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CyberBass
is a MIDI tutorial that will help you learn your part.
CyberBass
is a collection of choral scores converted to MIDI format for play back on
your computer.
CyberBass
is digitally precise in pitch and rhythm.
CyberBass
is a one-man project that accomplishes goals through individual
efforts and contributions from singers worldwide.
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CyberBass
is not beautiful or artistic. It does not playback dynamics or vocal
nuances. It is a note bashing site.
CyberBass
generally does not play back orchestral accompaniment. Although you will find
some pieces with accompaniment sequenced lightly in the background.
CyberBass
does not playback solo/quartet parts. Individuals blessed with such talent
are typically excellent sight readers.
CyberBass
is not perfect. These scores have been painstakingly sequenced in MIDI
format,
but humans are not 100% accurate and neither is CyberBass.
CyberBass is not a mega internet
enterprise such as EBAY, Yahoo, or Google. It is not a million dollar enterprise, but rather earns enough
to pay for itself.
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Click on ensemble and
all parts will playback. Female parts playback on the right speaker while
male parts play back on the left speaker. A metronome marks time on both
speakers.
Click on a specific
part and it will play back on the right speaker. Other parts will play back
lightly on the left speaker. Again the metronome beats away incessantly on
both speakers.
For more advanced use
... double click on the speaker icon in the lower right hand corner of the
screen. A mixer board will appear on your desk top. Shift the
balance of the MIDI (or synthesizer) control to the left and right ...
If you have selected
your part, when the balance is shifted right, you will hear only your part.
Shift the balance to the left and your part will fade as all others will move to
the foreground. As usually, the metronome beats away ... time waits for no
singer.
If you have selected
ensemble ... shifting the balance to the left will play back male parts only.
Shifting right plays back female parts. The ever beating metronome simply
will not go away.
CyberBass
works best with headphones and your music in front of you. Have Fun.
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I created
CyberBass
as an aid to rapidly learn and perfect music, freeing the conductor for more
artistic endeavors. The advent of INTERNET provided a great medium for
posting MIDI files so that others in the chorus could use this tool.
CyberBass
is not 100% and requires your feed back if you find errors. Please
submit problems with the score or the site to
CyberBass.
If you like the site
or found it helpful, please sign the
CyberBass
guest book.
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Check out the latest version of Microsoft Media Player (Version 11).
Right click on the arrow in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. A drop down menu will appear.
Click on 'Views', then 'Enhancements', then 'Play
Speed Settings'. You will now see a tempo bar at the bottom of the Media
Player Window. Slide the bar to the left to slow the playback tempo.
Slide it to the right to speed up the tempo.
Another recommendation from a
CyberBass user:
I have been very satisfied
using the Sweet MIDI Player, from Roni music.
http://www.ronimusic.com/ .
Player. This is a sixteen track midi player, available in both a
Windows and MAC version, that lets you alter the music to suit
your needs. You can increase or decrease the loudness of any
single part, change its instrument, or pan it to the right or
left ear (i.e. if using headphones on your computer) in order to
emphasize the part you are trying to study. It also lets you
speed up or slow down the music, or transpose its pitch. It
displays measure and beat numbers, and temp in beats per minute
- very helpful. When you put that together with the
CyberBass
midi files, which are designed for choral study, its a great
tool. The trial version of the Sweet Midi Player is free but
limited in its capability, but it may still be enough for your
needs. I think the registered version is $25 - very worthwhile
in my opinion. The registered version lets you save changes you
make to the midi files.
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Generally sound problems
occur when you have muted out the midi on your computer settings.
To "unmute", double-click
on the small speaker Icon in
the lower right hand corner of your computer
 . A mixing board
will appear. Make sure that no mute boxes are checked.
Also insure that all sliding volume bars are set above the minimum
and that all sliding balance bars are set in the middle.
Note:
If you slide the balance to the right, you will get your part only.
If you slide the balance bar to the left you will get
music-minus-one (your part missing).
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The
CyberBass Project maintains a listing a
choirs on the Choirs Worldwide
page. These represent groups that
have used CyberBass
in the past. Any choir that wishes to be listed may make a
request via email to the
CyberBass. Please include your choirs home city, state,
and country, and a website URL (if it has one).
The
CyberBass Project also maintains a list
of upcoming concerts for choirs that are using
CyberBass
learning files to prepare for a future concerts. Again an
email request suffices to be
listed, however, only choirs that are using
CyberBass files
that are currently online will be included on the list. This
restriction is in place because it would otherwise be impossible to
maintain a dynamic concert listing.
Choirs and/or individuals from choirs
are also acknowledged on
CyberBass learning pages if they have
made a contribution (i.e. a score and/or midi tracks) that have made
those learning files possible. These listings are included
only if the choir and/or individual wishes to be included on the
learning page.
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I've had the best luck with Microsoft's
Media Player Version 11.
In order to it automatically play your midi
files:
First, you need to have MS Media Players
loaded onto your computer. It is usually packaged with
Windows, but if not, you can down load the latest version at
Download Microsoft Media Player . During the download
sequence it will ask you if you want your audio files associated
with this program. Click yes, and when the program is
installed, all
CyberBass files will play on MS
Media Player.
If you already have MS Media Player than
click on "tools" in the top menu of MS Media Player. (Note:
Make sure that the Media Players window is fully opened by clicking
the square in the upper right hand corner.) Then click on
"options" in the drop down menu. Then click on the "file types" box.
Make sure that the "MIDI file" box is checked. The
CyberBass files will now be played on
MS Player.
You now also have the capability to
control the playback tempo: See
Controlling the
Playback Tempo.
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Apparently not ....
I hope your experience is better.
What a
deep and utter disappointment when I went to your web site
to listen for parts from Bachs " The Passion According To
St. John" needed for an upcoming concert for our choir and
what do I get? Bupcus. In other words....nothing. No Sound
what so ever!!
I tried
several other pieces and movements thinking it might be
just that particular piece. Nope. Nothing anywhere! Since
I have Windows XP and the latest version of Windows Media
Player I checked all my settings, consulted your FAQ
section, including "Why don't I hear Sound" and still
ziltch.
Too bad.
I had heard so many good recommendations for this site and
what disappointment to discover on my first visit that it
is all over hyped. Oh well! C'est La Vie!
Good luck
with your site. Regrettably I don't imagine I will be
visiting it anytime soon.
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Nonetheless, it was a legitimate
complaint that I have not quite figured out. Unfortunately
I am not an "IT guy" and it is very difficult to troubleshoot
someone's computer from a distance. Here is one user's
suggestion.
Maybe the people who cannot
get the sound are using Internet Explorer 7.0?
On my wife's and daughter's
laptops using Internet Explorer 6.0 the Midi files are
directed to Windows Media Player, and work.
On my
desktop, using Interest Explorer 6.0, the sound tracks
also come up in Windows Media Player, and work.
On my
desktop using the Mozilla Firefox browser the voice parts
come up in a single sound bar within the Firefox browser,
and work.
I was having trouble with
Internet Explorer 7.0 browser getting the sound, and have
now deleted that browser, as it was interfering with other
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When listening to
your files streaming on a Mac, Quicktime will play the full
file, and you cannot change the tempo, or tutti-singing part
balance. In order to play your files on a Mac with these
controls, do the following:
1. On the CyberBass website, click on the part desired holding
down the Option key. This will download the MIDI file to the
Mac desktop.
2. Drag this file
onto the iTunes window to import it into iTunes. It will show up
as a QuickTime movie file.
3. Set the iTunes/Preferences/advanced/importing to "MP3
Encoder."
4. Highlight the file in iTunes; in the menu bar go to
Advanced/Convert selection to MP3.
5. You will now have MP3 files that you can put into your iPod,
with
the tutti part in the left earphone and your singing part in
your
right earphone.
6. To play on your computer and control the tempo and
tutti-voice
part balance, drag and drop the desired file from the iTunes
window
into the Garage Band Program window (after you have opened it
and
selected new project). Then you can play your file, using the
balance and tempo controls in Garage Band.
7. If you want the full MIDI file, with all the separate parts
to
play with, just drag the downloaded MIDI file from your desktop
onto
the Garage Band window, instead of #2, above.
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12.
What do I do if MS Internet Explorer Refuses to Play Nice?
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For some reason,
unbeknownst to me, MS Internet Explorer refuses to play nice.
Often time you will get a blank screen and then nothing. I
don't know what is going on, but I find that if I access the
Internet through Mozilla Firefox, the problem goes away.
Firefox is an alternate Internet access program that dares
challenge Microsoft. You can download it for free by
clicking on the image below:
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