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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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Please note that the explanation below applies to Windows XP.
Unfortunately, later versions of Windows to not give you the capability to
shift the balance on the mixer. You must access balance functions on the
software that controls your sound card.
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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Please note that the explanation below applies to Windows XP.
Unfortunately, later versions of Windows to not give you the capability to
shift the balance on the mixer. You must access balance functions on the
software that controls your sound card.
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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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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8.
What do I do if MS Internet Explorer Refuses to Play Nice? |
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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9
Why does My CD Fail to Play? |
I have
successfully produced hundreds of learning CDs, but occasionally
a CyberBass customer will be unsuccessful in getting a CD to
play properly. Here are some reasons that a CD might no play.
(1) The CDs are
recorded in a format called CDR. This format is compatible to
most CD players manufactured after about 2000. Prior to
that time it the format had not yet gained enough prominence to
have compatibility packages built into the players.
(2) I use CD labels to title my CD rather than printing directly
onto the CD. Some CD players might be sensitive to this,
though this is usually not the case.
(3) Errors may have been introduced in the burning process. I
burn each CD upon receiving an order so that the latest changes
or corrections are incorporated into each CD.
(4) The CDs may have been damaged in shipment. This usually
does not happen. Do you notice any cracks, or smudges on the
playing surface.
If you can not get the new CD to work, return it to CyberBass,
and I will issue a full refund.
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10.
How do I make the Embedded
Midi Player Work? |
I have tested the
learning pages on numerous machines and operating systems. Unfortunately
I do not have all of the answers. If I do not address the
issue here, please get help from a computer savvy friend. I
would love to hear how you solved your problem so that I can
include it here as a possible solution.
If the website is still not functioning , please email
The CyberBass. In your email, please include the
following information:
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Your operating
system (i.e. MAC or PC)?
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If PC are you
running Windows XP or Windows Vista (or some other version of
windows)?
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What internet
browser are you using (i.e. Internet Explorer 7, IE 8,
Firefox, Opera, Safari, Chrome)?
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In the space
above the Movement/Vocal Part line, what exactly are you
seeing?
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Are you getting
any error messages?
The CyberBass
Project is incorporating embedded MIDI players in its learning
pages. As the bugs are worked out, this convention for other pages.
MAC users
will see a QuickTime playback bar. Windows users should
see the player below appear.
The controls are fairly simple. There
is a play and pause button and a slider bar that lets you rewind and fast
forward the track. Click on
Player Controls
for an explanation of the
Speed
and
Balance
entries.
If you are using
Firefox,
Opera,
Chrome,
or
Safari you will need an MS Media Player plugin to use these files. Click on one of the links below
to download this plugin:
Download Plugin for
Firefox
Download Plugin for Opera,
Chrome, and Safari
(Same as Firefox)
If
the player still does not work, follow the directions above and
ensure that your active scripting setting is enabled.
Another possible fix for
Chrome
provided by a fellow CyberBass user:
I have reported before that when
I use Google Chrome I cannot open your music player, but
now I found out if used the tool option and switch to
“new incognito window” I can use your music player. I
think that this will help you in your future trouble
shooting.
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Here is another issue:
The VLC video player will prevent CyberBass from
functioning. There are two possible solutions:
(1) Deactivate VLC, or (2) use Internet Explorer.
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If you are using
Internet Explorer
you might be having one of two possible issues:
1. If
the above image does not appear, you may have to enable the
active scripting setting in your browser options. To to
so, click on
Tools
in the top menu bar.
On the drop down menu click
Internet Options.
On the Internet Options window, click on the
Security
tab, and click the
Custom Level
button. Scroll down to
Active Scripting
and ensure that
Enable
is selected. This procedure may vary slightly on other browsers.
2. If
everything appears to be right (i.e. the image player image
does appear, but no sound), try the following:
a. Go to
Control Panel
b. Select
Sounds and Audio Devices.
c. Under the
Audio
tab there is a section
MIDI music playback,
with a Default device dropdown box.
d. Select
Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth
from the list and now it works!
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11.
Why am I Getting a Blank Page? |
Getting a blank page? Here is a suggested fix by one
CyberBass user
Open Internet
Explorer>Tools>Options>Security>Trusted Sites. Copy and Paste
www.cyberbass.com into the Site. Will probably need to
un-check the box there that says something about Requires
Secure website. since your site is not secure (https://).
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12. Can CyberBass Files
be Downloaded? |
CyberBass is a free online resource. The files themselves
can not be downloaded to your computer.
Audio CDs are available for most CyberBass presentations of the
major works for a nominal price. Price includes tax and
shipping.
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13. Problems Running
CyberBass Files when Using Internet Explorer and Vista? |
If you are running
Vista with Internet Explorer 8, but can't get the embedded
midi player to work, here is a work around ...
I have not been able to figure
out the Vista/IE8 problem, because CyberBass runs on every
Vista machine that I test. Until I can nail this down
I have been advising Vista users to run CyberBass in a web
browser call Fire Fox. You can download Fire Fox at:
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/
Then enter CyberBass via Fire
Fox.
I know this is not optimal, but
this is the best that I can do for now.
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14. Why does Itunes Retrieves the Wrong Track Names when I Insert my
Choral Learning CD? |
This
has been a issue that many have recently experienced.
Unfortunately, Itunes does not retrieve track names from the
CDs themselves, but rather from a database at that is
locacted at
www.gracenote.com . Though I upload track names to
the database, Gracenote does not recognized the difference
between my soprano, alto, tenor, and bass CDs.
Consequently it retrieves track names for the first choral
part
that it encounters for that particular CD.
Apple offers some tips on how to manually correct the track
names at:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TA24677?viewlocale=en_US .
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