The recent development of the MIDI standard is designed to enable you to transfer your sequences from one sequencer to another. Anthony Widoff files a report.
You've heard about them, read about them and now you need to know about them. Welcome
The recent development of the MIDI standard is designed to enable you to transfer your sequences from one sequencer to another. Anthony Widoff files a report.
You've heard about them, read about them and now you need to know about them. Welcome to the wonderful world of MIDI files.
WHEN MIDI FILES were first introduced in 1986, the idea had originated in one American company - Opcode Systems. What followed qualifies as a minor miracle: not only did a large number of software manufacturers across several computer boundaries contribute to their growth, they went out on a limb and supported pre-"official" versions of the standard knowing that they would have to update their software as changes were made. Thanks to the selfless work and dedication of Opcode "MIDIphile" Dave Oppenheim and those companies, we now have an MMA approved MIDI File.
Today, almost all Macintosh music software supports MIDI Files, and other machines, such as the Atari, the Amiga, and even the IBM, are joining the MIDI File conga line.
ALTHOUGH THE CONCEPT had been explored in the past, it wasn't until the advent of MIDI that we saw so many featureless black boxes. MIDI has made it easy to separate the musical controller from sound generator(s). Today, not only can keyboardists draw on a vast library of new (and old) sounds, but guitarists, wind players, drummers, and percussionists may play with a virtually identical sound palette. One team of designers worries day and night about how to make its controller more responsive; while another is concerned with improving its sound generation algorithms, and never (well, rarely) the twain shall meet. They don't have to. They know how to talk to each other through MIDI. In addition, entirely new devices, such as MIDI processors, have entered the arena, treating new instrument performance possibilities.
As for computer compatibility, the Macintosh has long had a standard format for text and graphics ("text" and "PICT" formats). You can take text from a word processing program and embed it into graphics using your desktop publishing program
Now music software is moving towards a similar degree of flexibility. The few brave souls who have attempted to design sequencer packages with sophisticated editing facilities, comprehensive notation capabilities and a universal patch librarian have learned the hard way that no one program can do everything. The MIDI File format offers a viable alternative.
JUST AS YOU don't have to know all about MIDI to use it, you don't really need to know all about MIDI Files to benefit from them. If you really want to know about MIDI Files you can get it direct from the IMA (International MIDI Assoc. 5316 West 57th St, Los Angeles, CA 90056, USA). As a digestible alternative, here's a simple explanation.
Essentially, a MIDI File is a sequence that has been translated into a linear, multitrack datafile that can be understood by different MIDI programs. The MIDI file spec currently supports all MIDI events (notes, controllers and so on).
There is also a provision for SysEx events and various types of "meta-events" (these include tempo, time signature, key signature markers, cue points, SMPTE offset, sequence/track/instrument names, copyright notice, lyrics, and so on). Many programs stick to basic MIDI events because that's all you really need. If your MIDI File contains time signature information but your sequencer ignores that information, it will still read all the musical data. The same is true when sending information the other way: if a program can read a time signature meta-event, but doesn't see one in the MIDI File, it will still accept the data it understands.
The data is broken up into "chunks". Typically, one track of information is one "chunk." Tempo information for a piece is saved as its own chunk (in fact, the first one in a MIDI file). Devices that have to exchange clocking information (such as SMPTE-to-MIDI converters and "hit point" programs) share timing information by sending a MIDI File around containing just this chunk. In general, any program can use or ignore any chunk or meta event it so chooses (like receiving MIDI itself).
There is a Macintosh program called Tab Converter which is very useful for understanding and manipulating basic MIDI Files. Tab Converter converts any Format 0 MIDI File (the simplest and most common kind) into a text file allowing you to view it as standard text in any word processing program. Tab Converter also allows you to change a text file into a MIDI File providing it follows the correct format. Tab Converter is free, available on PAN (Performing Arts Network) and is application No. 82 in the Mac Applications area of the Synth and MIDI Database.
For example, here in Tab Converter format, are the first six notes of a famous piece of music. Note this is Tab Converter format and not MIDI File format, MIDI Files are expressed differently, especially when it comes to timing. For example, in a MIDI File