1. What is a "Midi"?
 Midi
is actually MIDI - a type of file
structure that permits controls for
various parameters to be assembled as a
file. A "midi" is a file in the
format. (In fact, there are a number of
variations on the basic format but that's
not important right now).
One
of the most popular uses for the format
is the storage of instructions for a set
of synthesisers on a computer's sound
card to play tones that mimic a piece of
music. But it's important to remember
that there is no actual music recorded in
the file, only instructions. This confers
the advantage of incredibly small file
sizes, but there are disadvantages as
well - and those lead to the two most
common criticisms of midi-format music.
First, as I stated on the
home page, 99% of midis are cover
versions of variable quality, which leads
many to underrate the format's potential.
The second complaint is with the level of
"reality" in the instruments
used. The description "thin" is
often used when speaking of midis, and to
some extent this criticism is justified.
However, what most critics fail to take
into account is that the "thin
warble of poorly synthesised psuedo-instruments"
is at least as much a function of the
soundcard and speaker system in use as
anything else.
In fact, one of the greatest
frustrations for composers who work in
the midi format is that no other computer
system will play exactly what the
composer heard. The notes might be the
same but the instruments and their
interplay will almost inevitably be
different - either a little, or (more
commonly), a lot. This is a topic that is
more fully addressed on the next page of
this section!
A
third criticism is that the arrangements
are "amateurish". Again, to
some extent, this is a justifiable
criticism; most of the people doing these
ARE amateurs, and so this comment should
astonish no-one. Even "professionals"
are often not as skilled as perhaps they
should be. But, at least part of the
problem is that the medium forces
composers to take one of two routes, and
both lead to inevitable unwarranted
criticism. Either the composer aims for
the lowest common denomenator, a tune
that will sound half-reasonable on most
soundcards - an achievement which
requires serious skill, but
which often means discarding virtually
all the nuance and colour that could be
put into a piece; or they work hard on
optimising the piece for whatever
soundcard they happen to use, on which it
may sound tremendous - which inevitably
means playing with fire so far as any
other soundcard is concerned.
And
that, without all the technical details,
is what MIDI is all about.
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