All About MIDI Files from Piano Educational Point of View

Notes: Piano Wizard software allows the import of MIDI files for gameplay.  This video and post below by Britt is a raw intro to MIDI files.  It's a bit outdated since no one used floppy disks anymore, but the rest of the information is still relevant.

Hi. My name is Britt from www.capmusic.com. I want to help you understand MIDI files and the benefits they offer from the piano teacher / piano student point of view. MIDI files were created for musicians and standardized in the late '80s. Piano teachers soon discovered the benefits of MIDI files and how they could help piano students overcome the many challenges of piano study, especially

a) learning to keep steady rhythm;

b)learning to read notes and continually improving note reading; and

c) making students, especially beginners, sound more musical. Think of this...if band students were required to take 3 years of private lessons on an instrument BEFORE they could be in the band, most people would quit. It is more musical to learn in a group. MIDI files give piano students the experience of playing in a band, orchestra or ensemble. There are about 1500 books that come with MIDI files and there are thousands of MIDI files available for purchase on the Internet.

So here are important things for you to know about MIDI files.

1. What's the difference between MIDI files, wave files & mp3 files?
2. Why are MIDI files superior for learning?
3. What is a MIDI file?
4. Why does the sound quality of a MIDI file vary by where it's played?
5. Isn't there equipment that will transpose or slow down a CD or MP3?
6. Will MIDI files go away?
7. How do I acquire MIDI files?
8. Why do most books have a floppy disk with MIDI files?
9. How do I move files from floppy to a USB memory stick? Use your computer, open Windows Explorer or My Computer to create a folder on your USB memory stick, then copy the MIDI files from a floppy, CD-Rom, etc to the folder. Make each folder coincide with the name of the book.
10. What about Copyright? When you purchase MIDI files (or any music files or print music for that matter), you buy the right to use those files. You CAN make a backup copy for yourself but you cannot give it or sell it to someone else, not even just one song out of a set of songs. If you circumvent the sale of a copyrighted work, then you have committed a copyright violation. You've also removed all incentive for composers and publishers to create new works.
11. How do I convert a CD to an MP3 and then copy it to a USB memory stick to use the Roland MT90U? Use iTunes (download it from www.iTunes.com). Go to "Edit Preferences", then "Advanced", change location of music folder if necessary, click on "Importing" and change the Encoder to MP3 (either 128, 160, or 192 kbps; 192 is recommended for best quality). For each CD then 1) insert CD into computer and iTunes will ask to import. 2) after it is imported, use Windows Explorer (or My Computer), locate your iTunes folder, then copy the sub folder for that CD to your USB memory stick.