MIDIMIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) - .MID.What is it - instruction set for a keyboard or plug-in. Encoder - MIDI sequencer that can save a Standard MIDI file using the General MIDI specification. For playback, get the Beatnik plug-in. MIDI is like a player piano roll - MIDI is a set of instructions that tells a keyboard or a plug-in to play a sequence of musical notes on up to 16 instruments at a time. This is similar to a player piano roll, that 'tells' the piano to play certain notes for a specified amount of time. As the holes in the piano roll glide over the reader, the piano notes are depressed and released. How does a sequencer work - A sequencer is a piece of computer software used to create a MIDI file. The sequencer is set to record with a metronome (click track). A keyboard player plays the song on a keyboard along with the metronome. The sequencer records which keys were depressed and released in relation to the metronome. It can also record the sustain pedal, the modulation wheel and the pitch bend wheel. It does NOT record the actual sound coming from the keyboard. Patches and instruments - The sequencer then plays the song back by 'telling' the keyboard which notes to play and when. Unlike the player piano, 16 different tracks can play at the same time. On each different track, different instruments can be played. For example, one track will have the piano part, another the bass, another the flute, and another the drums. At the beginning of the sequence a 'patch' instruction is sent on each track specifying which instrument should be used for that track. General MIDI - The 'General MIDI' specification is used to determine which instrument corresponds to which patch number. There are 128 different patches that correspond to 128 different instruments: from pianos to banjos to string sections. Drums are a special case. Instead of having a different instrument for each drum or cymbal, one patch, number 128, has a different drum assigned to each key on the keyboard. An experienced keyboard player can play the keys to sound like a drummer. SMF Exporting - Once the sequence is finished it must be saved as a General MIDI, Standard MIDI File. That means that the General MIDI specification was used to determine the patches and other MIDI instructions. The file is saved in format compatible to Macs and PCs. This will create the .MID file. Small but variable fidelity - The files are extremely small because it is only made up of simple on/off instructions for a keyboard and not any audio. The major drawback is that every web surfer's player is different. The piano sound on one person's machine can sound vastly different than the piano sound of another's. As the sequence becomes more complex, more variables affect the quality of the sound. Just because your piano sonata sounds terrific on your browser plug-in, on someone else's cheezy AOL player it might sound very synthetic. MIDI is very important because it is the basis for Beatnik pros - Smallest possible sound files that can load almost instantaneously. - MIDI files can be found for free and purchased online. cons - Audio quality depends solely on listener's player. - External MIDI player plug-in needed to play file. - Interactive possibilities are limited and are better with Beatnik. - Copyright and other information is not always saved with MIDI file. - No copyright protection. File can be copied and altered. Close Window |