The Import Midi Options window appears when you press the Options button in the Destination Tracks step of the Import Midi process.

It displays and allows you to update the options used for importing Midi file events into the work sheet on that page.

Reasonable default values are used the first time, but depending on the file you are importing, you may wish to make adjustments to achieve better import results.

Controls

Origin Tick

Specifies the tick location in the source tracks which is considered to the be start of the song.  By default it is set to zero, which is the very start of the source tracks.

However, if the source track events do not align properly with the bar structure in the work sheet, you may need to adjust the location of the events.  A negative Origin Tick will shift events to the right within the bar structure, and a positive value will shift them to the left.

There can be a maximum leftward shift of 1 Qtn (quarter note) and a maximum rightward shift of 4 Qtn.  The equivalent number of ticks depends on the Tpq setting of the Midi file, as displayed in the Source Tracks step.

Ticks Per Qtn

Allows you to specify the Ticks Per Qtn value to use for the imported song, regardless of the timing resolution of the original Midi file.

You can select any of the Tpq values that Songtrix supports (from 24 to 960) from this drop-down list.  The initial value is the Tpq of the original Midi file (or the closest supported value to it).

Whatever value you select here does not affect the Origin Tick setting above it, which is always specified in terms of the original Midi file ticks.  The rescaling operation happens after any origin shift.

Master Volume

Specifies which Midi controllers are used to implement Master Volume in the Midi file.  Songtrix tries to automatically detect this, and the default selection is usually correct, but it may need to be overridden.

Sys Ex - the file uses the Master Volume system exclusive message

Expression - the file uses the Expression controller on each track

Chan Volume - the file uses the Channel Volume controller on each track

Combine Drums

Specifies that multiple percussion source tracks are to be combined into a single drums source track before destinations are allocated.

This is usually what you want.  Some Midi files split the percussion part into many tracks, which is unnecessarily tedious to allocate to destinations, since all percussion must end up in the Drums track anyway.

Pickup Length

Specifies whether a pickup section is present in the Midi file.  This would be indicated by a bar or two of empty, or lightly populated space before the main events begin in the source tracks.

Voice Bank

Specifies whether Songtrix should Ignore or Preserve the Voice Bank controllers in the source tracks.  Usually the presence of Voice Bank events means the Midi file has been designed for a specific synthesizer that you probably don't have, and this may cause the tracks to use unexpected voices on your system.

If you remove the Voice Bank controllers, your song will use the General Midi voice set, which is more likely to give reasonable results.

Event Controls

The import process is capable of absorbing Pitch Bend, Modulation Wheel, and Sustain events into the advanced melody and rhythm events that are based on them.

Usually you want to Preserve these controllers for best performance realism, but if the results are erratic, you can Ignore them instead, so only basic note and chord events will be created in the destination tracks.

Update

Closes the window, returns to the Destination Tracks step, and executes the import operation again using the updated options.

They can be adjusted as many times as necessary to achieve a satisfactory result.

Cancel

Returns to the Destination Tracks step without changing the options or executing the import operation again.

Help

Opens Songtrix Help at this topic.