Month: June 2010

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Can MIDI be used for education?

MIDI Education
MIDI Education

As we know MIDI can be used for fun and for composing music, but are there any educational benefits? Not surprisingly the answer is “yes”. MIDI is quickly being recognized as an excellent educational tool too.

There are two reasons why MIDI is a good educational tool. First, because the technology is becoming much more affordable, schools and institutions are able to afford the computers and MIDI instruments. Second, the power and flexibility of MIDI allows instructors and students to try new things easily.

Using MIDI to learn how to play a piece of music or an instrument.

Since each instrument in a MIDI performance is on a separate track from the rest, it is easy to listen to (or print out) just one individual instrument line and study it so that you can replicate and play that same part yourself. Plus if the piece of music is in the wrong key, it’s simple to transpose the part to the desired key and continue playing.

The educational value of isolating single voices in this manner is amazing. Imagine being able to select only the flute playing out of a complicated piece of music. Not only can you listen to that part individually, it’s very easy to print the isolated musical line onto paper in any key you desire. This is a wonderful tool for teachers as well as students.

Experimenting with various instruments.

The feature of being able to mute voices goes even further. Perhaps you are composing a new piece or experimenting with an existing piece but it just doesn’t sound right. With the power of MIDI you have the ability to change the sound of any instrument with ease and replay the piece.

Perhaps you recorded it with a flute but would like to know what an oboe would sound like. Easy. Simply use your MIDI editing software and select the voice that you wish to change. Once selected changing the instrument and save your work. Now when you replay the piece it will have the new instrument added so you can judge the effect.

Play with a band.

After practicing by yourself for a while it is always nice to try your skills playing with other instruments. Perhaps you wish to ensure that you can jam smoothly with others, that your playing of a piece is technically accurate, or just want to hear what the piece will sound like when played with a band.

The solution is easy. Select a MIDI file and mute the voice that you personally intend to play. Then replay the MIDI piece as you normally would – but instead, you play the part that’s missing. If you desire, you may be able to record yourself playing and compare it to the master recording and see how close you came to duplicating the part.

 

Record and edit your performance

A MIDI Sequencer is a great way to evaluate your own progress, or even to study how someone else plays. A person can record their efforts and email to transfer their file to you. Once you have their MIDI file you can play it back to find any problems and advise on how to correct them. This is great for music teachers.

If the piece is to be used as is, you can also edit out any imperfections! If you play a wrong note, you can just change it using your sequencer’s editing tools. And if you find you just can’t play fast enough to keep up with the tempo, you can slow it down for recording and speed it back up for playback.

Collaborative playing.

Like most musicians, you probably have a circle of friends that you used to jam with back in the day. Wouldn’t it be nice to get them all together again for old times sake? This may not be physically possible to do with people moving and such, but MIDI and the Internet provide a perfect solution

Perhaps you, as the lead player for the group, could lay down a single MIDI track. Then you email the piece to one of your friends and have them add their track to the file as they play along with you. Then they pass it along to another friend. Soon all of your friends will have added their parts to the piece and you will have a complete jam session recorded without ever having to travel.

As you have seen, and probably found out from experimenting yourself, MIDI is an excellent tool for both educational purposes and advancement of your talents. The possible uses for MIDI are only limited by your imagination.

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Latency

MIDI Latency
MIDI Latency

One of the common questions we get here at MIDIDrumFiles.com is regarding MIDI latency and how to correct it. This article explores what MIDI latency is, and what you can do about reducing its effects in your musical productions.

But before going into the remedies of the latency problem, let’s talk about what it is. Latency is the lag time between when any MIDI note is initially triggered to the time the sound actually exits the speakers. Latency is caused by the electronic processing needed to construct and send out each sound. There are many factors that contribute to the latency time in any given musical system.

Some of the devices that can affect latency time are: processor speed, RAM, sound cards, MIDI interfaces, USB interfaces, serial port interfaces, software program overhead drain, MIDI effects software, or MIDI player program. Essentially, any processing that needs to be done to the MIDI information before it sends out to the speaker will contribute to latency.

So then, what can you do about it? If you are experiencing MIDI latency problems, there are several steps you can take to combat the problem. The first and cheapest option to try is to examine the software you are using. Many software synths and MIDI sequencers actually have latency setting built into the program. This feature will allow you to set the latency time as low as you can. Setting the latency time too high will cause an annoying delay in the sound output. But too low of a setting and your computer will clip and stutter as the processor and software tries to keep up with the high demand. It’s your job to find that perfect balance for your particular setup.

If latency settings are not available to you however, start looking into upgrading your equipment. Or at least identifying the hardware you have that could be causing the problems. A better MIDI interface and sound card could do wonders. I’ve also read that USB interfaces are far less reliable than some other types of interfaces when it comes to latency. If you would like some more in-depth information on the specs of various equipment, take a look at these two articles by Martin Walker….. “The Truth About Latency”. I found them to be very helpful and informative.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Sep02/articles/pcmusician0902.asp

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Oct02/articles/pcmusician1002.asp 

As these articles point out, most of the time the latency delay time is not nearly as big of a factor in producing MIDI music as is the consistency of that delay. Some hardware and MIDI interfaces perform more consistently than others. And according to experts, this is the bigger issue.

Anytime you are dealing with computer or software generated music you will have to deal with latency. There’s no way to get around that. It is possible however, to bring that latency time down to where you cannot detect it with the human ear. A little investigation work into your individual system’s components will go a long way towards giving you the results you desire.

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MIDI Drums for use on Web sites

MIDI Drums
MIDI Drums

By now you have probably had some fun creating music on your MIDI instruments and editing or recording with or from your PC. MIDI makes the mixing and editing of music very easy, the files are basically universal and do not require much space. These benefits lead us into another possibility for MIDI pieces that you have created, playing them on your web site.

Why MIDI is great for web use.

As mentioned, there are several reasons that MIDI files are very useful for the web. The first reason is its compatibility.

Regular sound files are made by sampling the music being recorded at a very high speed. This means that all the details of the recorded piece are stored within the sound file. The clearer the music the larger the file size is.

In contrast, MIDI files do not store any music. A MIDI file only contains the details for what note should be played how long it should be played and how loud it should be played, as well as a few other note characteristics. This means the MIDI file being played is actually playing sounds that the sound card itself produces. This makes MIDI files much smaller in size.

The other important thing to consider is web page file size. The speed at which a web page is loaded depends upon your connection speed and the size of the web page. The smaller the web page the faster it will load, meaning MIDI is a great choice for embedded music.

How do I use my MIDI file on my web page?

Using your MIDI files on the web takes a little work and a little understanding of HTML programming. I will assume that you have already created both a MIDI file and a web page and wish to bring them together.

First you need to find the page you want to play the MIDI file from and open it for editing ao that you can see the source code. The nice thing about HTML is that it is a high level language meaning that it is very simple and not all that powerful. This also means that it is very easy for anyone to understand it and edit it. If you do not have an HTML editing program you can use Word or Notepad which comes automatically with the Windows OS. You must ensure that you save the file with the same extension it originally had, usually html or htm.

 Now for the programming part. To have your page play a MIDI file you first need to add a MIDI file to the same directory as the page source file. For example, let’s say the MIDI file is named web_music.mid. To use it, you must now add the following command to the code in your page.

<EMBED SRC=”web_music.mid” AUTOSTART=FALSE LOOP=FALSE WIDTH=145 HEIGHT=55 ALIGN=”CENTER”>
</EMBED>

Upload the MIDI file and your edited page to the web and then visit the page location using your web browser. Your web browser will use its default plug-in to play the file and you should hear music right away

Here’s what’s Happening:

  • EMBED tells the browser an embed sound is here — go get the plug-in. Remember, embed commands are associated with plug-ins.
    Note: If no plug-in is available, the browser will do one of three things:

    • 1. Do nothing. This is true of very early level browsers or browsers other than Netscape.
    • 2. Put up a dialogue box asking you how you want to handle the file.
    • 3. Tell you a plug-in is needed and ask you if you’d like to go get it.
  • HEIGHT/WIDTH deals with the plug-ins control panel size on the page.  If you do not want a panel, add the command HIDDEN=”yes” or set the height and width to zero.
  • SRC stands for “source.” It tells the browser where to go to get the audio file.
  • AUTOSTART deals with whether you want the sound to play by itself or by the viewer starting the file after the plug-in box pops up. “True” starts the file straight away; “false” prompts the viewer. Note I used “false” above. “True” would have started the file straightaway upon load.
  • LOOP works the same way. “True” loops the sound so it plays forever. Make the loop “false” if you only want it played once.

Now that you have added the commands and uploaded the page, you’re ready to go. This really makes for a nice personal touch and a great way to show off your musical talents. Have fun.