From bcarson@bitstream.net Mon Nov 06 14:42:15 2006
Subject:Re: OT! MIDI FILES

Boy, I made MIDI files for years for a living. Probably 10 years. Gawd,
how I came to hate drum machines. I started the 80's, with two
Sequential Circuit Toms, a set of bass pedals, a couple of synths, an
Ensoniq ESQ -M or something like that, and a Commodore 64 suitcase
model with a custom floppy drive that was much, much faster than the
computer's stock drive. I had cables everywhere.

People had never seen two guys (I always worked with a guitar player)
make so much noise, so we played some of the biggest bars in Minnesota,
just for the novelty. Our big show stopper was that old Night Ranger
song, Don't Tell me You Love Me. We really did have it nailed. Took a
week to program. But we also did Louie Armstrong's Wonderful World with
the full orchestra, mostly programmed one line at a time, no chords, so
it sounded right.

So much for the reminiscing. I quit playing music for a while after
that because I hated it so much. I'm a lot happier these days, playing
with live musicians. And I don't make any money at it. Ha.

Check out the ads in the back of Keyboard, like Tran Tracks. That shit
is really well done. Great selection. They have a website.
http://www.trantracks.com/

Another good use for MIDI files is to download the file, open it in
Finale or Sibelius, and play it back real slow while reading the sheet
music on the computer, to learn stuff. And it's a cheap way to get horn
charts.

Good luck, and have fun.

Bill

On Nov 6, 2006, at 1:30 PM, jake92028 wrote: