Practical MIDI

Well, let’s see now. We’ve covered the uses of MIDI files, pitfalls of using them live, how to use them live, how to record with them and how to be versatile with them. What does that leave? How about composing with MIDI files?

I saw an interview with Elton John on cable TV the other night. He was talking about how he and Bernie Taupin used to write songs in the early days compared with how they write them today. Back in the late 60s the two of them lived together in Bernie’s mother’s house. There they would sit down and compare notes on what music should go with what lyrics. It was a real partnership in every sense of the word.

As the years went on, each moved into their own house and each worked on his own part of the song. Bernie handled the lyrics while Elton wrote the melodies. When Bernie had a handful of lyrics, he’d gather them up and go to Elton’s house and compare notes.

Still more time passed and soon the two found themselves in different cities but they still continued to collaborate on songs. Granted, it was a little harder and took longer, but they still produced some classic tunes that way. Bernie would gather up a few of his latest lyrics and mail them to Elton. A few days later when the mail arrived, Elton would go through the lyrics Bernie had mailed him and see if he could get inspired to match it up to a melody.

OK, now technology is catching up with the duo and each has a fax machine in their home. Bernie now faxes his latest lines to Elton, who sits at the piano and sets them to music. That was the part of the interview that caught my attention—the fact that within a minute, Bernie could have his latest lyrics in Elton’s hands via the fax machine. So what’s the next step, you ask?

Well, once Elton set Bernie’s lyrics to music, he still had to record it on a cassette and mail it back to Bernie. That gave me the idea for this column. Suppose Elton had been proficient with a sequencer and a computer. See where this is going? Now when the fax machine spits out Bernie’s latest lyrics, Elton could sit at his computer with a MIDI keyboard and sequence the tune right then and there. Once finished, all he has to do is save the finished product as a MIDI file and send it attached to an email to Bernie. Bernie could load it into his computer on Cakewalk (or a simple MIDI file player) and immediately hear how the song is progressing.

Now do you see another practical use for MIDI files? I found some really good quality CCR files on the web. They were sequenced by one guy from Australia and another guy from Canada. Some files were co-sequenced by the two. I’m sure they didn’t pack up their midi files and jump on a plane and meet halfway in Hawaii. They no doubt sent each other their MIDI files via the email system and perfected their craft that way. You can do it, too. Find a pen pal somewhere in the world with the same musical tastes as you. One of you can be Bernie and one of you can be Elton.

Maybe you’ll find several pen pals. One can be the percussion sequencing expert. One can specialize in guitar riffs while a third can lay down some killer keyboard tracks. Your job as writer will be to put it all together into one terrific sounding MIDI.
Now get out there and write us that next big hit.

©2005 Bill Bernico for CYBERMIDI.com Downwind Publications