Introduction to MIDI
The first stop on any MIDI journal is the MIDI Association. It is free to sign up and you get instant access to the MIDI specification(s) and the forum. My first read from their library is the "What is MIDI?" booklet.
Computer Chronicles - 1986 MIDI Music Special
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Extra-MIDI Notes
OpenSuse Tumbleweed
It has taken me a long time to find an off the shelf MIDI file player. On the command line, I used PMIDI. I have recently discovered the Drumstick MIDI applications for Linux and other platforms. This can be readily installed from OpenSuse.
OpenMPT (Windows)

OpenMPT is probably best known for its ability to play Amiga MOD-style music. That is how I found out about OpenMPT. Beyond this obvious use, OpenMPT is also a powerful sequencer and is SoundFont enabled. I find it very easy to load in MIDI tracks and start hacking away. The OpenMPT workflow is not a MIDI orientated approach but it does have a few tweaks up its sleeve. The Tree View is a work of pure genius.
Sound Fonts .sf2

SendMIDI is a multi-platform command-line tool makes it very easy to quickly send MIDI messages to MIDI devices from your computer. The software is built in the JUICE library and is intended for sending CC, PRN and other messages to your MIDI-enabled equipment.
I haven't had much of a chance to give this whirl yet. I see this as the perfect solution to sending macro set up commands to my Yamaha Motif-Rack. Imagine this… large on-screen hot buttons to change effects, delays and other details on the fly. I can see this MIDI control tool improving my audio creation skills.
Besides sending CC, PRN, and other MIDI messages to your MIDI devices, SendMIDI can also be used for automation and integration purposes. You can use it to automate tasks that involve MIDI messages, such as sending MIDI program changes at specific times during a live performance, or controlling MIDI-enabled devices with scripts or other software programs. Additionally, SendMIDI can be integrated with other audio or music production tools, such as digital audio workstations (DAWs), MIDI sequencers, or hardware controllers, to enhance their functionality and streamline your workflow.
Go to SendMIDI project site.
Sound Fonts .sf2

Sound fonts were once marketed as the electronic instrumenet equivelent of a standard text font. Sound fonts have fallen our of fashion and are rarely used by the mainstream. That makes sound fonts perfectly interesting for my journal. Many retro-music platforms still give access to using soundfonts. However, VST programs are now the defactor standard for instruments in music software. There is a an old-school freeware VST program that lets one use sound fonts like any other modern instrument. The application is called Pneumo4 (Internet Archive).
- S. Christian Collings General User GS sound font
- Emperor Grieferus Roland SC-55 GM MIDI sound font
Other areas to investigate
- Ctrlr - control you MIDI life. A MIDI editor for your hardware. A look at the forums suggests that this is a powerful software tool that has a steep learning curve. Tomlet created a lesson to download called Ctrlr in 60 lessons.
- CSound is a sound and music computing system
- MIDI is the language of the Gods
- Pure Data Computer Music System
- Impro-Visor - Jazz improvisation advisor for the Improvisor
- The MIDI Music Adeventure Show seems to have gone offline. The site claimed to have a large selection of MIDI files in the QuestStudios Archive. I hope that this site restarts soon.
- jazz-soft test-midi-files
- Archive team The Geocities MIDI Collection