Twin Cities MIDI: MIDI with Windows

Most Windows users don't have problem when they try to use MIDI files from sources such as the internet (using resources such as those found here on Twin Cities MIDI since the bulk of what is available is dominated by files that are PC compatible, but sometimes they get files intended for other computers such as Mac's, Atari's, or Amigo's. They transfer the file to their PC, but they can't get their MIDI applications to recognize them. So they assume something must have gone wrong with the transfer. That's most likely not the case. This page addresses this issue, as well as others of interest to Windows MIDI users. You can read it straight through, or select the topic of interest to you. If after you read this you still have a question about MIDI please post it on the Twin Cities MIDI: Bulletin Board

1. How do I get started?

If you purchased a multimedia PC with Windows 95 or Windows 3.1 during the last few years there's nothing else you have to do. It will have a sound card and speakers installed and all you have to do is use Media Player to play any MIDI file (*.mid) that you have on your PC hard drive or floppy. If your sound card is General MIDI compatible (most new ones are) your in luck. IF it isn't General MIDI compatible it probably has an FM synthesizer. Most MIDI music will sound terrible with this type of sound card because it will not match the music parts to the right instruments and even if it did there is no comparison to sounds made with synthesizers on sound cards that use sampled sounds and those that use FM. Be sure to find out Why FM is dead.

If you don't have a sound card or if your sound card is not General MIDI compatible you should consider getting one that is. You should also make sure it has a MPU401 MIDI port because this will allow you to add a keyboard or other external MIDI devices to your PC.The MIDI port will require an adapter cable that attaches to the game port of the sound card. There are also daughter boards (such as the Ensoniq SoundScape DB) available for some sound cards that will make them General MIDI compatible but in most cases I think you better off just getting a new sound card.

There are also software solutions you can use to overcome the lack of General MIDI on your older sound card. Most of them such as Roland VSC-55 Virtual Sound Canvas and VSC-88Me or Yamaha S-YG20 sound software require so much computer power that a sound card upgrade is a better option but I have come across a few shareware and freeware programs such as WAVMaker 2.5 and MIDInight Express 1.3 that can even run on a 386 and make using software wavetables seem like an effective solution. Go to The Soft Synths Home Page for excellent comparison information and links to what is available from the web.

Another option is to purchase a Roland Sound Canvas SC88 or a Yamaha CBX-T3 which can be attached to a serial port on a PC or MAC. Roland's Sound Canvas series is a excellent series of General MIDI compatible synthesizers.

2. What types of files can I use?

In most cases, you want to make sure you're using a "standard MIDI file" (sometimes called SMF, but usually just called a "MIDI file"). Standard MIDI files on PC's use the extension ".MID". MIDI files are not the same as the files output by most sequencers, such as Cakewalk, Mastertracks Pro, etc. However, most sequencers can output a MIDI file if you ask them to. As an analogy, consider word processors. WordPerfect uses one format, Microsoft Word another, Microsoft Works another, etc. etc. One program's format is not compatible with the others, and cannot be used with the others (please ignore the fact that most programs now will automatically convert other formats to theirs...). However, if you ask the word processor to save as ASCII text, you can load it into virtually any word processor from Word to Notepad and it will work just fine. The analogy can be extended in that when you save a word processing file as ASCII text, you will likely lose formatting information such as margins, tabs, fonts, etc. Likewise, in converting your sequence to an SMF, you might lose some "sequencer specific" items that would normally be stored in the sequencer's native format. However, SMF's were designed for being transportable across platforms, so your SMF should contain more than enough data to play just fine.

3. Why doesn't my application recognize my MIDI files?

Once you've transferred the file to your PC (and ensured it's a SMF), you may find that your MIDI application (a MIDI file player or sequencer, etc) will not recognize your files as MIDI files. Usually, they simply won't appear in the 'Open' dialog box. The reason for this is that the application has no way of knowing this is a MIDI file. PC's normally use the extension .MID on MIDI files so that applications will recognize them. Your PC must also have a sound card with MIDI capability or a MIDI port card that is connected to an external MIDI device. Most new PC's come with sound cards that are General MIDI compatible. If your synthesizer or sound card is not General MIDI compatible you may be able to use The Windows MIDI Mapper to improve the way some MIDI sequences sound. If you are using Windows 3.1 check out MIDI Mapper info here.

Both Roland and Yamaha and some other creative people created software solutions to meet the need to be General MIDI compatible with older sound but in my opinion these became obsolete almost as fast as they became available because the availability of low price General MIDI compatible sound cards. Visit the The Soft Synths Home Page and read my comments is item one above to find out about possible exceptions to this statement.

If you plan on buying a new sound card be sure that it is General MIDI compatible. Most of the new ones are but there are still a lot of old ones that will not sound right with files written for General MIDI compatible synthesizers.

4. Are there shareware/freeware MIDI players and sequencers?

Windows users do not need shareware/freeware MIDI players to play MIDI. The simplest way to play MIDI file in Windows is with Media Player, a program that comes with Windows 95 and Windows 3.1. Internet Explorer 3.0, 4.0 and Netscape 4.0 will also play MIDI files. In fact, if you are using one of those three browsers you should be hearing music right now. Check out MIDI Players, MIDI Plugins and MIDI Karaoke Players on the Net for shareware and freeware that might interest you and be sure to check out the MIDI software that came with your sound card.

5. Why do MIDI sequences from the Web sound so bad?

If your sound card is not General MIDI compatible you should consider getting one that is or see item one for some other alternatives. This will definitely improve the sound of most MIDI sequences and FM synth sound cards are a major cause of poor sounding MIDI. Most of the files I've seem available lately are sequenced with General MIDI in mind. Once you done that then go to the Web and search out the best MIDI sequences you can find. There are some really great sounding ones out there. If that doesn't seem to help consider new speakers. They can make a big difference too.

6. How do I deal with compressed MIDI files?

Many files you'll find out on FTP sites or newsgroups will be in a compressed format. One of the most common compression schemes for MIDI files, it seems, is 'PKZIP'. These files have the extension '.ZIP', and generally originate from PC's. There are several utilities you can use to handle to decompress these files. My favorite is WinZip.

7. What's with UUencoding and MIDI files on Newsgroups?

The WinZip program discussed above should work just fine if you're getting your MIDI files from other users (via disk, for example), or from most FTP sites. However, if you're getting files from Email or a newsgroup (such as alt.binaries.sounds.midi, there may be another step you need to be concerned about.

Email and Newsgroups were designed to handle text messages. Standard MIDI files are binary files, meaning they are designed to be computer-readable rather than human readable. Sending such a binary file via normal means would not work correctly, since these files can contain characters other than the standard ASCII character set. To get around this, an encoding scheme known as "UUENCODE" was developed. It converts a binary file into a sequence of ASCII characters that can be sent over e-mail or posted to USENET newsgroups. The receiver can then UUDECODE the file to return it to its binary state.

There are UUDECODE utilities including WinZip available but Microsoft Outlook Express and most other Windows 95 newsgroup and e-mail utilities automatically converts "UUENCODED" and MIME encoded files to attachments.This has eliminated the need for use to even worry about how it is done or utilities to do it.

We hope this page was helpful to you. If you still have questions, or have something to add to this list (whether you know the answer or have something related you've been wondering), please contact me.