Midi files for singers: a rough guide

by Don Taylor

Midi for singers

Midi files (*.mid) are very useful to singers, particularly for chorus parts and ensemble works. Together with a score, they provide a very fast way of learning parts. Using them at home can save a lot of tedious note-bashing in live rehearsal time, and greatly improve the quality of eventual performances.

What is Midi?

Midi stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface: briefly, it is a computer scheme for playing and controlling music. Midi files will play on almost all home computers (and some smartphones). The crucial difference between midi files and ordinary audio files is that you have control over what you hear – you can listen to each "voice" separately, and slow the tempo down if you want to. You can then plan your own part learning, without needing anyone else to help you. Later when you meet with your group, you will already be streets ahead of the game. If you would like to hear midi in action, please go straight to my demo.

Playing midi files

There are many thousands of midi files on the internet; the vast majority are freely available. They can easily be downloaded, and carry no danger of virus infection. Most computers will play them “out of the box”, using built-in software, just as if they were ordinary audio files. However, if you want to control individual voices, you will need to download a special kind of midi-playing software, of which many are also free.

I used to recommend for starters the Van Basco Karaoke Player, which is freeware, and quite easy to use. Find it at www.vanbasco.com. However, it doesn't seem to work with more recent versions of Windows (Vista, W7) so it may be of limited use now. A useful recent alternative is Midiplay: from http://chrishills.org.uk/midiplay/ . This appears at first to be quite complex, but it really isn't, so please see my notes below on how best to use it. For Mac users, what's usually recommended is the rather complicated Garageband, which comes free with some new machines. I haven't tried using this (I don't have a Mac) - but I do note that Sweet Midi Player, which is also available for PC, has a version for Mac, and could be a good choice.

Using midi files for practice

Midi files are best used for practice with the printed score. In learning a new piece, you will probably want to hear your own part more clearly. You can change it to a clearer sound, and turn its volume up above the other parts. You can then play the track (or any section of it) at a comfortable tempo while you learn the part.

Tips for part learning

Midi files don’t usually contain tempo or dynamic variations. You must remember what your conductor wants when you sing the part properly. When learning a part, it’s obviously easier if you are “led” by the accompaniment – as midi files (and a lot of pianists) will do for you. However, if you let yourself get into the habit of being led, either by accompaniment or other people, you will always be slightly late on the note, and make the ensemble sound sluggish. When you have learned your part using a midi file, try singing it with your part muted out: a real challenge, but worth doing if you have time.

Advanced part learning

Here’s my recipe for learning a harmony part away from the book – really quickly. Get a copy of the libretto – either download it from somewhere (Google the song name and “libretto” or “lyric”) and print it out – or write it out yourself - you’re going to have to learn it, either now or later. (Be careful with phrase repeats in some choral music – different parts may have different repeats.) Listen to your midi file with your part emphasized, and sing along with it while looking at the words (not the score). Do this several times, never listening to the whole melody, until the part you are singing becomes the only tune you remember. At some point, continue without the printed words. Then de-emphasise (or even mute) your part, so you hear the full melody, and sing your part in - you’ve cracked it!

The future for choirs?

Given that the large majority of amateur singers already have access to home computers, and that midi technology is readily available and substantially cost-free, it's possible to think of choirs and vocal groups that rely entirely on midi for part learning. Judging by their websites, it seems that some already do. They are able, in theory at least, to turn up to their first rehearsal of a new piece already note-perfect, with all future sessions free to devote to quality of performance. (This is, after all, what is required of amateur participants at some weekend workshops and summer schools.) It's this vision, for the thousands of amateur choirs everywhere, that motivates me to write this piece.

Fancy stuff

If you really get into midi, and you have a little more than minimum technical skills, you can use editing programs (sometimes called sequencers) to make detailed tempo and dynamic changes to midi files (and sometimes to correct wrong notes!) Available programs vary from the expensive professional-level Sibelius and Finale all the way to many free and easy-to-use midi editors, e.g. Anvil Studio and Midiocre. (My own favourite is an old app called Evolution Audio Pro - I haven't found a better one for what I do, but maybe it's just familiarity.) Once you get into midi editing you can make all sorts of useful alterations to your midi files. The easiest thing to do is to change the voicing of parts. You will often find that chorus vocal parts are all voiced as “Choir Oohs” -a soft-edged rather woolly sound. I like to change my own part to something that stands out better, like an oboe or alto sax, or even a steel guitar. Or here's another trick: each midi track has a “pan” control that shares its sound between left and right audio channels. I sometimes “move” my own track fully to one side (say the left), the other parts (say) to the right, leaving the “orchestra” somewhere in the middle. Then if I listen just to my left earphone I can learn my track by itself, or if I listen just to the right earphone I can add my voice to all the others without cueing. If you take care with dynamic and tempo changes, you can make one side into a usable backing track for your solo – at least for practice if not actually for performance. Do all this on your smartphone with a karaoke lyric on the screen – it's a whole new world!

Making your own midi files

If you simply can't find the files you want on the internet, you can make them from a printed score if you have the right software (I use Sharpeye2). You can get quite a lot of free scores from sites like imslp.org, where you can download just the pages you want, or you may need to scan original scores or photocopies of them. Programs like Sharpeye process the staves on the printed pages, and produce editable screen images which can then be saved as midi files (or in other formats). Usually, these images need quite a lot of editing, depending on the quality of the print or scanned image. However, this can be quite interesting, and teaches you a lot about the structure of the music before you've even played or sung it. Once you've made your own midi files, it's a pity not to share them with the world, and a number of sites welcome uploads, which others can google their way to if they want them. Most midi files on the internet are free to use – only a small minority of sites try to sell them. Strictly speaking there are copyright issues attaching to making midi files, but they very seldom seem to arise. Midi files are not transcriptions or copies of printed scores, nor are they actual recordings or performances. Even if they are elaborately scored for different instruments they are seldom worth listening to for the aesthetic effect. Their presence freely on the internet can only assist performers to use printed music, and to widen the appeal of the composers' works. What's not to like?

Notes on using Midiplay

When you download Midiplay, it comes as a single file: MidiplayW7.exe, which needs no further installation. (Tidy people will make a new folder called Midiplay in their “Program files” directory, and put the file in there – then make a shortcut to keep on their desktop.)  When you run the program, you open a midi file in the usual way (File-Open). A window called “Track Names” then appears. I suggest you ignore this window (Tidy people could minimise it out of the way.) Then go to the “Dialogs” item on the menu bar, click it, and then click the first item: “CRH_MixerView_Dialogs..” This brings up the Mixer window, which is all you need to see.

Note the volume slider on each track, and the other controls on the right.

Copyright © Don Taylor. All rights reserved.