Download Midi files for singers: a rough guide

Midi files for singers: a rough guide
by Don Taylor
Midi for singers
Midi files (*.mid) are very useful to singers, particularly for chorus parts and ensemble works. Together with a
score, they provide a very fast way of learning parts. The crucial difference between them and ordinary audio
files is that you have control over what you hear – you can slow them down, speed them up, choose which
part you want to hear, and even change how each part sounds. Midi files also sometimes contain lyrics, which
special players can display on a karaoke-type screen (these files are usually named *.kar)
What is Midi?
MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. A midi file is a type of computer file that plays music. Midi
files are not like pre-recorded music files (such as wav or mp3), since they merely contain codes that instruct
your computer to play itself – much like the old pianola player-piano rolls. Midi files are far smaller than audio
files, and can easily be sent as email attachments. They carry no danger of virus infection.
Playing midi files
Most computers will play midi files “out of the box” if you click on the name, using the software already there,
as if they were ordinary audio files, but this gives you no control over individual parts. The main advantage of
midi files for singers is that each part is on its own “channel”, and can be played independently (or in any
combination). To do this, you need a special “midi player” app, which you can download on to your computer.
Nearly all such players are freeware. What they give you, in effect, is a “mixer panel”, with which you can
choose which parts you want to hear, each at whatever volume you want. You also have a a tempo control,
and a way of choosing which sections of the piece to play.
Midi-file players
Probably the simplest and most widely-used midi app is the Van Basco Karaoke Player, which is freeware,
and available on various platforms. A more sophisticated alternative (for Windows) is Midiplay: - also free.
However, this app seems to have some problems, and is not very easy to use. Please see my notes below on
using both of these programs.
Using midi files for practice
Midi files are best used for practice with the printed score. In learning a new piece, you will probably want to
hear your own part more clearly. You can change it to a clearer sound, and turn its volume up above the other
parts. You can then play the track (or any section of it) at a comfortable tempo while you learn the part.
Tips for part learning
Midi files don’t usually contain tempo or dynamic variations. You must remember what your conductor wants
when you sing the part properly. When learning a part, it’s easier if you are “led” by the accompaniment – as
midi files (and a lot of pianists) will do for you. However, if you let yourself get into the habit of being led, either
by accompaniment or other people, you will always be slightly late on the note, and make the ensemble
sound sluggish. When you have learned your part using a midi file, try singing it with your part muted out: a
real challenge, but worth doing if you have time.
Advanced part learning
Here’s my recipe for learning a harmony part away from the book – really quickly. Get a copy of the libretto –
either download it from somewhere (Google the song name and “libretto” or “lyric”) and print it out – or write it
out yourself, following your exact notes - you’re going to have to learn it, either now or later. (Be careful with
phrase repeats in some choral music – different parts may have different repeats. I sometimes add / or \ or –
between some words, just to remind me where the melody goes.) Listen to your midi file with your part solo or
emphasized, and sing along with it while looking at the words (not the score). Do this several times, never
listening to the whole melody, until the part you are singing becomes the only tune you remember. At some
point, continue without the printed words. Then de-emphasise (or even mute) your part, so you hear the full
melody, and sing your part in - you’ve cracked it!
Fancy stuff
You can use midi editing programs (sometimes called sequencers) to make detailed tempo and dynamic
changes to midi files (and sometimes to correct wrong notes!) Available programs vary from the expensive
professional-level Sibelius and Finale all the way to many free and easy-to-use midi editors, e.g. Anvil Studio
and Midiocre. (My own favourite is an old app called Evolution Audio Pro - I haven't found a better one for
what I do, but maybe it's just familiarity.) Once you get into midi editing you can make all sorts of useful
alterations to your midi files. The easiest thing to do is to change the voicing of parts. You will often find that
chorus vocal parts are all voiced as “Choir Oohs” -a soft-edged rather woolly sound. I like to change my own
part to something that stands out better, like an oboe or alto sax, or even a steel guitar. Or here's another
trick: each midi track has a “pan” control that shares its sound between left and right audio channels. I
sometimes “move” my own track fully to one side (say the left), the other parts (say) to the right, leaving the
“orchestra” somewhere in the middle. Then if I listen just to my left earphone I can learn my track by itself, or if
I listen just to the right earphone I can add my voice to all the others without cueing. If you take care with
dynamic and tempo changes, you can make one side into a usable backing track for your solo – at least for
practice.
Other devices
You can't burn midi files on to audio CDs, or play them on ordinary pocket players. However, it's possible to
convert them into other audio formats (mp3, wav, etc.) - you lose the flexibility of course, but they are then
more portable. My (Android) smartphone will play midi files directly, but I haven't yet found a sensible app
which will separate out the tracks or let me edit them. However - recently, away from home, I used my phone
to download a midi-file backing track from the internet, plugged the phone into a PA system, and performed
the song to an audience. Many things are becoming possible!
Making your own midi files
If you simply can't find the files you want on the internet, you can make them from scratch if you have the
time. If you have a midi-enabled keyboard attached to your computer, you can play each part in (or even
compose your own!) - but this is really quite difficult, even for good keyboard players. An easier way is to start
with a printed score, and use music-scanning software (my favourite is Sharpeye2). These programs (which
aren't cheap) read and process the staves on the printed pages, and produce editable screen images which
can then be saved as midi files (or in other formats). Usually, these images need quite a lot of editing,
depending on the quality of the scanned image. However, this can be quite interesting, and teaches you a lot
about the structure of the music before you've even played or sung it. You can get quite a lot of free scores
from sites like imslp.org, where you can download just the pages you want, or you may need to scan
original scores or good photocopies of them. Once you've made your own midi files, it's a pity not to share
them with the world, and a number of sites welcome uploads, which then puts your files in the public domain.
Most midi files on the internet are free to download – only a small minority of sites try to sell them. Strictly
speaking there are copyright issues attaching to making midi files, but they very seldom seem to arise. Midi
files are not transcriptions or copies of printed scores, nor are they actual recordings or performances. Even if
they are elaborately scored for different instruments they are seldom worth listening to just for the aesthetic
effect. Their presence freely on the internet can only assist performers to use printed music, and to widen the
appeal of the composers' works. What's not to like?
Instructions on how to use the Van Basco Karaoke Player
The main Van Basco window looks like this:
If you right-click in this window, you can
choose which other windows will open. The
most important for you are “Playlist, “Output”
and “Control”. Playlist lets you assemble the
midi files you want to play, by dragging them
into the left-hand pane. If the file has lyrics,
they appear in the “Karaoke” window.
You click in Playlist to choose the file you want, its name appears in the main window, and the blue buttons
control the playback, as you might expect. Or you can simply drag the filename on to the player.
The “Output” window looks like this:
Each part has a separate line. The red buttons mute tracks – the blue buttons make them louder than the
others. In this example, the alto part is emphasised.
If you click “Control” it shows you this:
Here you can alter the tempo and the overall volume (altering “key” would be cheating!). You can save your
settings if you want to.
(There are two other windows – the “Karaoke” window, which displays the lyrics sometimes embedded in midi
for karaoke files - it also may display the names of the midi tracks, so that you can look in the “output”
window and see which is which. Then there is a “Piano” window – which looks like – a piano!)
Usually the van Basco program, once used, will “associate itself” with midi files – so if you click on a midi file,
van Basco will automatically play it. However, other multimedia programs may try to snitch midi files back for
themselves. In this case, you may need to get into the “Setup-Misc” area of van Basco to remake the
association.
The Van Basco help screens are excellent, and explain all the other features of the program.
An Update
Since about the beginning of 2010, I have noticed that when Van Basco starts, it often says “There is not
sufficient memory to use this program” – even when this is manifestly untrue. If you acknowledge this
message and immediately try again, it works normally. It happens on 3 individual machines on my network,
each running Windows XP Pro. I’ve no idea why this is – another Microsoft Mystery? At least they think up
new ones!
Notes on using Midiplay
When you download Midiplay, it comes as a single file: MidiplayW7.exe, which needs no further installation.
(Tidy people will make a new folder called Midiplay in their “Program files” directory, and put the file in there –
then make a shortcut to keep on their desktop.) When you run the program, you can open a midi file in the
usual way (File-Open). A window called “Track Names” then appears. I suggest you ignore this window,
(minimise it, but don't close it) Then go to the “Dialogs” item on the menu bar, click it, and then click the first
item: “CRH_MixerView_Dialogs..” This brings up the Mixer window, which looks like this.
If you then try to play your file, the blue volume bars appear, but there is no sound, you probably need to go to
“Output Devices” on the main menu and select “All Output Devices On”. If this doesn't work, you need some
technical help with “midi drivers” - or try another app!
N.b. This app appears to be unfinished – some of the many menu options don't seem to work at all – but hey,
it's free!