SavoyNet 2004

Hi everyone

I'm pleased to announce that the Pirates MIDI files (chorus and soloists) are now available for distribution to the group. The files are in very similar format to the files I have done in the past. They have my tempi, but they shouldn't be too different from what will happen in Buxton.

Some of what follows may seem like "MIDI for Beginners" for those who are familiar with the format, but I realise that some in our group may not be familiar with MIDI, or with what we did for previous productions, so I'll start from basics.

Each individual musical number has been done in three different ways for each voice, that is, a) piano and voice, b) piano and every *other* voice, and c) piano only. The voices sound as a clarinet for the ladies' voices, and as a bassoon for the gentlemen's voices. Along with the MIDI files comes a file called "pirread.txt", which explains how I've named the files, and how to use them. Please take time to read this file. The naming system may look somewhat strange, but it's designed to give each file a unique file-name, so that they can't be mixed up.

TO GET THE FILES

Please send me an e-mail ( david@musicalsolutions.com ), saying what voice you'd like (ie., 1st soprano, 2nd soprano, etc.), and whether you have a PC or a MAC (this is important). I'll send you the files as an e-mail attachment. If you can remember, please include the words "pirates" and "midi" in the subject line - that will help me a lot. The size of the file you'll get will be between 260k and 340k.

If anything which follows is too technical for anyone, then the mistake is mine, and you should ask me for clarification, which I'll be pleased to give.

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FOR PC USERS

Please let me know if you want an "ordinary" .zip file (that is, you have unzipping software like PK-ZIP, for example). Otherwise the attachment you'll get will be a "self-extracting zip-file". This will have a name like "pirs1.exe" (if you're a 1st Soprano), or "pirb2.exe" (if you're a 2nd Bass). You should "run" the file, and it will then "extract" each individual practice file, together with the "pirread.txt" file. Read the "pirread.txt" file, and let me know if you need any other help in getting the files to play correctly.
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FOR MAC USERS

The attachment you'll get will be a .sit file. This will have a name like "pirs1.sit" (if you're a 1st Soprano), or "pirb2.sit" (if you're a 2nd Bass). You will need to "Un-Stuff" the file.
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If any of you can't accept attachments (one or two mail programs can't, and some of you who are subscribed from the workplace may have difficulties), let me know, and I'll set up a web-page, from where you can download the file. In extremis (oo-er !), I can send you the files on a 3.5" floppy disk, in which case I'll need your snail-mail address.

If any of you have *genuine* difficulty using MIDI (that is, you have no MIDI capability), then I can put the files onto CD, but I'd prefer *not* to have to do that, as it is quite time-consuming - but let me know if you need it.

All the best

David Cookson