The purpose of this project is to create a searchable database of Standard MIDI files for incorporation into multimedia objects for teaching, research, and presentation. Many multimedia creators actively seek public domain music and sound resources for their presentations. Audio files cannot be adapted to the length of a multimedia segment without changing the quality of the sound. Audio files are also quite large and difficult to load in a short time. This project provides flexible musical resources as MIDI files that are about one tenth the size of equivalent audio files and are extremely flexible in terms of performance duration.

A few definitions will be helpful to understanding this process.

• Standard MIDI Files are part of an industry standard known as the Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI). They contain the data necessary to perform a musical composition on synthesizers and computers. They can be used as stand-alone musical compositions or as music to accompany film, video, or multimedia. Such files can be easily edited or transposed to new keys and can be moved freely between computer platforms and multimedia applications. In contrast to digital audio files, their performance duration can be altered without losing any audio quality.
• "Useable MIDI File" is a term developed by this project to describe a Standard MIDI File which has been structured to increase its suitability for change and adaptation. For example, each musical line is placed in its own track and MIDI channel, allowing complete control over each aspect of the sound. Such files can be more easily re-purposed for video, multimedia, printing, and performance.

Thousands of MIDI files are available on a variety of web sites around the world. However, because these files were primarily developed for music listening, fewer than 10% in our experience are actually useable MIDI files. Through the development of such resources, the University of Arizona will become a leader in providing useable MIDI files for multimedia development and enhancement of teaching and learning campus wide.

Content:

This searchable database consists of public domain musical compositions in the form of Useable MIDI Files for manipulation and performance as well as printable Adobe PDF files containing musical notation. Keywords describing each piece have been stored to enable searches for suitable music for multimedia applications. In addition to each complete musical composition, abridged versions have been created, conforming to industry standard lengths of 14.5, 29.5 and 59.5 seconds to provide more flexible formats for multimedia and broadcast. MIDI files allow users to change each piece's performance duration plus or minus 30% without loss of sound quality.

Musical compositions have been chosen from public domain sources of Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, International Folk and Ethnic, Colonial American, and Pop Standards.

Developers of multimedia presentations in any discipline can make use of these materials. Examples of applications include background music for film, video, and animation, music and sound effects for multimedia presentations, re-purposing materials for public school classroom teaching as well as school music ensembles, and so forth. Because MIDI is an industry standard, such files can be used in any programming environment for any application where music is desired.

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