BeatnikBeatnik - (Rich Media Format) - .RMF.What is it - MID files combined with Compressed audio. Encoder - the Beatnik Editor 2.0 and the player plug in can be found at www.beatnik.com. Input - .AIF, .SD, .WAV and .MID files that are used by the Beatnik Editor to create an .RMF file. MIDI and Audio possible - Beatnik mixes the small instruction set of a MIDI file with the sonic quality of an MP3 file. A Beatnik (RMF) file can be anything from a 30-second CD quality audio file to a MIDI file. An in-between approach would have a few drums loops and a few samples being triggered by MIDI instructions. Two great features with Beatnik - RMF files must be played by the Beatnik plug-in. The plug-in has two very extremely important features. First, it contains a precise set of the 128 General MIDI instruments. That means that no matter what machine the surfer is using, the same set of instruments will be used ensuring the audio quality of your sound file. Second, it accepts a set of audio files that the song will trigger as it is being played. Mix a live loop with MIDI - For example, instead of encoding the entire song as an MP3, just the first couple of seconds of a drums are encoded. MIDI events are used to play that drum "loop" every measure. The bass, piano, and percussion is then played by the MIDI instruments. Because only two seconds of audio was encoded along with a few MIDI instructions, the RMF file is extremely small. The audio quality is much better than a straight MIDI file because the fidelity of the Beatnik player is excellent and the "live" drums are playing throughout. Connect a sequencer to the Beatnik Editor - To effectively create an RMF file, a software MIDI sequencer should work in conjunction with the Beatnik Editor. Modern sequencers include audio playback along with MIDI instructions. The sequencer plays the MIDI instruments in the Beatnik Editor as well as audio files. Once the keyboard parts and audio files have been recorded, the programmer creates MIDI instructions that determine the volumes, the patches (instruments), and at what points the audio files are heard. Export the files to the Editor and encode - once your happy with the piece on the sequencer it must be exported to the Beatnik Editor. The MIDI files as well as the audio parts are saved as SMFs and .AIF/.WAV files respectively. The Beatnik Editor then imports the MIDI and audio files. Since most of the work is done in the sequencer, the only job left is encoding and encryption. The audio files can be compressed into the MP3 format. Copyright information as well as the audio and MIDI files are encoded into an RMF file. This file cannot be unencrypted. This protects all of the various parts of the music from copyright infringement. Interactivity - Much of Beatnik's power lies in it's interactive capabilities. It's a good tool for managing sound from different sources. Because it controls how MIDI instructions and audio are mixed, the means for controlling and prioritizing the different sound sources are at your hands. Simple sounds can be attached to mouse overs. Or complex songs can be delivered to the surfer who can then change the volume, stereo placement, or sound quality of each instrument. RMF files can also be integrated with Flash. The next page has a great example of how the surfer can control a Beatnik file. pros - Good balance between small file size and good sound quality. - Allows you to store title, author, copyright, description and keywords with the sound file. - Encryption of all components of the piece. - Can be integrated with Flash. cons - Beatnik player needed to play file. - Requires complex programming. - Not all web surfers have the Beatnik plug-in. Close Window |