Creative SOUND BLASTER PRO User Reference Manual page 135

SOUND BLASTER
Playing usic Files
Playing music files is easy wi h he Sound Blas er Pro. We have included
wo programs, PlayMIDI and PlayCMF so you can play hese music files
forma s from DOS. Since MIDI is he more popular of he wo music
forma s, and since we also provide a MIDI por on he Sound Blas er Pro,
we fel ha you migh like some addi ional informa ion on jus wha
exac ly MIDI is.
Just WJaati as
IDI?
The Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) is he in erna ional
hardware/sof ware s andard. This s andard specifies he cable, hardware
in erface and communica ions pro ocol for moving da a from one MIDI
device o ano her.
MIDI devices communica e wi h each o her by sending codes hrough he
MIDI in erface. These MIDI codes are ac ually a musical score comple e
wi h sequence of no es, iming, and ins rumen designa ions. The syn ­
hesizer chip recognizes and in erpre s hese codes and produces music.
Please refer o he Appendix for syn hesizer capabili ies of he Sound
Blas er Pro.
Understanding
MIDI Terms
MIDI, like all compu er-based, has i 's own se of buzzwords. Sor of like
a differen language ha can be hard o unders and for he novice. Here
is a few words you migh encoun er in he world of MIDI.
■ Channels — A MIDI file con ains 16 channels. Each channel
con ains informa ion ha make up he basic s ruc ure of a song.
Each channel consis s of no es for a single ins rumen .
■ Channel Mapping — This is availableonmos sequence sof ware
on he marke oday. Since some sequencers can only send and
receive on one channel, his le s you send ha channel o any of
he o her available 15 channels. MIDI mapping ensures device
independence since only designa ed channels are used.
Playing Music Files QH-3