Information on .mid (MIDI) files
What is MIDI?
MIDI - acronym of Music Instrument Digital Interface [1] - is a protocol in binary form thought as a standard of electronic music communication. All MIDI compatible instruments (ie. computers, keyboards, disklavier and other music instruments) can dialogue each other. The main information a MIDI can send are: the note-on (to sound a note) and the note-off (to stop the note), its velocity (to determine how loud it plays), the program (the instrument it plays). Music delivered by .mid files is the most common use of MIDI today.
The reason MIDI is so popular is that, unlike digital audio files (.wav, .mp3, etc.) or even CDs, it does not need to capture and store actual sounds. Instead, the .mid file is list of events which describe the specific steps - the sequence - that a soundcard, or other playback device, must take to generate sounds.
MIDI files are generally much smaller than digital audio files, and the events are also editable, allowing the music to be rearranged, edited, even composed and printed.
[1] More specifics from Grove enc.
What to do with
MIDI's are very useful for educational and entertaining purposes such as:
learn to compose
learn how to play the piano
analyze compositions
make sheet music
make ringtones
With our piano rolls collection it is possible to listen to how great pianists of the past played (just put the .mid file on the electronic keyboard, the disklavier or play it through the sound card, and enjoy the result).
It is believable that a good pianist should record his performance on the MIDI support to control his performance exactly: finger touch can be analyzed in essence. With a very simple sequencer [2], infact, you can analyze all the notes and their values, their dynamics and many other elements.
[2] A software to play and analyse MIDI files.
How to save a file?
The most important thing about saving files is to be careful to notice where you are saving the file.
If the file you with to save is a sound file (.mid, .mp3...) or a document file (.pdf): right click (over the file) and select Save Target As... (also Save Object As...). This allows you to choose a directory where to save the file/s.
With MIDI files you can also left click and then use the Save As function of the program you have already associated with the extension of the file you open (.mid, .zip, .pdf), see for example the Van Basco software for the .mid files.
How to play files
Free software for mid files. VanBascos Karaoke Player is a MIDI (Karaoke) Player for Windows 95/98/ME/NT 4/2000/XP coming with full-screen lyrics display. It supports skins, change and recall of tempo, volume, key control, mute/solo instruments, and much more.
Free software for mid files (supports soundfonts). TiMidity++ is an open source MIDI to WAVE converter and player. It uses Gravis Ultrasound-compatible patch files and/or SoundFont Banks to generate digital audio data from general MIDI files.
Søren Bovbjerg's pianos
*
Marvellous free piano soundfont: Steinway Mod. C. From the Bovbjerg' site also available the sample of the Fazioli
How to play MP3/OGG/WAV files.
A popular, fast, flexible high-fidelity music player for Windows. Winamp support MP3 and MP2 audio with it s native Nitrane high-performance decoder as well as CD-audio, MOD, S3M, IT, XM and even SID audio formats.
Small and compact MOD and audio player, that supports OGG, MP3, WMA, WAV / MO3, XM, MOD, UMX and other audio formats, as well as PLS, M3U and ASX playlists. It also supports Internet streaming for all supported file types (including MODs) and can write 8-32 bit WAV files.
How to open other files
Other destinations: