Midi Files; Playing Music Files - Creative SOUND BLASTER PRO User Reference Manual

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■ Instrument Patch — A specific sound ha a syn hesizer is
capable of reproducing. The pa ch number and sound quali y of
an ins rumen varies from one syn hesizer o ano her. The same
ins rumen can sound differen on differen makes of syn hesizers.
■ MIDI ile — A s andard file forma for s oring recorded MIDI
informa ion. A MIDI file con ains no es, iming and ins rumen
designa ions for up o 16 channels and informa ion abou each
no e: key, dura ion, volume, channel number, and veloci y (how
quickly he key ravels o i s down posi ion when s ruck).
■ Polyphony — This refers o he maximum number of no es ha
can be sus ained by a syn hesizer a once. For example, a four-
voice syn hesizer wi h six-no e polyphony can concurren ly play
six no es dis ribu ed among four differen sounds. This could, for
example, amoun o a four no e piano chord, a flu e, and a violin.
■ Sequencer — A compu er program, such as Sequencer Plus, or
an elec ronic ins rumen , such as a keyboard capable of s oring
a series of musical no es. These sequence of no es can be sen of
a syn hesizer o produce sound and music.
■ Synthesizer — An elec ronic device modifies waveforms o
crea e sound and music. The quali y and range of his sound
depends on several fac ors: he number of individual waveforms
or voices ha syn hesizer chip can play simul aneously, he
sof ware and memory size.
■ Timbre — The one quali y of a sound de ermined by he
frequencies ha make i up. I can also mean he unique sound
associa ed wi h an ins rumen such as a violin or saxophone.
■ Voices — The number of ins rumen sounds or imbres ha can
be played simul aneously in a syn hesizer.
Variations in
MIDI Files
A MIDI file is a s andard forma for s oring recorded MIDI informa ion.
A MIDI file can con ain up o 16 channels of music da a. This s ruc ure
is wha makes i possible o record differen ins rumen s and play hem
back a he same ime wi h each ins rumen on a differen channel.
While MIDI may be a s andard, he number values assigned o each
ins rumen are no . Each manufac urer decides heir own number. Tha
is why some MIDI file sound differen when played on a differen MIDI
device.
HS -
4 Playing Music Files