© S. Wilkins 9 April, 2005

Standard MIDI File (SMF) Activities

 

What Is a SMF? Activity 1: Thunderbirds Are Go! Activity 2: Using Program Change Activity 3: My Girl Remix Activity 4: Seven Days Activity 5: Using the Transport Bar Activity 6: MIDI File Mania Activity 7: In The End Activity 8: MIDI Mix'n'Match

Note: When completing these activities at school, all files are available on the school's 'R' (Shared / Resources) drive. You do not need to download any files from the internet when at school.

What is a SMF?

A SMF is a Standard Midi File.

SMFs are available everywhere on the internet and are very small in size (usually no larger than 30-50kB). They are MIDI files that have been saved in a standard format so that they can be loaded or imported into most sequencer applications.

A MIDI file does not contain any audio information. It contains information about what notes are played, how loud and what sound they are to be played on. MIDI files control MIDI sound sources such as synthesizers, sound cards and sound modules.

Activity 1 - Thunderbirds Are Go!

1. What is the TEMPO (Speed - in BPM {Beats Per Minute})?
2. How many BARS long is the song?
3. At what BAR does the DRUM INTRO start?
4. At what BAR does the MAIN THEME start?
5. What INSTRUMENT is playing the MAIN THEME?

Activity 2 - Using Program Change

1. Choose any MIDI file or search for one below.
   
   Sort by Length Sort by Name Show All Length (bytes) Limit: 100 200 400 none
   Search care of MIDI Explorer
2. Save the song and open it in a sequencer program (eg. Sound Studio)
3. Click the mouse on the PLAY button and listen to the song. When finished click on the STOP button.
4. Change all of the sounds of every track to something completely different.
5. Play back your song with the different Program Changes.

Activity 3 - My Girl Remix

All of the parts and instruments have been jumbled up.

1. Work out what instrument should be playing each musical part (ie. each track)
2. Make appropriate changes to the file by changing instrument names and MIDI channels to make the song sound correct
3. Save your version of the song in your "Songs" folder

Activity 4 - Seven Days

1. What type of file is "7 Days"?
2. List the names, track numbers and MIDI channels of all of the instruments in this song? (eg. Flute, track 4, channel 4)
3. Explain what you have to do to view the music of the Bass Guitar part.
4. What is the name of first note played by the bass guitar?
5. Write the rhythm of the 1st two bars of bass.
   (HINT: Use Maestro font if you have installed Finale Notepad on your computer, or install the Musical Symbols Font to write the rhythms.)
6. Explain what you would do to make the song repeat bars 7 and 8 over and over.
7. What is the TEMPO of this song? Write your answer in beats per minute. (BPM)
8. Make the "Choir Aahs" (track 5) an octave higher. Explain how you did this.
9. Look at the music of track 5 to work out if the pattern played in this part change at all through the song. What is your answer?
10. What types of notes are being played by the "Choir Aahs"?
11. The bass part does not continue through Verse 1? Copy and paste the bass part from the intro into the 1st verse so that it does play here.
12. Delete the drummers count-in. Explain the steps you performed to do this.

Activity 5 - Using the Transport Bar

Sound Studio Transport Bar

Cubasis VST 3.0 Transport Bar

The Transport Bar is the control centre for a sequencer program. It works just like a tape recorder and you should keep it visible at all times whenever you are working on a song so that you can easily stop, start and move around within the song. The function of the transport bar is the same for all sequencer programs.

The Position, Left Locator and Right Locator boxes are divided into THREE sections: BARS, BEATS and TICKS. In Sound Studio, one CROTCHET = 480 TICKS.

For example, a cursor position of 08.02.240 would mean Bar 8, Beat 2, 2nd Quaver.

The left and right locators are used to select a section of music to be looped for detailed editing or recording purposes.

This activity is designed to familiarise you with the Transport Bar. Follow each step and answer the questions in a Word document as you go.

What to do:-

1. Choose any MIDI file or search for one below.
   
   Sort by Length Sort by Name Show All Length (bytes) Limit: 100 200 400 none
   Search care of MIDI Explorer
2. Save the song and open it in a sequencer program (eg. Sound Studio)
3. Click the mouse on the PLAY button and listen to the song. When finished click on the STOP button.
   Q1: What is the TEMPO of the song?
4. Go back to the start of the song by clicking on REWIND and holding down the mouse button.
   Q2: Is there a quicker way to get the cursor back to the beginning of the song?
5. Experiment with the FAST FORWARD button in the same way.
   Q3: Do these buttons work during playback?
6. Find the TEMPO box and change the value by holding down the left or right mouse button over the number.
   Q4: Which mouse button INCREASES the value and which button DECREASES the value?
   Q5: What happens when you hold down the SHIFT key and try to change the TEMPO?
7. Change the TEMPO to 180 then to 50.
   Q6: How long was the song at 180 bpm?
   Q7: How long was the song at 50 bpm?
8. Set the TEMPO to a speed that you think sounds the best.
   Q8: What TEMPO do you think sounds the best?
   Q9: How long is the song when played at this TEMPO?

Activity 6 - MIDI File Mania

What to do:-

1. Choose any MIDI file or search for one below.
   
   Sort by Length Sort by Name Show All Length (bytes) Limit: 100 200 400 none
   Search care of MIDI Explorer
2. Change the KEY of the music to a HIGHER or LOWER PITCH by TRANSPOSING the parts.
3. MUTE different tracks to alter the arrangement. You might mute the melody to create a backing track or mute the drums and some instrumental parts to create a version of the song in A Capella style
4. Alter the sounds to give the song a different effect
5. Change the TEMPO
6. Experiment with the QUANTISE and GROOVE functions of your sequencer
7. Create a REMIX or EXTENDED version of the song by adding moving, cutting, pasting and deleting sections and parts of the song

Activity 7 - In The End

What to do:-

1. Open the SMF In The End in a MIDI sequencer (eg. Sound Studio).
2. Download and open the MP3 file In The End in a MP3 player (eg. WinAmp, Windows Media Player)
3. Play the MP3 file and listen to the order of the notes in the piano part
4. Listen a few times until you are very familiar with the part
5. Switch over to your sequencer and play the MIDI file. You will notice that the PITCHES of the notes are wrong
6. Open up the Score Editor and move the notes UP or DOWN so that they sound at the correct PITCH.

   MAKE SURE THAT YOU DO NOT CHANGE THE RHYTHM

Activity 8 - MIDI Mix'n'Match

What to do:-

1. Open each of the SMF's listed below in a MIDI sequencer (eg. Sound Studio or Cubasis VST). You will need to right click and save each file first.

   Happy Birthday | Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
   Waltzing Matilda | Australian National Anthem | Song of Joy
   

2. Play the MIDI file and listen to the order of the notes
3. You will notice that the PITCHES of some notes are wrong
4. Open up the Score Editor and move the notes UP or DOWN so that they sound at the correct PITCH. MAKE SURE THAT YOU DO NOT CHANGE THE RHYTHM
5. Save the song as a MIDI file
6. Repeat steps 1-5 for each song