TOP 10 MIDI'S From the beginning, Magellan's Log has used midi files. Actually, in the beginning, we OVERUSED midi files. It was so tempting. If a writer mentioned Elvis, then, sure, let's put "Blue Suede Shoes" behind the piece while the reader reads. Actually, as we quickly, learned, what happens is: the readers TRIES to read. Music, unless it is Muzak (in which case, why bother), is distracting when mixed with prose, especially if the music is blasting right in your face. So we moderated our use of music greatly, discovering that where music on the Internet really does work beautifully is with graphics. Big surprise, huh? Just call us slow-learners. Since Magellan's Log does a lot of graphics features (note the words "images" and "beauty" above our banner), we have wound up using a lot of midi files. For Magellan's Log 25--the Music Issue, it occurred to us that it might be helpful to readers (not to mention a lot of fun for us) to go through all those midi's and pick out the really good ones. There are those who would say that "good midi" is an oxymoron. In a sense, they're right. A midi file after all is a very limited way of telling a computer to play a certain series of notes at a certain volume and tempo using one (or a combination of) some 100-odd computer generated sound. The niceties which make live music live music, such as subtleties of rhythmic variation and complex overtones, are completely absent from midi files. Which is why so many midi's sound, well, mechanical and lifeless. But creating a midi transcription can be a challenge, like writing a sonnet. Going in, you know the rules. The idea is to see what you can get working within those rules. The results can be surprisingly good. People who transfer music to midi are known as sequencers, and, judging by the number of midi files on the Internet,sequencers exist in the millions and spend a lot of time doing sequences when they are probably supposed to be doing other things (such as their job). Still, with so many people working at the challenge, you're bound to wind up with some fine stuff. Which is what our little list below is about. One caveat: You need to have a decent soundcard in your computer and a decent wave-table installed and at least halfway decent speakers. If you don't, even good midi sequences will be about as interesting as the beeps and squeals in the original Pong. One defense: With mp3, one may ask re
midi's: why bother? Because the very harmonic simplicity of midi's, which in unskilled
hands can reduce Bach to toy-music triviality, can in skilled hands offer a newly
transparent Bach, allowing us to hear with new ears. Traditional: Dueling
Banjos, 2:23. |
Everybody knows that hyperlinks are one of the great benefits of the
Internet. We continue to be amazed, though, how few sites make use of another of the
benefits: sound.
