Dufada Music background pages

Dufada MIDI Files
General Background

This page has some additional information about the Site and files. I'm grateful to visitors who have called, as well as various Site owners using this music as background in their pages.

The Site The Site was started in March 1998 - by mid 2002 over 200,000 visitors had come this way, and Dufada music was well established for personal entertainment and on web pages world-wide. I tried to keep the pages fairly simple .. no banners and minimum distraction - unless you count that Irish flag that seems to fascinate so many people. (OK so things got a bit carried away on the Vicky page). Care has been taken to speed download times for some of the larger pages. Advanced HTML Optimiser streamlined page codes and JPEG Optimiser (worth its weight in gold) was used to reduce picture file sizes without visible loss of quality. These little tricks can halve the opening time for a web page without spoiling anything.
The MIDI Files MIDI files at the Site are original (the only exception being Kevin Barry, a traditional piece sequenced by request). Some files were part of a much earlier collection. After launch, site changes came thick and fast - even a readme file was sometimes overtaken, and was eventually abandoned. Originally, all MIDIs were also included in a single down loadable Zip file. In the end this had to be abandoned because of size. MIDI files now need to be individually downloaded Thankfully, like all MIDI files, most are not very large.
Irish
Music
To lots of people Ireland means Music. OK . Guinness ... then Music. For Ireland, despite a long history of arrogant oppression, survival of its trodden-on culture was never in any doubt. Take that history and culture, add some musical spirit, Celtic poetry, mysticism, a few other 'isms' (take your pick) plus a capacity for transforming sentiment to sound .... you're on your way to meeting up with much of Irish Traditional music.
The Music There's not a lot about Dufada Music that can claim to be traditional. It's not meant to, but if I've done the job well enough a few of those 'isms' might be lurking about. Some files took years from start to finish (with long gaps in between) ... sequencing by 'step entry' can be a slow and tedious affair. Other titles (Wedding Song, Gracie etc.) were more straightforward, using Evolution Professional Sound Studio. Even here they were worked on substantially using notation. The Tir Na Nog collection (pronounced 'cheer nanogue') is based on the Oisin ('osheen') legends known to every Irish schoolchild. (well .. they used to be :)
MP3
Dufada titles are available on CD, but not commercially. Some CD titles have been converted to MP3 and are located at i12.com. Aside from enhanced audio quality MP3 allows for many audio and Wave effects not possible with Midi. If you have a fast internet connection try one or two .. you might be surprised.
And.. Finally, another acknowledgement .... for the support from so many different quarters, including Guest Book entries. The numbers visiting the site has left me gratified and surprised. Beannacht Dé oraibh go léir.

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The Site	The Site was started in March 1998 - by mid 2002 over 200,000 visitors had come this way, and Dufada music was well established for personal entertainment and on web pages world-wide. I tried to keep the pages fairly simple .. no banners and minimum distraction - unless you count that Irish flag that seems to fascinate so many people. (OK so things got a bit carried away on the Vicky page). Care has been taken to speed download times for some of the larger pages. Advanced HTML Optimiser streamlined page codes and JPEG Optimiser (worth its weight in gold) was used to reduce picture file sizes without visible loss of quality. These little tricks can halve the opening time for a web page without spoiling anything.
The MIDI Files		MIDI files at the Site are original (the only exception being Kevin Barry, a traditional piece sequenced by request). Some files were part of a much earlier collection. After launch, site changes came thick and fast - even a readme file was sometimes overtaken, and was eventually abandoned. Originally, all MIDIs were also included in a single down loadable Zip file. In the end this had to be abandoned because of size. MIDI files now need to be individually downloaded Thankfully, like all MIDI files, most are not very large.
Irish Music	To lots of people Ireland means Music. OK . Guinness ... then Music. For Ireland, despite a long history of arrogant oppression, survival of its trodden-on culture was never in any doubt. Take that history and culture, add some musical spirit, Celtic poetry, mysticism, a few other 'isms' (take your pick) plus a capacity for transforming sentiment to sound .... you're on your way to meeting up with much of Irish Traditional music.
The Music		There's not a lot about Dufada Music that can claim to be traditional. It's not meant to, but if I've done the job well enough a few of those 'isms' might be lurking about. Some files took years from start to finish (with long gaps in between) ... sequencing by 'step entry' can be a slow and tedious affair. Other titles (Wedding Song, Gracie etc.) were more straightforward, using Evolution Professional Sound Studio. Even here they were worked on substantially using notation. The Tir Na Nog collection (pronounced 'cheer nanogue') is based on the Oisin ('osheen') legends known to every Irish schoolchild. (well .. they used to be :)
MP3	Dufada titles are available on CD, but not commercially. Some CD titles have been converted to MP3 and are located at i12.com. Aside from enhanced audio quality MP3 allows for many audio and Wave effects not possible with Midi. If you have a fast internet connection try one or two .. you might be surprised.
And..		Finally, another acknowledgement .... for the support from so many different quarters, including Guest Book entries. The numbers visiting the site has left me gratified and surprised. Beannacht Dé oraibh go léir.