TCG's MIDI Notes & Links

To Table-Index

-------- A few GENERAL NOTES on these MIDI FILES --------

 

MY BARGAIN-BASEMENT EQUIPMENT

  These files were created on a Macintosh Performa 475, with MidiGraphy 1.2.5 (now 1.3.6); instruments, volume/velocity levels, control changes, etc., were optimized (?!) for an Edirol/Roland Sound Canvas (SC-55ST), following either GM or GS standards....
  Many of the first 15 or 20 songs were originally done in DMCS 2.5 years ago and subsequently translated to MIDI via MusicShop 1.0.2, which I also use a bit for recording tracks, now that I have a keyboard controller, a Roland PC-160.... Oh, and I connect the hardware with an Opcode MIDI Translator II and play the whole shabbang outa Radio Shack (AMX-16) speakers! I also occasionally use the the SC-Pro Editor/Librarian (1.0) that came with my Sound Canvas--helpful in figurin' out Sysex stuff.... And now I have Band-in-a-Box 6.0, too--see the index/table at page's bottom--_now_ I'm COMPLETELY broke!
  So please don't rob my house now--I'm still payin' on most of this crap, and besides, the house is a pit....
  (Another favor: if any Mac/MIDI people can tell why both Apple's MIDI Manager & OMS 2.2 crash with the above hard/software, please let me know! yes, I've tried it with all other extensions off!)

A Musical Note: If you have a QT/MIDI plug-in installed, or if you've chosen a helper application in your browser's preferences that can play audio/midi (.mid) files, selecting a file link below should(!?) play the file, via the plug-in or application.

Or you can save the link instead as a raw ("source") data file: Macintosh/Netscape users, for example, need to option-click (I just click & HOLD) the desired file link. Now select "Save this Link as..." and save the file as a "source" file. (You'll still need some sort of MIDI player application to hear the file on your hard drive, however.)

UPDATED Note on Plug-ins: for the "GS" files to sound right, you'll also need to have your player/plug-in "hooked up" to a Roland or other GS-compatible sound card or module!

A Second Musical Note: Some of the tunes are pretty short, since I don't have a real midi input device: I do it the poor & stupid way--draggin' those dang oblongs across the plotter graph! Also, some of the files are rather sparsely voiced because they were originally _solo_guitar_ compositions or arrangements.... [Later Note: this mea culpa applies, for the most part, only to the first 15 or 20 files.]

FILE UPDATE Note: --[Previous Update/Revision notes deleted]--
As I've indicated at the top of the page, all files have now been (or soon will be) replaced with new versions as of 10/30/96. Subsequently posted files & updates/revisions will be appropriately dated.

"Tom! Every time I turn around, you've posted a new version of ----!?" Well, to paraphrase Paul Valéry, " A song is never finished, only abandoned." (However, if you notice that I've modified a file some six months later, it was probably just an obsessive-compulsive editing of a meta-text comment!)


An Explanatory Key:
 
....GM: file should sound okay through any MIDI player/device, though you may have to adjust the volume levels. (However, the file may use some controllers--sostenuto, soft pedal, reverb, chorus, and portamento--not acknowledged by all GM sound modules.)

....GS: file (usually) has instrument bank or drum kit changes that require a GS-compatible device to be played back correctly. Some files may just have slight GS SysEx or NRPN tweeks and may not fare too badly on a GM device: but if yu' happen to hear a helicopter in the middle of a slow, lush ballad--aaaaaaah!

NEW, as of 2/97: I've updated the textual notes to the MIDI tunes by including more detailed info on each file's use of GS/SC-specific MIDI messages (bank select, sysex, etc.) and/or GM messages that aren't universal to all GM modules (portamento, etc.)....

....{karaoke}, KAR.mid: this suffix indicates a Karaoke MIDI file, with a lyrics track that many MIDI players can display (such as Arnold's Midi Player); or it can be imported into QuickTime 2.5 for an excellent karaoke show! Non-karaoke players can usually handle such a file, too, though you may have to change the file/creator types--and no karaoke display, of course. (These files were originally .kar files, but I renamed them so that my server would download them properly; you may have to rename them with the .kar suffix to see the lyrics display, depending upon your karaoke player....)

  "WEIRD, fella--your karaoke files are originals, not tunes I know and can sing along with?!" Well, besides the copyright problems involved with the latter, I think .kar originals are a pretty concise & painless way to share original music-with-lyrics without the great many K's involved with a .wav or .aiff file, and/or without the time & expense of gettin' a real vocalist....

....RH.mid: this suffix indicates a "RHythm" midi file, an extended "jam" version without the higher voices, made so that a guitar buddy of mine and I could practice our chops. [Obsolete--I've subsequently added my own lead lines to all such files; if yu' really want to jam to, say, one of the blues tunes, just mute the lead channel(s).]

....{BIAB}: songs with this designation employ rhythm sections (usually drums, bass, and piano or guitar) that were originally generated in Band-in-a-Box, then tweeked and combined with original tracks....

 

== SOME MIDI LINKS ==

**TUNES**

=-=-= MIDI files _per_se_ =-=-=

* Standard MIDI Files on the Net

"The Comprehensive List of Sites With MIDI Files"

* MIDI FILES! (The Ultimate Midi File Archive)

LOTS of files, arranged according to (rock) band, (Classical) composer, etc.

* The Complete MIDI File Directory

--Lots of MIDI file categories (and links)...

* Web Thumper - MIDI Files on the Net

Files & search engine... (no-frames version--when I'm cruisin' for files, I can live without the cool graphics!)

* MIDI Search Engine

"Let MIDI Explorer Find Your Files"

* The MIDI Directory

another "all-inclusive" site . . . ("new": 12/98)

* Midi Music Links on the Net :-{  (closed!/censored!?)

Links to many midi file sites (FTP, et al.)

* MIDI Jazz Network

Original (collaborative) files from members, some standards...

* The Downbeat Cafe Jazz and Midi

Lots of jazz standards...

* Rock Midi Files

Many well-known 70's & 80's tunes, alphabetized by band . . .

* MIDI Haven

"over 10,000 files," well-organized into genres and arrangers...

* Gandalf's Midi File List

Lots of hard rock "standards"...

* The Sound Site

huge, excellent "ftp"-like list of midi files...

* Nerd Wide Web MIDI Resources

large link page...

* Freestyle 101: MIDI Drum Files

"midi, music, and piano lesson resources"--including some nice, free midi-drum templates...

* GaryW0001's Official MIDI Homepage

"midi, music, and piano lesson resources"--MIDI tunes from one of the best-known MIDI arrangers on the Net...
 

**POTPOURRI MIDI PAGES**

=-=-= Files, info, software, et al. =-=-=

* Yahoo! - Entertainment:Music:Computer Generated:MIDI

Huge (and annotated) "jump" page...

* The MIDI Farm

A large omnibus/potpourri of MIDI pages...

* The MidiWeb(tm)

General MIDI info, and more...

* Harmony Central: MIDI Tools and Resources

Lots of--uh--tools & resources!

    * HARMONY CENTRAL USENET NEWS ARCHIVE

    Search the MIDI (and guitar, etc.) USENET groups!

* Ultimate MIDI Page

Links to a plethora of MIDI files, plus resources, etc.

* MIDIWORLD

Info, files, etc., as usual--PLUS the experimental "MIDI-Lab"

* Computer Karaoke Homepage

Karaoke files, software links, info...

* Dave Butler's Music Page

MIDI & BIAB files...

* Charles Gleason's Band-in-a-Box Files

BIAB tunes & styles to download...

* Kwest Musicians Sound Files

MIDI files, BIAB tunes & styles, samples, programs...

    * KWEST BIAB File Directory

    --Band-in-a-Box tunes and styles...

* Band in a Box Music Group

    --in French...

* Dave Benson's Music Links

MIDI links, and some Roland/SoundCanvas links

* The MIDI Music of John Bloise

original tunes, & good sequencing tips . . .

* Club Mid Home Page

MIDI mailing list (listserv@pumpkin.warwick.ac.uk; subscribe clubmid) and the group's MIDI files available via ftp

* Guitare et MIDI --en français

Guitar-MIDI info, including tabs with MIDI "accompaniment" . . .

* Index of /~raybiss/rhythms/midi

    --Latin-drum-midi samples...

    * Index of /~raybiss/rhythms/midi/songs

    --and some Latin song styles...

* MP3 and MIDI Music Home Page
 

**MIDI INFO**

=-=-= the tEcHnIcAl side =-=-=

* MIDI Technical Fanatic's Brainwashing Center

Jeff Glatt's great page(s)--best single reference I've found...

    * MIDI Tutorials

    Lots of good info for beginners like me here...

    * MIDI Specification

    --and it's in (real) English!...

* MMA Home Page at WWW.MIDI.ORG

The MIDI Manufacturers Association: official midi specs, copyright info, developer guidelines, etc.

* Midi Programming Tips

Nice, specific GS/XG advice on making your MIDI files "fuller," etc.

* Brief Overview of Proposed General MIDI Level 1 Spec
 

**MAC/MIDI INFO**

=-=-= Apple to the core! =-=-=

* The Macintosh MIDI User's Internet Guide

Mac/MIDI info, apps, utilities, plug-ins, et al.

* MMAP's Midi and the Mac :-{  (defunct?)

The "like-it-is" low-down on hardware & software...

* QTMA QuickTime Music Architecture

The most informative page on the Mac's "for-us-poh-boys" software synthesizer (QuickTime Musical Instruments), unfortunately one of the most arcane subjects, apparently, in Apple's bag of tricks....

* d r e a m f l u i d: music via QTMI and MIDI

Good list of QTMI links...

* MacBeat

--commercial software, hardware, & services for Mac musicians
 

**ROLAND/SOUND CANVAS INFO**

=-=-= the HARDware =-=-=

* ROLAND U.S.

--'nuff said--

* Edirol Corporation

Roland's U.S. representative: sell the wife & kids and mail-order a Sound Canvas today!

    * Tips, Tweaks, & Tricks

    Edirol's tips for the Sound Canvas ...

* The SoundCanvas Users Group

They have a FAQ, zipped collections of SC-specific MIDI files, some Roland documentation, and a great mailing list (Majordomo@frisbee.net.au; SUBSCRIBE SCUG-LIST your_email_address)....

    * The Canvas Carry-All

Lots of great SC resources and info

    * Sound Canvas FAQs, HOW-TOs, and Other Readables

    Some Roland documentation and other "help" files...

* Roland Support

Lots of documentation files on Roland gear...

* Harmony Central: The Synth Database: Roland

User reviews, etc.

* Dave's Roland Page

Great info and links...
 

**MIDI SOFTWARE**

=-=-= commercial & shareware/freeware =-=-=

* Opcode Systems

Makers of OMS, Vision, Overture, Musicshop, etc....
Note also the Opcode Users' mailing list
  (Majordomo@opcode.com; subscribe opcode-users your_email_address)....

* PG Music

Makers of Band-in-a-Box, SC-Pro Editor/Librarian, etc....

    * PG Music Forum

    Need BIAB help? Ask the program's creator!...

* TONTATA's Home Page (English edition)

    Get the latest version of MIDIgraphy....

* Mac & MIDI Software Search

--via Virtual Software Library and Shareware.Com...
 

**RELATED MUSIC HARDWARE/SOFTWARE SUPPORT**

* Gracenote (CDDB) {6/01}

* Best of MP3 for Apple Macs {6/01}

* SoundJam MP {6/01}

    * SoundJam message board (Cassady & Greene) {6/01}

* Toast Support (Roxio) {6/01}

    * Roxio Listserv (Toast, etc.) {6/01}

* Sound Edit 16 manuals {6/01}

 

== MIDI NEWSGROUPS ==

  * alt.music.midi

  * comp.music.midi

  * alt.binaries.sounds.midi

  * rec.music.makers.synth

 

 

Back to the TOP!...
Main MIDI Page
Original MIDI Files, for better or worse!
Others' Lyrics Set to MIDI
  MIDI Arrangements
Xmas MIDI Arrangements
Band-in-a-Box Stuff
MIDI LINKS & NEWSGROUPS
All Tunes by Genre
MIDI Info

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