Blog #9: Reading Reflections for 9/21/2009

Articles Referenced in this blog: “The MIDI-Digital Audio Shuffle” by Dennis
Mauricio and Steve Oppenheimer
Case Blackboard>Technology Assisted Music
Education>Course Materials>MIDI Resources.

This is a very difficult blog for me to write. I have read Mauricio and Oppenheimer’s article listed above and also several lengthy descriptions of what MIDI is exactly from the copious postings in our course materials section of Blackboard. Computers have always seemed like magic to me – I’ve never quite understood how they work. So these readings about the process in which MIDI communicates digital messages was slow-going and frustrating at times. The computer jargon is foreign to my vocabulary. I’m going to write what I do understand about MIDI. It is not a sound recording but a performance instruction. MIDI sends messages which explain how a synthesizer can re-create a performance. It is a standard way to communicate between different types of software. Before its development in 1982, much music could not be produced across software programs meaning that recording artists could not share their works. MIDI offered a solution to this.

To utilize MIDI files, I need to have a five pin cable. Synthesizers and computers which are creating or sending these files can have three different ports – MIDI IN, MIDI OUT, and MIDI THRU. The first receives messages, the second releases them, and the third allows messages to be sent from a series of synthesizers linked together – this is apparently called “daisy chaining.” MIDI explains a number of things about a musical performance such as note pitch, note length, volume of note, and the tempo (which is part of the set-up data). There is a fixed number of sounds which MIDI can identify for the synthesizer; however, the list is quite extensive. Dr. Estrella posted a comprehensive chart of this on his Exploring MIDI website. Because MIDI is not a sound file, but only a message about sounds, the standard MIDI file tends to be fairly small and is encoded as .mid. The form of these messages is still completely confusing for me. I don’t have an understanding of codes which begin with 0 or 1, or the difference between status bytes vs. data bytes. I now understand the term digital, though! Digital refers to computers because computers communicate through a series of digits (either 0 or 1).

The Mauricio and Oppenheimer article debates the appropriate use of either digital audio files or MIDI. It seems that digital audio files are much larger and may not be interpretable by some software. However, an audio file is an exact copy of a particular performance. The copy will be similar to the original and allows for better accuracy. MIDI files seem most convenient to music educators, however. They can be exported in and out of Sibelius so that melodies can be transposed or the instrument selection can be switched. Music teachers will of course need to make adjustments for their specific ensemble if they would like to use a piece of music they downloaded from the web. The Scorch application we explored last class seems very practical, although I don’t know exactly how to get permission to print-out a piece. The amount of space on a public school computer can also be fairly limited, so the compressed size of the MIDI file would likely be convenient.

The only problem I see about MIDI files is that they require some type of software to change the messages into sound. This could be problematic if the school I’m working at has not purchased Sibelius or another synthesizer program. But being able to share music can be so beneficial for students. Even just showing interested performers that they can go online to sites such as Just Jazz, which we explored last class, could be a boost in motivation. I hope my students will understand and appreciate that technology has made it possible to share all genres of music with people across the globe.