Bomi proudly presents  ,-) :

      The official MIDI FAQ by C.C. !!!


I've searched a long time to find some additional info to complete my humble attempts of giving some answers to the most common questions on this pages. Now here it is: The official MIDI FAQ of alt.music.midi maintained by C.C.! What´s the story? Well, not that exciting - we got in touch by email due to some a.b.s.m. postings i did, C.C. told me about his FAQ, we decided to do some team work - here are the results. Even if this FAQ is for alt.music.midi, it also applies to a.b.s.m ´cause there are many similarities. If you have any comments, suggestions or contributions feel free to contact C.C. or me .


How to use this HTML version of the FAQ:

Note: Clicking on any link in this document will always open a new window (if your browser supports this feature) - this prevents you from getting lost in too much frames...


Please note: This HTML version of the a.m.m FAQ is always under construction!

GENERAL INFO & FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Posted in alt.music.midi twice a week.

Last updated: 18 April 1999

Compiled and Maintained by C.C.

Please read section 4.3
before using (parts of) this document.


CONTENTS


0. PREFACE

0.1 FAQ update notes

This document is last updated: 18 April 1999

Changes:
- Some textual adjustments all over the document ;-),
- Split up 2.01 and changed the second part,
- Added to answer 2.09 : AKoff Music Composer http://akoff.hypermart.net/

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0.2 Tips to read this document

To keep this document as small as possible, it's made as a pure text- file. It is based on a font with equal spacing, so it's best viewed with the font 'Courier New, size 10'. You can download this document as a ZIPed 'plain text' and read it off-line. To do so click here ...

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0.3 Notes for Newbies

If you are completely new to Usenet News, please read the messages in

     http://www.netannounce.org/news.announce.newusers/

before posting to newsgroups or mailing to people. Specially look for A Primer on How to Work With the Usenet Community and Rules for posting to Usenet !!!

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0.4 Boring Disclaimer ;-)

This document is provided as is, without any express or implied warranties. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this document, the maintainer assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

In other words: if something goes wrong at your end, don't look at me, okay!!

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0.5 Commercial Advertising

This newsgroup is NOT the right medium for commercial advertisements. If you're in the MIDI business and you can't control yourself, go see a shrink. If he advises you to put an ad in this newsgroup anyway, because it fits in his therapy to get a grip on your compulsive behaviour, then keep it short. Just a few lines of text and mentioning your URL or address, will do. (Your shrink will be notified though ;-).

If you can not explain the relation your business has to MIDI or if your business has no relation to MIDI at all, you do not want to post messages in this group, period!

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0.6 Your personal second hand gear for sale

As a private person you can put your used (second-hand) MIDI stuff up for sale. Make sure though, that the subject title starts with 'FS:' and then specify what you have For Sale, to let people know what the content of your message is. This way subscribers, who are not interested in buying this gear can skip the message.

Keep your desciption short and to the point and DON'T add pictures. This is NOT a binaries newsgroup and people who are really interested don't need 'm. They will know what you're talking about and you can always send them a picture by E-mail. Also make sure to leave an E-mail address somehow. Other subscribers will normally not appreciate private negociations in the newsgroup.

Do not advertise equipment, that has nothing to do with MIDI. There are special newsgroups for all the other stuff. One of them is:

           rec.music.makers.marketplace

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0.7 Important E-mail notice

All E-mail addresses included in this document will be in the format as described here to wrong-foot the spam-bots. The third character of the address will be taken out and will be mentioned behind the address like in the following example. This way the address will seem legit, but when picked up by the spam-bots it's useless for the spammer(s).

Example: kes.velden@wxs.nl (insert 'e' to read kees)

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1. GENERAL INFORMATIONS

1.1 The newsgroup


1.1.01 ALT.MUSIC.MIDI

A forum for MIDI enthusiasts to exchange INFORMATION concerning MIDI.

The capitalized words tell you exactly what this newsgroup is all about. It's about sharing information and this information should relate in some way to MIDI. The main purpose is, that we learn from each other by sharing knowledge. That will give everyone the potential for enjoying MIDI to the fullest, regardless of the hardware and software being used.

1.1.02 IMPORTANT, NO MIDI files!

Alt.music.midi is NOT a binaries newsgroup! So DON'T POST MIDI files in this newsgroup (nor MOD files, MP3 files, WAVE files, picture files or other binary files), because uploading and/or downloading BINARY files is not the intention of this group. There are special newsgroups for binary files, which you will find in the alt.binaries.*** - region. (see also 1.2)

Because this newsgroup isn't a binaries group, it doesn't make much sense to request MIDI files here, although it is strictly speaking not wrong. The problem however is, that there might be someone who will comply and post a MIDI file ..... and THAT IS wrong.

If you're looking for one or more MIDI files then visit: ALT.BINARIES.SOUNDS.MIDI

It's THE special newsgroup for MIDI files and you'll be able to obtain all the MIDI files that exist through that newsgroup.

> Subscribers of alt.music.midi are asked to NOT
> comply IN the newsgroup to a MIDI file request.
> If a newbie 'accidently' does request a MIDI file in this
> newsgroup, refer to this document or politely tell him/her that
> alt.binaries.sounds.midi is a much beter place to search.

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1.2 Other newsgroups


1.2.01 Newsgroups that may be of interest to you

MIDI newsgroups:

MOD newsgroups:

MP3 newsgroups:

Miscellaneous:

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1.2.02 Unable to reach the other newsgroups?

Some people are unable to reach the alt.binaries.*** newsgroups. There are only two possibilities.

  1. You did not search well or did not type the name right. But that's not likely.
    You can not be so 'dumb', right ;-)
  2. Your provider (ISP) does not support these newsgroups. Check with your ISP
    anyway (by phone or e-mail) just to make sure.

There are ISPs, that do not support the alt.binaries newsgroups. The reason is, that alt.binaries groups are specifically meant for binary files, such as .mid files, .wav files, .mp3 files, .jpg files, .bmp files, etc. What worries some ISPs, are the picture files, such as .jpg, .mpg, .gif, that can potentially contain (and often do) explicit sexual and pornographic images. There are tons of newsgroups like alt.binaries.pictures.***, that have very explicit sex in just about all forms. Your ISP may be censoring these the easy way, namely by shutting off ALL alt.binaries newsgroups.

There is a remote possibility, that your ISP just doesn't have enough disk space and binary files do take a lot of space. This however is only a theoretical possibility, because normally when there is a disk space 'problem', the ISP simply allows messages to remain on the server for a shorter period of time before they are purged from the system (thus making more room). Whichever reason your ISP may have, if you can't find the newsgroup alt.binaries.sounds.midi, you really should change to another ISP.

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1.3 If you missed: news.announce.newusers


1.3.01 Language

It is advisable to post your messages in English. Even when you think your English is not so good, give it a try. For most people 'bad' English is better to understand than 'perfect' Antarctic. Don't be afraid for a couple of mistakes, you will be forgiven for that by almost all people.

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1.3.02 Being cute

Use standard English. Although you may think it's cute or sturdy to write in a style like this:

If U W8 4 N E 1 2 answer

you will find that most people think it's annoying and childish and you can wait for eternity and get no answer at all. Remember also that most people are not fluent in the English language and will have a lot of difficulties understanding it.

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1.3.03 Use descriptive titles

The subject line of an article is there to enable a person (with a limited amount of time) to decide whether or not to read your article. Tell people what the article is about before they (have to) read it. A title like:

Question for genius' only!

does not help as much as:

Help with YAMAHA S-YG20, some instruments won't play!

Don't expect people to read your article to find out what it's about, because many of them won't bother. Also keep in mind, that some sites truncate the length of the subject line to 40 characters, so keep your subjects short and to the point.

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1.3.04 Don't overdo signatures

Keep your signature (file) within decent limits. It is meant to be a signature, not a family-album. Name, address and/or a small graphic made of ASCII characters is okay, a couple of jpeg's is not. You WILL be flamed for that.

And about all the cute quotes and slogans. After reading these pearls of wisdom again and again, they're most often not so cute anymore. So if you feel a need for this, at least change 'm from time to time.


1.3.05 Re-mailing/re-posting

Normally when you answer a message (re-mail), your application starts with a repeat of the whole message you want to answer to. It is (in general) not necessary to repeat the complete message.

Especially in cases of multiple references (an answer to an answer to answer....) things get very messy, so remove all the unnecessary and re-post only the essence of the message you're responding to. It's not much effort and you'll keep the message(s) readable.

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1.3.06 Check return e-mail address and expect responses

When you post to the newsgroup, make sure that there is a correct return e-mail address in the "From:" or "Reply-To:" headers OR in the message itself. It is considered inappropriate to post something, to which people are unable to respond by e-mail.

When you post an article, you are engaging in a dialogue and others may choose to continue that dialogue by responding via e-mail. It is not courteous to post, if you are unwilling to receive answers in response.

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1.3.07 Posting to a newsgroup you do not read

If you do not read a newsgroup, you may not know what the subject of the newsgroup is, what the standards of behavior are, what the frequently discussed topics are.

It is considered rude to post a question to a newsgroup you do not read, and ask for replies in e-mail. By doing so, you are telling the people you want to answer your question, that their issues are not important to you and that your only purpose is 'to get something'

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1.3.08 Don't ask 'dumb' questions!

Before posting a question in the newsgroup, make an effort yourself to find the solution. Read your manuals, read the messages that are already posted, read the FAQ, ask your local dealer and do SOME searching on the internet through search-engines like Altavista, Yahoo, Infoseek, Metacrawler or which ever engine you prefer. It doesn't look too good, asking for (general) info, that is to be found on the first page of the manual or that pops up within two minutes using a search-engine.

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1.3.09 Check the headers when 'Following-Up'

When posting a follow-up, be careful about newsgroups. The article that you're responding to, might have been cross-posted to several newsgroups, and by default your follow-up will go to ALL of those newsgroups. You should ensure, that your article is posted only to newsgroups where its actual content is appropriate.

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1.3.10 World Wide Newsgroup and private mail

Messages in the newsgroup are sent to thousands of computers World- Wide. So think before you post to a newsgroup, if what you have to say is of any interest for millions of people to read. If you have a personal message (like a 'thank you note'), do use e-mail for that.

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1.3.11 Illegal software

Requests for illegal software are NOT acceptable. There is a lot of software for MIDI on the market. Freeware, which will cost you nothing, shareware for a small fee and of course higher priced (semi) professional programs. You may think the price of a certain program isn't right, but that's no reason to steal! If you really want it, earn it, go wash some cars ;-)

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1.3.12 Multiple posting

Don't think that double or triple (or more) posted messages will get you better attention. Multi posted messages are very annoying and will certainly reduce the chance to get a response. You even risk a couple of flames.

If you don't see your posting immediately, don't assume it failed and try to repost it at once. Some sites have set up the local software to process news periodically, thus, your article will not appear immediately. If you post again, you will have multiple copies of the article in circulation.

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1.3.13 Testing

If you're not sure how things work and you like to do some test posting, go to alt.just.testing or alt.test. You can test as much as you like there, without bothering people.

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1.3.14 Do not use abusive language

Everybody is welcome in this newsgroup, including very young people. Besides that, abuse will NEVER solve a problem, it only tends to escalate.

And remember - your current or future employers may be reading this. So might your spouse, friends, colleagues, children, and others who will long-remember your gaffes.

If you are upset at something or someone, wait until you have had a chance to calm down and think about it. A cup of (decaf!) coffee or a good night's sleep works wonders on your perspective. Hasty words create more problems than they solve. Try not to say anything to others, that you would not say to them in person in a room full of people.

The internet is not as anonymous as you think it is!!

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2. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

2.01 Where can I find a site with.....?

2.01.1 No list of URLs

You will not find a list of URLs in this document, except maybe in section 3. There are only a few very interesting ones, that are considered 'necessary'.

Reasons, you will not find an extended site-list in this document, are simple:

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2.01.2 Learn to search

If you want to know (or have) something, a quick search through one of the search-engines like AltaVista will in general bring you more, faster and more elaborate answers than a question or request in the newsgroup.

Try AltaVista: http://www.altavista.com/

Type one or more key-words in the search field and hit 'SEARCH'. AltaVista will find 'all' the sites with those key-words. If the search-engine comes up with too many sites, you can narrow the search down by adding an extra key-word and make it mandatory by a preceding '+' sign.

A few things to keep in mind:

Examples:

1. You're looking for anything about the Spice Girls.

Type in the 'Search field': "spice girls" and hit "Search".

2. You want midi files with music from the Spice Girls.

Type in the 'Search field': +"spice girls" +midi or +"spice girls" +midi +file and hit "Search".

3. You want the GM (General Midi) specifications.

Type in the 'Search field': +midi +gm +spec or +midi +gm +specification and hit "Search".

Just try. You'll be asthonished at what you can find this way in no time. Also have a look at the "HELP", that every search-engine is offering. (It really does help ;-) !!

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2.02 What is MIDI? Where can I find basic information?

MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface and is an international hardware and software standard.

First of all, MIDI specifies the hardware interface, that allows you to connect electronic musical instruments (and computers) from different manufacturers. In other words, "the wiring diagram" so to speak.

It also specifies a communication protocol for passing data from one device to another. This means in plain English, that the messages these devices send to each other are also standardized.

That should do it, right? So let's make music!

Wrong! Something in fact,was wrong. MIDI worked alright, and the devices from different manufacturers could indeed communicate, but the results were sometimes unexpected. One of the main problems was in the instrument list (the manner and order in which the instruments are numbered inside the synthesizer). When a MIDI message tells a synthesizer to use instrument number 12 (and that IS how it works) then one synthesizer would generate the sound of a vibraphone and another one would generate the sound of a violin. The instrument lists were different. This produced a significant issue of incompatibility between the instrument lists of different MIDI devices.

To overcome this 'little' problem the MIDI manufacturers put their heads together, formed the MMA (MIDI Manufacturers Association) and defined a standard instrument list. And while they were at it, they not only agreed upon a standard instrument list, they also specified some other things and called this total package, General MIDI (GM).

The General MIDI (GM) specification includes the definition of:

Here is the site of the MMA for more details:

http://www.midi.org/

Although GM still works fine as a standard, it IS from 1984 and has its limitations. Therefore manufacturers started looking for and came up with extensions. Roland developed GS and Yamaha came up with XG. (Alas, they both went their own way.)

Both systems are GM-compatible and I tried to find out for you what the exact specifications of both systems are. The message is, "it's better than GM", "it's something like GM, but much more".

Yamaha did at least give it a good try and did some explanation, Roland (as usual) doesn't seem to care much to inform the customer. The "What is: GS/XG" URLs of the manufacturers themselves are included here. See for yourself at,

http://www.yamaha-xg.com/english/xg/

or go directly to:

http://www.yamaha-xg.com/english/xg/read/wxg.html

Here is the Roland page:

http://www.rolandus.com/about/gs.html

If you like to see a dose of MIDI information concentrated, then you should visit these excellent on-line sources:

http://www.borg.com/~jglatt/

http://www.harmony-central.com/MIDI/Doc/doc.html

Another good start to dive into MIDI is this book:

The MIDI Files by Robert Young.

It comes with fifty short MIDI files, that demonstrate techniques explained in the book and can be used as practice vehicles so you don't mess up anything you've tried to put together. -- Prentice Hall -- ISBN: 0-13-262403-6 (pbk)

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2.03 WAVE, MP3, MIDI and MOD, what's the difference?

==> SOUND

For sound you need an instrument and a 'musician' (in the broadest sense of these words). If you like to hear a piano sound, you need to have a piano and someone playing it. If you love the sound of breaking glass, the neighbours window will do fine as an instrument and their son, throwing a baseball very wide, could be the great musician to satisfy you ;-).

Let's stick to the piano. When the pianist is playing the piano, little hammers strike the piano strings. The strings start to vibrate and make the air-molecules around them vibrate. The air-molecules pass this on to other air-molecules, until finally this vibration of air hits your eardrums. Sound is how you (your brains) interpret this vibration.

The continuous 'flow of vibrations' from the sound source (to your ears) is called the sound wave, which can be represented on paper (or on screen) as a wavy line, although this line would be very fanciful when it represents 'normal' sound.

When two or more instruments are played at the same time, all the vibrations coming from those instruments will be mixed (in the air), so there still will only be ONE sound wave. (Even more complex than from the piano alone).

==> WAVE

When you want to save sound, so you can hear it later, you can record the sound wave in several possible ways.

In the past people could only save sound in an analogous way. The sound wave was 'printed' on a tape or a (vinyl) disk. A bit similar to the way you would draw a shaky, wavy line on paper.

Nowadays it's possible to record sound in a digital way. Therefore the sound wave is 'cut' into thin slices, called samples. Each of these samples gets a value, depending on its position on the 'wavy line'. This way we 'convert' an analogue sound wave into a string of values. But don't forget, this long string of numbers (values) still represents the sound wave, the vibration of the air. No more, no less. This string of numbers, that can be stored on CD, Harddisk or Tape is called a WAVE file.

Two things are important in this process; the sample rate and the sample value.

The sample rate tells you how many samples are taking per second of sound, i.e. in how many slices a second of sound wave is cut. More samples/second (thinner slices) mean a better preservation of sound quality. A typical sample rate for real good quality is 44.100 samples per second.

Then these samples will be given a value. To be able to make a good distinction between the various samples you need a broad range of numbers.

Think about the athletes that run the 100 metres. If we could only measure their time in full seconds, the numbers 1 through 16 would be sufficient. The good ones would all do the 100 metres in 10 seconds, ergo they would all be world champion. Since we don't want that, we measure their time in thousandth of seconds, which gives us a broad range of 16.000 numbers (in 16 secs) to make a good distinction between the athletes.

We need something in that same order when we assign values to samples. Since computers work with bytes and 1 byte (256 numbers) is not really enough for reasons of quality, we use 2 bytes per sample, which gives us 65.536 numbers to choose from.

Now you also know, why (quality) WAVE files are hugh. For one second of sound you need 44.100 x 2 = 88.200 bytes and that is just one channel. For stereo you have to double that of course, which brings you at a total of 176.400 bytes for one second of sound. A minute of sound will cost you roughly 10,5 megabytes.

==> MP3

MP3 is the file extension for MPEG Audio compressed files. The .mp3 files are WAVE files, but they are compressed in a very special way. Maybe you have heard of file compression methods or maybe you even use a program like PKZIP or WINZIP to make .zip files yourself. This however is a completely different compression method.

When you compress a file and turn it into a .zip file, nothing is left out. It's a method to save ALL data in a smart way using less space. There are lots of possibilities to do that, but let me give you one very simple example.

When there are 40 dashes in a standard file, they are written as: ---------------------------------------- taking 40 bytes of space.

Another way of writing these 40 dashes is: 40x- (40 times -) which only takes 4 bytes of space. The compression ratio in this example is 10:1, which is, as you will understand, quite exceptional and certainly not the average for a complete file.

The advantage is, ALL data is still there, although the file takes up less space. The downside is, a .zip file has to be 'unzipped' before you can use it, which means that (after 'unzipping' it) it will take up the same amount of space as it did before it was 'zipped'. In addition, 'zipping' a WAVE file will not bring you very much. A compression ratio of 2:1 at the most.

The compression method that is used to make .mp3 files is totally different. In this method some things are actually left out, but in a very smart way, so you won't notice (hear) it. Information that is not important will be stripped. Based on the research of human perception the encoder decides what information is important and what can be discarded.

When a sound wave hits your eardrums, the incoming data is analyzed by your brain. The brain interprets the sound and filters out irrelevant information, which means you just don't hear everything that is in the sound wave.

Another simple example:

You're listening to the Rolling Stones using your headphones. Now turn of the walkman. You can hear everything that's going on around you. The headphones over (or in ;-) your ears do not really block the sound that is coming from the 'outside'. Turn the walkman back on and listen to the Stones again. This time you won't hear 'outside' sounds, although they're still there. The music on your headphones is so loud in comparison to the 'outside' sound, that this 'outside' sound is filtered out by your brain.

MPEG Audio compression does this job for you. It's called "perceptual coding." This is quite clever, because the information that would be stripped by your own "brain-filter" anyway, no longer needs to occupy hard disk space or internet bandwidth. You have to be a bit careful though, because if you encode at a very strong compression rate, MPEG also strips information that is audible, but with 'light' compression (up to a ratio of approximately 12:1) you won't hear the difference between the .mp3 file and the uncompressed original. Compression rates of 12:1 without loosing quality are pretty normal for MPEG Audio compression.

The disadvantage of MPEG Audio compression is, that there is a lot of processing power required to encode and play files.

If you would like to learn more about MP3 files, you can visit:

     alt.music.mp3 or alt.binaries.sounds.mp3

and take it from there.

==> MIDI

Let's go back to the pianist we met in the section about WAVE. We see him play the piano ('commanding' the piano) and we hear the sound. We already saw, that we can record this sound. (see WAVE)

Suppose I don't like the piano player and I want to get rid of him (for whatever reason), but I still like to hear that piano play the tunes. In that case I must record the actions ('commands') of the piano player and find a way to execute these 'commands' upon the piano. Well, they thought of a thing like this ages ago and developed the player piano, also called pianola. The 'commands' of the pianist were recorded on a roll of paper (the piano roll) by punching holes in the paper at exactly the right places. That way a 'smart' mechanism could play the piano. These piano rolls, representing a sequence of 'commands', are in a way the first MIDI files.

Todays techniques give us many more possibilities and we don't need the roll of paper anymore, but the idea is about the same. In a MIDI file we record (lay down) all the 'commands' of the musicians playing their instrument. So there is no sound in a MIDI file, there are only 'commands'. In MIDI these 'commands' are called messages or events.

==> MOD

Now that you have a general idea of MIDI and WAVE files, we can move on to MOD files. A Module (MOD for short) is sort of a hybrid, a mixture of MIDI and WAVE. The MIDI file depends on the instruments, that are on your sound card or in your external sound module. A MOD file has the sequencing information AND the instruments (in the form of 'samples') in it. These samples can be looked upon as short WAVE files of one note of an instrument. It's like a MIDI file with a soft-synth (software synthesizer) inside.

It is up to you, the MOD composer, what samples you wish to include in the MOD file. This way you're not dependent on the instruments of the sound card, which means that the song will sound the same on any computer and you're not limited to the instruments and effects that are built into the sound card. On the other hand, you are limited in the number of samples you can put in a MOD file and changes are less easy to make. When you buy a better sound card or sound module, all your MIDI files will sound better, without any (relevant) changes. Whereas, in a MOD file the quality is laid down 'forever'.

Also the size of MOD files is larger, because the wave samples are included and good samples take a lot of space.

If you would like to learn more about MOD files, you can visit:

news:alt.music.mods or
news:alt.binaries.sounds.mods

and take it from there.

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2.04 What can you tell me about General MIDI and Standard MIDI?

Big difference! You can't compare the two. When people talk about Standard MIDI, they usually mean the Standard MIDI Format (SMF).

General MIDI (GM) is an agreement about musical possibilities of equipment and the Standard MIDI Format (SMF) is a description of the file format that is used to save MIDI files in a standard way.

For better understanding I like to (loosely) compare GM to a symphony orchestra, in which case you can compare SMF with the full score of the music as it is notated on paper.

Like GM, a symphony orchestra is in a way an agreement of musical possibilities. If you bring together a bunch of musicians to form a symphony orchestra, you need for instance strings, brass, woodwinds, timpanis and a couple of other instruments. The instruments (and therefore the musicians) even have a fixed place from the conductors viewpoint. Violins and violas to the left, flutes in the middle, cellos to the right, timpanis in the back, etc. GM is like that, because for GM you also need to have free disposition of certain instruments (sounds) like piano, organ, guitar, brass, etc. and these sounds must also have a fixed place. Patch number 1 always is the sound of an acoustic grand piano, number 25 is the nylon string guitar and the trumpet is number 57.

Now Standard MIDI Format (SMF) is a quite different agreement. SMF tells you how MIDI data has to be saved. You can compare this with the sheet music the conductor of our symphony orchestra has.

To write down music we use staff notation. It's an agreement about the use of staves, musical notes and symbols. Looking at the conductors sheet music you will see different staves for different instruments (neatly organized), just like different tracks for different sounds in a SMF file. Staves start with a clef and some information like 'meter' and 'key'. In the 'same' way we have headers in a SMF file at the beginning of each track with some information about the track. After the clef/meter/key information you'll find the musical notes, (with or without dots, stems and beams) giving you information on pitch, duration and timing. Again you'll find similar information in the SMF file after the header, where pitch, duration and starting time of each note are saved in the corresponding track. Staff notation ends with a closing barline (one thin and one thick vertical line) to let you know that's the end of the piece. And of course the SMF file (track) is similarly closed with some specific bytes to let the software know where the midi information ends. It's possible to go on and on, and continue this comparison to the last detail, telling you about all the special symbols in staff notation and the comparable controllers in a SMF file. However, that would only extend this text and not really contribute to the answer of the question.

Important is, that you understand why and how General MIDI (GM) and Standard MIDI Format (SMF) are different.

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2.05 What do I need to enjoy MIDI music?

This explanation is not a guide for installing hardware and/or software (although there may be one or two tips). For installation procedures you will have to read the manuals that come with the hardware and software.

Also I assume you're using a PC (with Windows), since the majority of you do, but theoretically it works the same for the MAC or other Operating Systems (like Linux).

So what DO you need?
Well, it depends on what you want out of it. Do you just want to play MIDI files for listening pleasure only or would you like to play an active roll as a composer/sequencer and make or edit MIDI files yourself? Is the minimum of sound quality enough for you, because you don't know the difference between a violin and a cat in heat anyway ;-) or do you want the best quality of sounds. Let's look at the basics and take it from there.

PLAYING MIDI FILES (very basic)
Since you're reading this, it's save to assume, that you already have a computer, so what you at least need in addition is:

Unless your computer is really, really old (in computer terms ;-), you will probably have all this stuff available already and you should therefore at least be able to PLAY MIDI files. Otherwise you'll have to do some shopping!

The MIDI file is a sequence of commands (see 2.03) that you'll have to send to a synthesizer, which in turn will generate sound. The most simple way is using the synthesizer on your soundcard. Just start the MIDI Player or Media Player program in Windows, load the MIDI file and push the 'Start button'.

> TIP: if you don't hear sound while the MIDI Player software seems
> to be running your MIDI file properly, check the controls in they
> software that came with the soundcard. Normally when a soundcard
> is installed, there will be some on-screen control panel for
> controlling the volumes of 'Wave', 'MIDI', 'Mic', 'CD-audio' and
> 'Line-In'.

> TIP: if your soundcard sounds like a kiddy-toy, but you're sure
> that there is a Wave-Table on the card (because it said so on the
> box :-), go to Windows Configuration, choose Multimedia and go to
> MIDI. Chances are that the OUTPUT Port is configured for OPL2/OPL3
> FM-synthesis. Set this to Wave synthesis instead and click 'Apply'.

MAKING MIDI FILES (also basic)
If you like to play around with MIDI, i.e. edit existing MIDI files or make your own MIDI files, you need sequencing software instead of the above mentioned MIDI Player. (Also see 2.06). Normally you will find some software for sequencing with your soundcard. Usually this is a 'light' version of Cakewalk, Cubase, Orchestrator, Musicator, etc., but it will do for starters and it's for free. If there was no sequencing software with the soundcard, you'd better check back with your supplier and ask him, because as far as I know every soundcard comes with some sort of sequencing program. If this doesn't help you, you can download one of the available freeware or shareware progs on the Net or buy sequencing software in a store for computers and/or musical instruments.

After you've installed the software properly (and DO READ THE MANUAL) you should be able to load and play a MIDI file. But now, with the sequencing software, you can also change the MIDI file or start from scratch and make a MIDI file yourself, just like you can make a document with a Spreadsheet Program. How this is done depends on the (sequencing) software you have. Some software will allow you to put notes on staff, other software will offer you something that looks like a piano roll. Sometimes you can edit the Event List (the 'heart' of the MIDI file) and with good software you can do ALL of these things.

KEEP IN MIND ...
What's discussed so far is the bare minimum. The quality of sound you will get out of 'your computer' depends on the soundcard you use. For better sounds you need a soundcard that at least provides Wave Sample Synthesis (see 2.17). For further improvement of sound quality, you can look at daugtherboards for the soundcard and/or extra Sound Fonts to load (see 2.18 and 2.19).

Besides the soundcard, it surely makes a difference what you plug into the card's 'Line Out' to (re)produce the music. There will be some sort of sound coming out of two unpowered kiddy-toy speakers, but it goes without saying that you may not compare that to the sound of a hi-fi stereo system. It's up to you what you want/like to spend.

YOU WANT MORE ??!!
You have tried (listened to) all soundcards with all their available options in daugtherboards and/or extra Sound Fonts and you still like to improve on the quality of the sounds. (?) You're getting tired of (step-)sequencing your MIDI files using the computer-keyboard and mouse and above all you hate how this method of sequencing makes your MIDI file sound synthetic/mechanical. (?)

Then you will need external MIDI 'gear':

When it comes to (external) MIDI modules, controllers and keyboards, there's not much I can say. There are some real big players in this field like Roland and Yamaha and the choice is enormous. New devices hit the market almost every week. The main reason however, why it is impossible to go further into this here in the FAQ, is your taste and your budget. Of course I have my preferences, but that is personal E-mail stuff if you like to know about those ;-).

All I can say is, if you're on a tight budget, yet you want something really good, then think about second-hand stuff. A lot of keyboards and synthesizers are traded in not because they're bad, but because the first owner wanted something better/different.

ONE LAST THING; THE CONNECTION.
Whatever external MIDI device you're about to use, you will have to use the MIDI/Joystick Port of your soundcard to connect the external gear with your computer.

> TIP: Don't forget to change (check) the settings in your software.
> Normally you will not have to change the 'MIDI In' settings (for
> obvious reasons :-), but you will have to change the 'MIDI Out'
> settings, since the MIDI signal must go to the MIDI/Joystick Port
> instead of directly to the soundcard's synthesizer.

When you want to use external MIDI devices, you need a MIDI cable, which has a D-connector at one end, that fits into the MIDI/Joystick outlet of the soundcard.

Now for the other ends (yes, plural) of the cable: You will normally find two round five-pin DIN plugs with (MIDI) IN and OUT written/printed on them. It is possible, that there's also an extra MIDI/Joystick D-connector. That's only for your convenience, to plug in the joystick if you have one. It's not relevant for MIDI.

> TIP: You have an external MIDI device with MIDI In and MIDI Out,
> and you have a normal MIDI cable with two DIN plugs that say (MIDI)
> IN and OUT on them.
> Make sure that the plug that says IN goes into the socket (of the
> MIDI device) that says OUT and vice versa. Does that make sense?
> It does when you think of the cable as being an extension of your
> soundcard. The MIDI signal that comes out of the MIDI device has
> to go into the card. (and vice versa, of course ;-).

Occasionally you'll see a MIDI cable with only ONE of these round DIN plugs. These cables sometimes come with a piano-like keyboard, that can only be used as a controller, i.e. there's no synthesizer aboard and the keyboard can only SEND MIDI-signals.

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2.06 What is a sequencer?

When we talk about a sequencer in relation to MIDI, we often refer to a computer program that allows us to record, edit and playback the events that are in a MIDI file, just like a spreadsheet program will allow us to enter, edit and print (playback ;-) the data that's in a spreadsheet file.

Note: The word 'Sequencer' is also used for the person who makes a MIDI sequence by means of sequence software. It's a bit of a language problem like with MIDIs and MIDI files. If you're strict, 'MIDIs' does not mean anything, but we all know what is meant by it. Same with 'Sequencer'. A sequencer is in fact a person who makes MIDI sequences. However it became quite common over the years to use the word 'sequencer' also to indicate the software, that is used to make MIDI sequences. THIS here is about sequence software.

In a spreadsheet file you have sequences of characters to make words and numbers. All these words and numbers together make the document. Normally a document also has some sort of layout, section-headers in capitals and bold print, interesting parts are underscored or in Italics, etc. For this you need controlling commands. These controlling commands are not printed, they only tell what action must be taken on one or more characters to give your document the layout you want. For instance, when there is an 'underscore' command, all characters after that command will be underscored until the program encounters an 'end-underscore' command.

'Same' in a MIDI file. In a MIDI file you have notes. (We say notes, but in fact we mean note events.) Together these notes make up the melody (the 'document'). Normally these notes do not all sound the same (same instrument, same volume, etc). To make these notes sound different (different instruments, different volume, etc), you need controlling commands. You won't hear these controlling commands, they only tell what action must be taken to make the notes sound, like you want them to sound.

For instance, when there is a 'hold' command (like when you use the right pedal of a piano), all the following notes will be sustained notes until the program encounters an 'end-hold' command.

So, in a way, you could say that a sequencer is the 'spreadsheet- program' for MIDI files. In fact the two main windows (Tracks Overview and Events) look and work like a spreadsheet.

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2.07 Instruments, Voices, Polyphony and Multi-Timbality.

In MIDI we speak of INSTRUMENTS (or SOUNDS) and VOICES. These words are often used as if they are interchangeable, but they're not.

INSTRUMENTS are the sounds you hear, like the piano, the guitar and the trumpet. Even strings, orchestra-hit and applause are called INSTRUMENTS. If you feel that INSTRUMENTS is not quite the right word to denote these sounds, because they're not all real instruments, then you could use the word SOUNDS.

Most synthesizer-units today are capable of producing 16 different types of INSTRUMENTS at once, where the drums are seen as one INSTRUMENT. A unit which can simultaneously produce many INSTRUMENTS is called MULTI-TIMBRAL. (A timbre being an instrumental sound.)

VOICES are related to the wave samples (in your synthesizer) that represent the INSTRUMENTS. And that is where you see the difference between VOICES and INSTRUMENTS. Every note played is at least one VOICE. When you hit two keys on 'the piano', it's still only one INSTRUMENT, but you'll hear two tones and that means, at least, two VOICES.

I'm talking about 'at least', because the better synthesizers often use 2 VOICES per note depending on the INSTRUMENT. If that is the case with the above mentioned piano then the two notes mean that 4 VOICES are used.

The reason for the two VOICES per INSTRUMENT (-note) is simple. In order to generate good sounds, one wave sample could be inadequate. When you listen to a real instrument like a violin for instance, you will notice that the difference between the low tones and the high tones is not only the pitch. The colour, the character is also different. Something similar happens when you play the piano, hitting the keys hard or soft. The difference is not just in the volume. You can easily test this with your own synthesizer.

> Record a note (like the middle C) three times consecutively. Set
> the velocities of these notes to 127, 50 and 127.
> Insert three volume controllers (CC# 7) just before the notes and
> set the controllers to 50, 127 and 50.
> Choose Patch 1 (piano) on your synthesizer.
> Now play the MIDI file.
> The tones you'll hear will have about the same loudness, but the
> character will be (must be) very different.

POLYPHONY is about how many VOICES a unit can (re)produce at any given moment. 64 VOICES polyphony means that up to 64 VOICES can be used simultaneously. If you use only single-voice INSTRUMENTS, you'll be able to play 64 notes at once, but if some of the INSTRUMENTS use 2 VOICES, this number will drop to any number from 32 to 64. Also keep in mind that, even if a MIDI Note Off message is received, VOICES will be used for as long as the sound is heard. This often happens when you make use of the 'Hold' controller (CC# 64), i.e. the sustain-pedal of the piano.

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2.08 ;-) Coming up with a next update "Tracks and Channels"

Some patience please.

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2.09 How can I convert a WAVE file to a MIDI file?

If the question is: Is it possible to have the computer 'convert' a WAVE file to a MIDI file in such a way that the MIDI file (when played back) sounds like the original WAVE file? The answer is: NO!

These are completely different concepts. It's like asking: How can I convert a cake back into 'the separate operations of the baker' AND 'the original ingredients (eggs, sugar, butter, flower, etc)'?

A MIDI file is a sequence of commands to control one or more pieces of equipment (synthesizers most of the time). These commands are not sounds, they are recorded operations to DO something (mostly to GENERATE sound).

A WAVE file IS sound. It is the recording of a sound wave. It is the mix of all the given things (instruments, voices, background noises) you could have heard at the moment of recording. A lot of info (in fact almost all of it), that you need for a MIDI file, is lost. Like with the cake. When the cake is at your table, all data about the baking process is gone.

Since many of you, who DO understand the problem, have adopted the 'Cake-example', I'll give you another one which can help you if you need to convince the somewhat confused, who think Wave to MIDI is possible.

> Take a couple of newspapers. Shred them to very tiny pieces, add
> water and some wallpaper paste (glue) and stir until you have a
> nice smooth mush (= papier-mâché). Make some sculptures and let
> them dry.
> Now what would you say (think ;-) when someone comes along, looks
> at the sculptures and asks you to reproduce verbatim (word by word)
> the information, that was in those papers?

There is a lot of discussion going on (continuously) about WAV-to- MID conversion, done by computer/software. Don't be confused by people, who say it can be done or that it is (should be) possible. You'll hear all kind of academic twaddle in this respect. Like FFT, one of the most popular buzzwords (which by the way stands for Fast Fourier Transform) or some other kind of fancy gobbledygook. The problem is a lot harder, than these theorists like you to believe.

For people some sounds sound as music. We can like the sound of 50 musicians playing 50 instruments at the same time, because for us humans, the notes that are played by these 50 musicians are related in some way. To us it's music, to a computer it's just noise. Because of this 'relation' between instruments, that we humans hear in music, we can distinguish separate instruments (or instrument groups like violins) more or less. I say more or less, because when the orchestra of 50 musicians is playing at full strength, it will be impossible to pick out all the 'moves' of every individual instrument. Nevertheless, our ability to discern the different instruments fairly good in general, enables us to 'translate' a piece of music (by just listening to it) into a MIDI file. A MIDI file that, on play back, can come close to the original piece.

A computer (program) does not have that ability, that sense. It can not even distinguish music from noise. To the computer (program) it's just sound and we ask it to unravel that. If you'd like to know what that means, try to imagine the following: There are 50 musicians on stage, all having hearing protection so they can't hear each other. They all start playing a different piece of music at the same time. Do you have any idea how that sounds? It's still only those 50 musicians you liked so much before, but do you think you could make a MIDI file out of it this time?

I will not confuse you with all kinds of technical details, that form the basis for some folks to say it is possible. Take this advice, just give them a nice, full-blown wave file of an orchestra and ask for a demonstration. Works all the time :-).

In cases of great simplicity it is possible to convert a WAVE (file) into a MIDI file with more or less success. (Normally less to no success at all in my experience). In these cases we're talking about a WAVE (file) in which you have ONE instrument playing ONE note at a time, slowly and with no overlaps in the tones! > Not sure why people would like it though, because it is quite easy > to listen to a WAVE like that and put in the notes yourself. The degree of success depends on the quality of the hardware and software you use and of course the instrument you want to 'convert'. Instruments that allow less human influence will make a conversion easier. For instance: you can hit a piano key with more or less 'velocity' and you can hold the key long or short, but that's about it. When you play the saxophone, there's not just 'velocity' and 'hold'. There are a lot more human influences to the sound. The way you breathe, open the valves, hold your mouth, use your tongue, bite the reed or even add a little human sound to it. This makes the conversion of the sound of a saxophone a lot more difficult than the sound of a piano.

If you feel like experimenting with WAV-to-MID 'conversion', you might like to try the following programs, but be warned, the outcome is pretty poor:

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2.10 How can I convert a MIDI file to a WAVE file?

If you want the WAVE file to sound exactly like the MIDI file when you play it using your MIDI equipment, then you can use this method: Open up an application to play the MIDI file AND open up an application which will allow you to record the piece as a WAVE file. Hit 'record' on the WAVE application and 'play' on the MIDI player. Beware though that you will need a computer that is fast enough to have both programs running without interruption.

Or you can use the method I prefered for some time (when computers weren't fast enough), which is this:

You need a good (professional) tape recorder in order to maintain quality. For home-users a high quality (HQ) stereo VCR (with audio In/Out) will do the trick.

You don't want to use a simple (compact) cassette recorder/player for this proces. Although it's technically possible, the loss of sound quality is tremendous.

A completely different method is the use of an application, that will use its own sounds (wave samples) to directly generate the WAVE file. It does make things easy, but the use of these wave samples is also the downside. A MIDI file, that sounds good on your MIDI equipment may not sound good when such a program turns it into a WAVE file. Also, they are not XG or GS compatible.

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2.11 How can I convert a MOD file to a MIDI file or vice-versa?

Conversions to and from MIDI, although more or less possible, are very difficult. MIDI files have a very different set of commands. One of the more important differences is, that the MIDI device 'knows' how to process its sounds, when it receives commands from the MIDI player. For example how fast to decay a piano waveform. This information is not stored in the MIDI file itself, it's in the synthesizer. A MOD file however would have this included.

A MIDI-to-MOD converter has no means of asking the MIDI device how it would handle a certain situation, so it has to assume certain things Patches in a MIDI file are also a major problem for conversion to MOD files. While a simple patch event in the MIDI file will find the correct instrument in your synthesizer, a MOD file needs the actual sample.

The other way around is far from easy too. A MOD file may for example have sounds included, that are 'unknown' to the MIDI device.

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2.12 Type 1 and type 0 MIDI files, what is the difference?

There are in fact three different "Types" ("Formats") of MIDI files.

Type 0 files contain only one track, and all the MIDI messages (i.e. the entire performance) are placed in that one track, even if it represents musical parts on different MIDI channels.

Type 1 files separate each musical part to give it its own track. This means that all the MIDI channels in use will at least have their own track. It's even possible to have multiple tracks for one channel.

Where type 0 or 1 files store ONE "song" or musical performance, type 2 files (which are extremely rare) represent a collection of type 0 files, all packed into one MIDI file. Therefore type 2 files look like type 1 files at first glance, because there are multiple tracks, but each track stores a complete type 0 MIDI performance. Type 2 can be used to store a collection of songs or patterns.

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2.13 Can I convert a type 1 to type 0 MIDI file or vice-versa?

A lot of sequence programs allow you in the operation "Save as", to choose for one or the other. Sometimes (like in Cakewalk) you will find this under "Options".

Then there are (small) utilities, that will do this transformation for you. One of these you will find at the excellent utilities site:

http://www2.iicm.edu/Cpub

A site full of 'small' but great utilities for 'MIDI fans'.

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2.14 Can I print MIDI files as sheet music?

The answer is 'YES'. It depends however on how serious you want to get. If your needs are simple, most sequencers will do. But don't forget, most sequencers are meant to sequence and have this as an extra. When they do, you normally will be able to get a window with 'staff view' and print this. The possibilities to edit the sheet music (like you edit text with a word processor) will be limited and sometimes not existent.

There are special (professional) programs to create very good sheet music from a MIDI file ('Finale' is one of 'm), but don't expect much of their sequence capabilities.

Another thing to keep in mind is this. Programs that can produce sheet music from a MIDI file, put the notes on staff right where they are in the MIDI file, NOT necessarily where you like 'm to be. Especially when you record a live-performance, most of the notes will not be exactly 'on-the-beat' and durations will not be an exact multiple of 1/32.

So if you don't quantize the MIDI file to put all notes "on the beat" and make their duration a recognizable 1/32 or a multiple of that, it will be hard to read the sheet music.

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2.15 Can I scan sheet music to make a MIDI file?

There is software that will do this, but it is not perfect just like OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is not perfect and this means you will have to do some (or a lot) editing afterwards.

MIDISCAN is one of the best known, but I have no personal experience to share with you.

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2.16 What does SysEx mean, what does it do?

SysEx stands for System Exclusive (Message). It's a special kind of MIDI message meant (exclusively) for a specific MIDI device. It therefore has some sort of address included, so when a SysEx message is transmitted, only the addressed device will act upon the content of the message. Since the SysEx message is a message for a device, it's not bound to a specific MIDI channel.

A 'normal' MIDI message (like a Note-On event) has a fixed length. This means when a message starts (with a specific byte), the hooked up synthesizer(s) automatically know(s) when this message ends.

This is not the case with SysEx messages. They can vary in length and therefore need an end-marker as well as a start-marker. After the start-marker (byte), any number of data bytes may be sent and since it's not clear right from the start, what the length of the message will be, the end must also be marked.

This is important for the addressed device, that has to know what data belongs to the message. It's also important for the other devices, that are hooked up and don't understand the content of the message. They too must know the end of the message, so they can pick up the stream of commands (messages) right after it.

SysEx messages serve two main purposes. They can address one single MIDI unit in a setup with different MIDI devices and, maybe more important, they can control a MIDI device beyond the 'normal' MIDI messages. Manufacturers like Roland (SG) and Yamaha (XG) add so many features to their sound modules, that it is not possible to access them all using only the 'normal' MIDI messages (i.e. controllers). In general SysEx messages are used to change default parameters and it depends on your gear how far you can go with that.

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2.17 What is WSS, Wave Sample Synthesis?

A synthesizer is an electronic musical instrument capable of generating, modifying and combining a wide range of sounds using digital instructions. The two most used methods in synthesizers for generating sound are Frequency Modulation (FM) Synthesis and Wave Sample Synthesis.

FM synthesis MIMICS musical instruments by mathematical manipulation of simple sine waves. By todays standards the sounds coming from FM synthesis are 'horrible', because they are nowhere near realistic.

Rather than manipulate sine waves, Wave Sample Synthesis uses high- quality, digitally recorded samples of real sounds as a basis for creating sounds. The result is an overall sound, which is much richer and much more realistic than that of FM synthesis.

The total set of Wave Samples on a soundcard (or in an external module) is called the Wave Table.

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2.18 What is a soundfont?

The definition: A Soundfont is data (in a standard format) which contains the detailed information necessary to create musical notes (or sound effects) using Wave Sample Synthesis. Such a Soundfont contains both the digital audio samples, which have been captured from a sound source, and the instructions to the wave sample synthesizer on how to articulate this sound.

The term Soundfont is used, because it is very much like a typefont. It is designed to contain information in such a way that a variety of wave sample synthesizers can reproduce the sound with an accuracy dependent only on the hardware's capability. A piano sound for example is just like a letter 'p' in a type font. The different sounds produced by different keys and velocities of the 'piano' in the Soundfont are analogous to different displays of the letter 'p' in the type font. The shape of the letter 'p' is defined, but you may display/print it smaller or larger, normal or bold, upright or slanted.

A Soundfont file or Soundfont bank (typically ending with the suffix ".sf2" or ".sbk") is a collection of sound samples in the Soundfont standard format.

Here's where the SoundBlaster cards of Creative Labs come in. I'm not sure if other soundcards can be used with Soundfonts today, but the Creative AWE cards were the first and are, as far as I know, still the only soundcards that allow you to use Soundfonts.

Soundfont files are designed to replace the standard 'hardware' Wave Table on the AWE card by loading the Soundfont file into the RAM of the AWE soundcard. The sounds contained in the Soundfont file can be assigned to any instrument in the set of instruments. Soundfonts can be created and edited by anyone with the right software. Creative's AWE cards typically come with the 'Vienna' software package which is designed for this purpose. This means that there are many Soundfonts available on the internet for free download.

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2.19 How do I load and use a Soundfont?

As explained to me by "Tal Rhen" (see 4.3 Credits)

This answer concerns the Creative Labs soundcards (see 2.17), i.e. the Soundblaster AWE 32/64 and the (new) Soundblaster Live!, which can use up to half of your system's RAM. Instructions are intended for the use of Windows 95/98.

==> INTRODUCTION
Before you start downloading Soundfonts from the Internet, you should check how much RAM is available on your soundcard. I ("Tal") am not very familiar with the (older) AWE32 software, therefore all software references will be concerning the software which is included with the SB AWE64 and the SB Live! cards.

The better the quality of all of the individual samples in the Soundfont, the better and more realistic your MIDI will sound. A better quality of samples generally means larger samples. Conversely, larger samples generally represent better quality.

Because of this there's no point in looking for full Soundfont files if you have limited RAM on the soundcard (like the default 512Kb on the AWE64 Value). The Wave Table of the card itself is 1Mb and a full Soundfont file of only half that size can hardly sound better ;-).

In order to check how much RAM is on your soundcard, go to: 'Start/Programs/Soundblaster AWE64' and open the AWE Control Program. Click on the 'Synth tab' at the top of the window and a bar should appear near the bottom of the window showing how much RAM you have and how much is free (free RAM is in green).

==> LOADING A SOUNDFONT (SB AWE)
The Soundfont file you want to load can have all 128 instruments of the GM specification included (which would mean that it is meant to replace the Wave Table of the card) or it can have more or just a few of them. We'll start with the first option.

To load the Soundfonts you must open the AWE Control Program and go to the 'Synth tab'. Once there, select 'User Synth' from the 'Available Synth' box. This will tell the soundcard to use whatever Soundfont you decide to load. (Until you select one, it will use the default Wave Table.) Click on 'Browse' and select the *.sf2/*.sbk file you want. Click 'OK' and then click 'Apply' on the 'Synth tab'. The Soundfont will be loaded into the soundcard's RAM.

Once the Soundfont is loaded, you must make sure that 'Creative MIDI Instrument Mapper' is the selected MIDI output device. Go to: 'Start/Settings/Control Panel/Multimedia Properties/MIDI' and select it from the list under 'Single Instrument'. This will make your MIDIs being played using the Soundfonts instead of the standard Wave Table.

Soundfont files can contain less instruments than the 128 needed to replace the complete Wave Table. There can be just one instrument or several, but there can also be more than the 128. If it contains more, then you load the file in the same way as described above. The extra instruments included will not take effect unless specific MIDI events in the MIDI file take advantage of that particular Soundfont.

Soundfonts with less than the 128 instruments (or completely different instruments like weird electronic samples) must be loaded differently. These Soundfonts can only be used by MIDI files designed to use that specific Soundfont. If you wish to use them in conjunction with the standard Wave Table you need to load 'm into a different bank (number). Normally MIDI files will use the Soundfonts in bank '00', i.e. the standard Wave Table or your 'standard' replacement. Soundfonts in other banks can be accessed from within the MIDI file using special controllers.

To load a non-standard Soundfont into a Soundfont-bank in RAM, open the AWE Control Progam and go to the 'User tab'. Select the bank you wish to use (in the Current State box). Browse to the Soundfont file you want and select it. Click 'OK', 'Apply' and you're done.

==> LOADING A SOUNDFONT (SB LIVE!)
The Soundblaster Live! card can use up to half of your system's RAM for a Soundfont as long as you have at least 64MB of RAM in your computer. In order to load a Soundfont (a 128 Instruments GM replacement), you first need to allocate a certain amount of RAM to be used for holding the Soundfonts. You can set aside any amount from a couple Kilobytes to half of the system's RAM you have aboard. In order to do this, go to the Start menu, and go to Programs - Creative - AudioHQ. A window should pop up. Double click on the Soundfont Icon. In the window that loads up, you will see a box that lists all the loaded Soundfonts. There should only be one in there, select it, and click "Clear". The bar at the bottom will show "0 bytes Allocated". Go to the Options tab at the top. Select "Static Caching" from the top box, and then take the slider and select the amount of RAM you need for the Soundfont you want to load.

If you have a 12MB Soundfont, you would need to move the slider until it said "12.00 MB" or a little higher (to be safe).

Once that is done, go back to the "Configure Bank" Tab, and click "Load", browse to the dir with the Soundfont you want to load, select it, and click "Select". It will then load the Soundfont into RAM.

In order to load a non-standard Soundfont, you must select a different bank from the "Select Bank" box in the "Configure Bank" Tab and go through the same process, making sure to allocate enough extra RAM for the additional Soundfont.

==> USING THE SOUNDFONT
To access the Soundfont from within the sequencer (when writing/ editing your own MIDI file) you'll have to change the current bank to whatever bank you loaded the Soundfont into (use CC00 for this). If you have enough RAM, you could even load 2 or more complete GM Soundfonts, each with 128 instruments, and use both in the same MIDI file at the same time. But again, only one of them can be put in bank '00' as the (new) default Soundfont. So you would need to edit the MIDI file to allow it to access the second Soundfont in bank '01' (or the third in bank '02'.. etc.)

You can even use a Wave file to replace an instrument. Open the AWE Control Program and go to the WaveFx tab. Then, under instrument, select the number of the instrument you wish to replace. (000 is Grand Piano, 030 is Distortion Guitar, etc ...) Click on 'Browse' and select the Wave file you want to use instead of the normal sound for that instrument. (the file must be in the standard *.wav format).

Suppose you've chosen the instrument '000' (Grand Piano). Now, whenever a MIDI file sends commands (note events) to play the Grand Piano, the soundcard will use the Wave file you have assigned instead of the standard sample. You can test this by going to the 'Playback' tab. Click 'Apply' first to make sure the Wave file is loaded into RAM and select the instrument you changed in the 'Instrument' box. Then click on the keys of the piano and it should playback the Wave file at different pitches.

To make use of some really stunning Soundfonts you will need something like 8 Mb of RAM (or more). The supply of Soundfonts changes all the time, so if you're looking for some good Soundfonts, place a request in the newsgroup.

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2.20 ;-) Coming up with a next update: "MIDI files on Web-pages"

Some patience please.

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3. TERMS, CONCEPTS, ABBREVIATIONS


Please note: This section of the a.m.m FAQ is under construction!

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4. ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT

4.1 Justification

This document is intended to be of help by giving some newsgroup- guidelines and easy to grasp answers to FREQUENTLY asked questions. There is no intention to include in this document as much information as can possibly be found. So you will not find ALL answers to ALL your questions, or copies of all the long essays that can be found on the subject of MIDI. What you find here will give you a start, it is not meant to replace the newsgroup or the WWW.

For your occasional (MIDI related) question, you're welcome to post in the newsgroup. That is what this newsgroup is for!

Because a lot of ISPs delete the message after 4 - 6 days, this document will be posted twice a week (until further notice). I like this document to be available at all times, so that every subscriber of the newsgroup has the opportunity to read it at any given moment and to send comments and additions.

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4.2 Always under construction

Please, feel free to comment on this document. If there's something you feel belongs here, has to be changed/corrected, needs addition or any other form of constructive criticism, don't hesitate to E-mail me. DO use E-mail. It is for several reasons not nice to use the newsgroup if you want to talk to me about this document. I check my mail folder every day.

Since this document is an altruistic attempt to help other people and I did (and do) put quite some time and effort in it, I expect criticism to be constructive. I will not respond to flames or other negativities.

DON'T send me the complete document, when you want to comment. I already have it on my harddisk ;-). Just the number of the section and your comment will do.

Thank you, C.C.

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4.3 Credits

Maintenance: C.C. van der Velden
E-mail: kes.velden@wxs.nl (put back 'e' to read kees)
Contributions: Special thanks to Tal Rhen for his great help in getting question 2.19 answered. For more info you're free to mail him at: Mail: phonix_fire@geocities.com (insert 'e' to read pheonix-fire)
HTML version: Bomi AKA The MIDIPapa ,-), E-mail: hjbmanns@t-online.de (put back 'o' to read hjbomanns)

You are free to use this document or sections of this document, but for non-commercial use only and it would be highly appreciated if you mention the source. Well, you know about giving credit, right ;-)?

Refer to C.C.'s GENERAL INFO & FAQ posted in ALT.MUSIC.MIDI. That will do.

This document is compiled in the first months of 1998 by: C.C. van der Velden

E-mail: kes.velden@wxs.nl (put back 'e' to read kees)

and posted for the first time on 26 april 1998.

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