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MIDI Vs. Digitized Sound

This shows musical notes stored in MIDI compared to digital audio. MIDI is musical notation, whereas digital audio is a sample of the actual waveforms. This is a conceptual example. The binary coding is not accurate.

MIDI1.WAV

A 44KB WAV File - Two Seconds

A 44KB Wave file, which stores the digital equivalent of the actual sound waves, holds a colossal two seconds of audio. Click this image to launch your media player and hear the beginning of Chopin's Grande Valse Brillante.

A 42KB MIDI File - Five Minutes

Listen to the same music in a MIDI file, which is actually 2KB smaller than the Wave file above. MIDI files are a thousand times smaller than a CD track and a hundred times smaller than MP3. Of course, the down side to MIDI is that only musical instruments can be recorded, not voice.

The Power of MIDI

This drummer is playing with two musicians in different parts of the country. They all hear the combined sound and see each other on screen (upper right). Starting in 2005, eJamming (www.ejamming.com) opened a new world of possibilities for musicians with MIDI instruments. Just like online gamers, who match their wits with players around the world via the Internet, musicians can jam with fellow artists in different venues. Due to MIDI's concise format, the "virtual band" has emerged.

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