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Solo Explorer FAQ

We suggest that you review this list before contacting us. The information you are seeking might be found below.

Questions about Solo Explorer

Questions about ordering

Questions about using Solo Explorer

Troubleshooting

Questions about Solo Explorer

What is Solo Explorer?     

Solo Explorer is a wav to MIDI conversion, automatic music transcription (music recognition), and score editing software for Windows.

What does Solo Explorer do?     

Solo Explorer can analyze and convert monophonic wav files to MIDI files. Solo Explorer enables you to display, play, edit, and save music score extracted from your wav files. Solo Explorer supports both pre-recorded Windows PCM wav files and built-in direct audio recording. Solo Explorer has simple and easy-to-use interface.

What does Solo Explorer not do?     

Solo Explorer cannot analyze and convert polyphonic wav files (except for unison performances). It cannot extract and convert individual voices or instruments contained in a polyphonic wav file. Solo Explorer cannot be used as a real time MIDI controller.

What instruments does Solo Explorer recognize?     

Solo Explorer recognizes all instruments except for non-pitched instruments such as Drums, Triangles, Tambourines, Bells, Shakers and Rhythm Sticks. Solo Explorer is optimized for voice input.

How does Solo Explorer work?     

Solo Explorer incorporates state-of-the art wav to MIDI conversion engine based on advanced digital signal processing and artificial intelligence techniques. Instead of simply registering the sounds that were actually performed it attempts to guess the intentions of the performer. This approach helps in transcribing highly mistuned performances.

How accurate is Solo Explorer?     

Solo Explorer is not able to get completely error-free performance on natural, unrestricted singing or playing as none of the wav to MIDI conversion software gets. Nevertheless, Solo Explorer should obtain decent performance. The transcription accuracy achieved by Solo Explorer 1.0 is estimated to be as follows:

Solo Explorer v1.0
Pitch extraction (octave) error, % 0.33
Split notes, % 4.60
Missed notes, % 18.50
Rhythm recognition error, % 25.70
Tone recognition error, % 6.60

The time resolution achieved by Solo Explorer is as high as 10 ms. Frequency resolution has no theoretical limits and is largely better than 2-5 cents that is the reported sensitivity of human ear.

How fast is Solo Explorer?     

Though Solo Explorer is not a real-time wav to MIDI converter, it achieves average recognition speeds better than 10% of the real-time audio speed (Pentium III 900 MHz).

Is there a Mac version of Solo Explorer?     

No. Solo Explorer requires Microsoft Windows. We do not offer a Mac version. However, Solo Explorer has been confirmed to work with the Virtual PC products on a Mac.

Does Solo Explorer run on Windows 98? Windows XP?     

Yes. Solo Explorer will run on any Microsoft operating system from Windows 98 all the way to Windows 2000 and XP.

What are the system requirements for Solo Explorer?     

Solo Explorer was designed and written to run on most home computers. This means that if you use Windows 98 or newer, and your computer is less than 5 years old, it should work just fine.

Here are the detailed requirements:

  • Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/XP
  • Pentium II/300 MHz processor or compatible
  • 64 MB RAM
  • 4 MB free hard disk space for temporary files
  • SVGA or higher resolution monitor (600x800, 256 color)
  • Mouse or other pointing device
  • Sound card, Multimedia

Can Solo Explorer batch process multiple files?     

Yes. Solo Explorer can process multiple wav files in a single step. To be able to batch process multiple files in MS-DOS mode you will need Solo Explorer DLL, see the next answer for more information.

Can we use your wav to MIDI technology inside our software?     

Yes. We have Solo Explorer available as a DLL library. If you would like to find out more about licensing our wav to MIDI technology, please contact us at info@recognisoft.com. When you contact us, please provide us some information about your company, your background, your interest in our technology, and how you intend to commercialize the technology so that we can facilitate the licensing process.

Questions about ordering

How much does Solo Explorer cost?     

Solo Explorer costs 69 USD or 69 EUR

How is Solo Explorer delivered?     

Upon receipt of your registration fee with the completed registration form you will immediately receive a link to download your software.

Will I get free updates and patches?     

Yes. If you purchase Solo Explorer, we will notify you whenever we release an update or a patch. Therefore you can always have the latest version* of Solo Explorer.

Free updates and patches are only available within your major version and the next major version. For example, if you have purchased Solo Explorer 1.0, you will get every Solo Explorer version starting with "1" and "2" for free, such as 1.4 or 2.3. We will also provide a discount for all future major releases.

Is my credit card payment secure?     

Yes. Your Online Order will be processed by one of our authorized resellers, ShareIt or RegNow. Shareit and Regnow offer secure order forms. The secure order forms use industry-standard SSL encryption, so all of your personal information is encrypted throughout the ordering process and you can feel safe using your credit card without risk.

Do you accept payments in cash?     

Yes. You can send ShareIt cash by mail. You will receive an email with the link to download your software as soon as your payment is received.

Can I transfer you the money through the Western Union Bank?     

No. Unfortunately, we do not accept Western Union Bank transfers.

What about my personal information?     

We value your business and respect your privacy. We will use your personal information simply to fill and ship your order. We will never trade or give away any information about you to any other party.

Questions about using Solo Explorer

Does Solo Explorer transcribe the MIDI file into the same key as the wave file?     

Solo Explorer chooses the key so as to minimize the number of accidentals in the staff. Right clicking on it in the Score display can easily modify the key.

Can Solo Explorer transpose a piece of music into a different key?     

Yes. Solo Explorer can transpose treble and bass partitions to and from any musical key. You simply tell it what you want the new key to be. It will add sharps and flats as needed.

Can I insert time signature and bars into my score?     

No. This feature is not yet supported.

Do I need additional software to print the music score?     

Yes. Solo Explorer 1.0 cannot yet send the music score directly to the printer. Nevertheless, MIDI files produced by Solo Explorer can be imported to almost any music notation/sequencing software such as Finale and Cakewalk.

Can I extract music from the CD-ROM right to Solo Explorer?     

No. This feature is not yet supported.

What is the best MIDI mode?     

You can use Solo Explorer in Exact, Real-time and Quantized MIDI modes. What is the best mode for you depends on your particular needs. Exact MIDI mode gives you the closest possible approximation of a pitch track using pitch bend MIDI events. Real-length and Quantized MIDI modes do not use pitch bend MIDI events. Real-length MIDI mode makes note durations to be equal to the difference of their onset times. Quantized MIDI mode makes note durations correspond to their rhythmic values.

What audio formats does Solo Explorer support?     

Solo Explorer currently supports Windows PCM wav files: mono and stereo channels, all sampling rates, 8-bit and 16-bit sample width.

What are the limitations of the demo version of Solo Explorer?     

The Demo version of Solo Explorer is a fully functional application with the following 2 exceptions:

- The demo version won't let you to export MIDI files.
- The demo version will limit MIDI playback to the first 15 seconds.

What are TeX files?     

TeX files are MusixTeX files. MusixTeX is a set of macros and fonts that enables TeX to typeset music. You can find it at:
http://icking-music-archive.sunsite.dk/software/indexmt6.html

You must have TeX installed before you can use MusixTeX. To learn about TeX, you can look at:
http://www.tug.org/begin.html

Troubleshooting

Why the "About" dialog tells me my certificate is temporary, if I have made the purchase?     

That's perfectly normal. Temporary certificate is temporary just in the sense that you still haven't received your personal certificate (made on your name) from us. You will receive your personal certificate before the expiration of the temporary one. Your license is permanent and will not expire.

What does it mean when I get this message when I try to install the certificate: "This is an invalid security certificate file."     

You are probably trying to install a new certificate by double-clicking on it. You should simply copy the certificate file into the installation directory of Solo Explorer. Overwrite old certificate, if asked.

I received a "certificate expired" message. I have made the purchase. What is this?     

You have probably forgotten to update your certificate or the update procedure has failed. Please report your problem to support@recognisoft.com.

What does it mean when I receive the message "Failure. Polyphony detected"?     

Solo Explorer cannot convert polyphonic wav files into MIDI files (except for unison performances). The message "Failure. Polyphony detected" indicates that the audio file you are trying to convert probably contains a polyphonic mixture of sounds. The same message may be displayed if you try to convert a monophonic but very noisy or reverberant audio file. If your WAV file is really monophonic, please send it to us. We will try to examine and correct the problem.

I received an error message. What should I do?     

Please report your problem to support@recognisoft.com. When you report a technical problem, please include the detailed description of it. If possible, provide us with reproducible sequence of steps leading to the problem. Do not hesitate to send us your wav files that caused the problem.

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     Copyright © 2002 Gailius Raskinis. All rights reserved.