Introduction, entering musical notes and instrument changes

[Isegrimm]

Hello ...

First, a brief introduction:

I am a complete beginner when it comes to music programs, including LMMS. I am 63 years old, from germany, have been working with computers for 40 years, am a committed Linux user, and primarily work in the field of programming, photography and graphics.

I am currently busy working my way through all the tutorials on this and acquiring the relevant knowledge.

Since I am at loggerheads with musical notation, I started with a fairly simple song (the piano intro from “Tubular Bells”).

My approach to this was relatively simple:

I obtained a chart of octave ranges and converted all notes into their corresponding values (a 1/4, d' 1/2, etc.) and entered them into the ‘Piano Roll Editor’. The result was already ‘presentable’.

My first question:
Is there a way for non-musicians who are not very familiar with musical notes to do this more comfortably?

My second question:
Can I change the instrument, i.e., the sound file, in the Piano Roll Editor? In other words, if I have entered a sample with a piano, can I play it back with a guitar?

[musikbear]

Hello ...

First, a brief introduction:

Hi, Welcome to the Forum Isegrimm !
Here are all important links:
http://lmms.io/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4740
-A few rules and useful forum instructions
If you like to introduce yourself, to the community, go here:
http://lmms.io/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4480

I am a complete beginner

As new to LMMS and maybe also to DAWs in general(?) perhaps my video Rookie-guide can be useful for you. Link in my signature!

I obtained a chart of octave ranges and converted all notes into their corresponding values (a 1/4, d' 1/2, etc.) and entered them into the ‘Piano Roll Editor’.
My first question:
Is there a way for non-musicians who are not very familiar with musical notes to do this more comfortably?

Yes. The absolutely simplest way is to find and use a midi-file with the the midi-information. Some are free, others you need to pay for, and some are a virus..! Use your fingerspitzgefühl : )

My second question:
Can I change the instrument, i.e., the sound file, in the Piano Roll Editor?

Yes! The instrument is called a preset. You can exchange presets in song-editor in many ways:
1) Change the bank of the preset
Many instruments especially VSTs has internal banks of presets, and that can be selected from a dropdown in the instrument.
2) Change the LMMS preset
In the sidebar you have a list over both factory and your own saved presets: My-presets!
The safest way to exchange presets in that list is to right-click in the list, and the select "Send to open preset". The preset you right-clicked will replace the one that had focus in song-editor. Be careful! You cant roll that back, so any settings in the opened preset will be irreversible overwritten!
3) Insert a factory-Instrument as new base.
Also in sidebar you find My-Instruments. You can drag one of of those, or any VST into a preset. That will completely and irreversible replace everything!
In Rookie-guide, you can see this in video

..Then we have...

primarily work in the field of programming, photography and graphics.

LMMS are always looking for new coders!
Are you strong in c++17 and qT-UI coding? -Just asking : D
If you feel that it could be interesting, then let us know!