Midi files....

[Roderick]

I am wondering about midi files...

we have this digital yamaha piano and one of the options on it is to save your recorded file to a USB drive.

once this fille is uploaded to the comtuper and played using some meadia player, it seams , as so i am told , that is sound's like what was played but nowears near the quality...

ideas , coments, sugestions, questions....

im looking for information

thanks verry much

[oddioguy]

MIDI is note "data" information only, so the quality of playback will be dependent on the device reproducing that information.
A good quality keyboard will have a good audio engine, whereas the computer you are using may only have a mediocre sound card. Hence the difference.

[macrae11]

Indeed, If you put that MIDI file into some software with a good virtual instrument, I'm sure the sound will be more along the lines of what you hearing from the piano itself.

You can kind of think of MIDI like sheet music. It's just a set of instructions for a performer (sound module) to follow. If you give a copy of a Bach sonata to a poor player on a cheap plywood guitar(crappy sound module, like in your sound card), it will probably sound quite poor, even if all the notes are correct. However give the exact same piece of sheet music to an excellent player with a world class guitar(good sound module as in the Yamaha piano) and you will have some great sounding music.

The real advantage of MIDI is that even if it was recorded on a piano you can use that "sheet music" (MIDI file) to play back a number of sounds. Or you can do even crazier things, like control a light show at a rock concert, or a mixers automation. Or you could even use it to do something not even musically related like playing drums! (ducks)

[Mathieu Benoit]

Like oddioguy said, it's just "data" not sound so... it depends what sound set you'd like to apply to that set of data.

For example, I have Cubase as my DAW, and I'd take your .mid file and import it into Cubase and simply choose to apply whatever VST instrument I'd like to it, maybe piano, maybe strings, maybe a drumkit patch just for shits and giggles. The VST instrument will simply, read your data, and apply a certain sound from it's banks.

Make sense?

A midi file is like a set of instructions. But you still need something to follow those instructions to hear sounds on the other end. At that point quality is a matter of the sound set that will interpret the instructions. Of course the audio output devices, I/O card, amplifier and speakers determine the rest.

Hope this helps...

[Mathieu Benoit]

MacRae you are quicker than I, old friend...

You are right about one thing though, drums aren't instruments, it's an urban myth!


BTW... Do you want to know what a drummer uses as a method of contraception?

.... His personality.

[oddioguy]

hehe...I used "hence" in casual conversation.

...in the 21st century.



Q - How do you know it's a drummer at your front door?

A - The knocking speeds up.

(Yeah, I know....sue me.)

[Mathieu Benoit]

What do you call the dumb guy that always hangs around a group of musicians?

[macrae11]

Hey did you hear about the bass player who locked his keys in the car?

It took him 45 mins to get the drummer out.

[oddioguy]

Q) How can you tell when your bass player has made a mistake?

A) His fingers are moving

[oddioguy]

Hey did you hear about the bass player who locked his keys in the car?

It took him 45 mins to get the drummer out.

Bwahaha..

[Jef]

Q - What's the difference between a bass player and a mutual fund?


A - A mutual fund will eventually mature and make money.

[Malcolm Boyce]

In addition to the "sheet music" explanation above, the midi file in question probably contains a basic explanation of what "instrument" should be used to play back the "notes". For example, if the file in question was recorded using the "piano" sound, when you play that back on another device, it will play back using it's version of a piano sound, unless it is told otherwise.

Windows, or any standard computer media player will have pretty crappy midi sounds.

[Malcolm Boyce]

Q) How can you tell when your bass player has made a mistake?

A) His fingers are moving

How can you tell a bass player is out of tune?










You hear them playing...

[Malcolm Boyce]

Hey did you hear about the bass player who locked his keys in the car?

It took him 45 mins to get the drummer out.

Why do bass players keep old strings on their dash board?










So they can park in handicapped spaces...

[Malcolm Boyce]

hehe...I used "hence" in casual conversation.

...in the 21st century.



Q - How do you know it's a drummer at your front door?

A - The knocking speeds up.

(Yeah, I know....sue me.)

I always heard that as:

The knocking slows down, speeds up, and they don't know when to come in!

[Malcolm Boyce]

What do you call the dumb guy that always hangs around a group of musicians?

Matt???

[Malcolm Boyce]

I do just like picking on Bass players...

How do you know the Bass player is at the door?












They can't find the key and don't know when to come in...