'm sure that the ability not to hear it directly is probably a simple oversight on my part but I'm stumped about that. I'm hoping for one of two things, either something that I've missed in terms of stopping the automatic help when entering notes on staff, or a better operating composition in MC6. Someone had helped me before by actually linking up to my computer and getting me through this, an I'd be willing to do it again if someone was willing. Any help is appreciated, thanks.

OK.... first, I recommend you turn off the insert/display/use rests so the program will not insert rests at all. It will only display the notes you manually insert...where you insert them. 

Be sure to check the note resolution to get notes in the proper places..... and remember you can right click to open the NOTE PROPERTIES window to edit with precision.

Second, you should be able to hear the midi notes as you click to insert them and drag them around on the staff..... and when you hit playback you should hear it play exactly like it is written.  

If it is not doing this, it is probable that the sound card (Realtek HD) is not set up with proper drivers. It is also possible that the card may not function with MC... for example..... in my Dell lappy, I can not get the factory card to work no matter which driver mode I use. Believe me when I say I have tried, multiple times to get it working. 

I can only get sound when I connect my external Focusrite Saffire interface. 


BTW....which MC are you using to write in staff.... MC4 or MC6 or both? 

 Okay, I'm using MC4. I figured out the problem with not hearing it as I forgot to insert a softsyth into it. I figured it out from one of the other files that I had previously. The problem there is that those won't play well. They will play between 1 and 3 notes and then go silent unless I click further along in the piece where it will do the same thing and then go silent again. I think part of it has to do with a bad job on my part of transferring files from one computer to another, or troubles I had earlier with the other computer when it crashed. In either case, I fear that I've lost what I have. It's not a lot, but there is one that I would like to try and rebuild if possible. The notes and everything are there, but it just does as I explained above. So far as the settings on the rests, I haven't seen any of the options that you have suggested. (Probably because I've looked in the wrong place.) LOL

Herb, I think there might be a problem with the software itself. I now am able to playback only in PR view, but if I replay immediately, only one of the two notes plays on one track, the other doesn't play at all. I can't find anything at all about turning off auto insert of rests/notes. Nothing in any of the menus, and nothing of any help in the index either. The other thing I am now finding is that in trying to use the keyboard shortcuts for entering notes, nothing happens. I think I'm just going to upgrade to MC6 and hope that this at least eliminates one or more variables. The audio engine stopped in the middle of everything, but whatever I did, it started again. More of an indication that something got screwed up in the various happenings between the computer crash and restoring, and transferring everything to a new computer.

OK... I opened MC4 to see if I could find the rest thing.... A quick look around did not show me the thing I thought was in there. So maybe it doesn't hide the rests.  As you enter the notes with staff, MC places rests automatically to fill the remaining musical time. But if you drop in another note, that note is more important and the rests will adjust automatically. 

That would kick it back to the resolution you are using to write the notes. Be sure to have the resolution of the note set to the smallest note value you will be using. Notes take precedence over rests. Default resolution goes from whole notes to 128th note triplets if I recall..... most songs are fine with 1/16th notes as the smallest resolution. 

Next... upgrading to MC6 I don't think will solve the problem with playback. That sounds more like a driver issue and the card itself. Factory cards are not good to use for cakewalk products. But.... you can always try the MME driver and set latency and buffers higher and see if that gets it working. It's generally pretty hard to break MC4. Try this next step first before you buy MC6...... although buying MC6 will give you some pretty cool new synths to play with and loops that MC4 doesn't have so upgrading is certainly worth the $40 cost.....

Ultimately, the best course of action is to get a decent USB audio/midi interface from a company like Presonus, Focusrite, or M-Audio. Most all of us here are using the USB interfaces for recording & playback. They really do make a huge difference in the recording experience. Through the years I have seen many, many strange issues come from trying to use a factory card and as soon as they buy an interface, the software works exactly like it's supposed to work. 

 I already went and bought MC6, I found it a bit confusing at first because of the difference in layout of the program. I'm getting better though on that end. I tried writing that little project that I had again and it was much easier to do this time. However, something very weird happened when I tried to save it as a midi file. It saved the midi file okay, but then when I put that through another program to convert to MP3, there was nothing, where as when I did the same in MC4, it worked just fine with the same set up. The setup was 4 audio tracks, and 1 soft sync track. What was weird was that when I looked at it again (PR view) everything was fine in the audio tracks, but there was about 1 measure of something a measure after the last measure in the audio tracks. I've used this setup (4 and 1) before in MC4, and it has worked out fine. I'm wondering if what I need to do is use either 4 midi tracks or 4 soft sync tracks instead. I'm not sure what the other problem is with being able to hear the notes while writing because I would think that if the card is not compatible, I would not hear anything at all as opposed to intermittently. (See what I described in the first post.) I also noticed the same while authoring, that is to say that occasionally when I would move a note up or down on the staff, I would hear the note changing.

Well I don't know what happened, but when I tried it again, it's working fine as it should. Note placement and playback. It may be that I used 4 midi tracks instead of audio. Go figure! Thanks for the help and input. Just out of curiosity, is there a way to export the info itself from the staff view, or PR view of another project to a new file to try and restore what's not working in the project now? Just as a means of not having to enter all of the notes again manually. If so, how? Thanks.

All notes in the midi world should play back audibly with a synth properly installed and especially when you are adding and dragging them around the staff or PRV.....otherwise it is really hard to know when you have them placed properly.

You can export a track as audio or as midi and easily enter it into a new or older project.  I have used the method of creating a new desktop folder and putting all files and tracks incoming and out going into that folder so they're easy to find. MC is a drag and drop program so you can easily drag and drop or copy and paste files form one place to another including to different projects and programs.

saving and exporting: are two different things.   Saving is the process of writing to HD the changes you make in a project so that it opens next time to that point.  If you want to "save it OUT of the MC program" that is called exporting.  If you do not select the audio tracks and in MC4 select the preset called WHAT YOU HEAR.... you can easily end up with a file exported but nothing in it....and midi ALWAYS needs to be exported as audio..... you can either bounce to track, freeze or select the audio track associated with the synth to accomplish this. 

Well, never mind, I figured it out myself. What I did was to create 4 new tracks and "paste special the original tracks into the new ones and then delete all the unneeded tracks. Everything is great now!

good to hear.... it's always better when you figure things out yourself because you learn more from that experience.