FIG. 1: Here’s a typical MIDI file opened in MOTU’s Digital Performer. The procedure for importing a MIDI file varies among sequencing programs but is generally very simple.

MIDI Files have many educational uses, and you can do far more with them than just download and play them in their original form. Because the Standard MIDI File format is almost universally supported, any MIDI sequencer can import MIDI files, allowing you and your students to edit the song data. That opens up a wealth of possibilities for customized lesson plans.

In this issue's “Lesson Plan,” we'll focus on two sets of skills: downloading MIDI files from Web sites, and manipulating and arranging them using music-production/MIDI-sequencing software. This addresses MENC Standard 4 (composing and arranging music within specified guidelines) and Standard 6 (listening to, analyzing, and describing music).

The first part of this lesson involves teaching students to search for and download MIDI files from the Internet. For example, if you are teaching a unit on the Classical Era, you might require students to locate MIDI files composed by Mozart. Students can search for MIDI files by doing a Google search (www.google.com) and entering the composer's name and the word “MIDI” in the search box.

Another option is to have the students visit specific sites that offer MIDI files. For classical music, I recommend the Choral Public Domain Web site (www.cpdl.org) and the Classical MIDI Archives (www.classicalarchives.com), but there are many other good choices. The Classical MIDI Archives requires users to register to download files. A free subscription is available to anyone who has an email address, but it has a download limit of five files per day. Unlimited files can be downloaded for a $25 annual fee.

On most Web sites containing MIDI files, if you click the mouse button (or left-click with a two-button mouse) on a hyperlink, the file will stream — that is, it will play back, in real time, through your computer's built-in synthesizer (usually a software synth or a sound card's synth chip). To download the file to the computer's hard drive, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac) on the link to the selected MIDI file. Be sure to instruct students to name and save the file in a familiar location on their hard drives, such as the Documents folder.

If there is no Internet connection available to the students in your classroom, you can download selected MIDI files ahead of time and then copy them to the student computers.

After the desired file is downloaded, the students should open it using a MIDI sequencer or other program that can import and edit MIDI files. Examples of such programs include MOTU Digital Performer (see Fig. 1), Steinberg Cubase, Propellerhead Reason, Apple GarageBand, Cakewalk Sonar Home Studio, and Ableton Live. Consult the software's documentation for the specific steps to import a MIDI file.

Once the file is imported into the software, students can manipulate and arrange the file according to specific guidelines. For example, you can have them experiment by changing the synthesizer sounds used to play the tracks. Give students some direction, such as “select instruments that would have been used by the composer.” Another option is to create a modern version of the piece with newer instrumentation. Although it sounds dated today, you could play selections from Wendy Carlos's famous Switched on Bach (CBS Records, 1968) to give students ideas about how they might adjust the music through tempo and timbre.

Assign students to mix the volumes of each track and encourage them to add ritards and volume changes throughout the piece, producing their own arrangements. Consider sharing student arrangements with the class; they will learn a lot from each other's efforts.

FIG. 2: This MIDI file, shown in Apple’s GarageBand 2, has been enhanced by adding MIDI loops.

If your sequencing program can manipulate audio and MIDI loops (a feature almost all modern sequencers have), instruct the students to add some percussion loops to the file to change the style or feel of the piece. Start with drum and percussion loops, because they do not require transposition. Horn, wind, and string loops will need to be carefully added to the sequence, because the students will have to match the loop's key with that of the sequence (see Fig. 2).

I like to have students first record a live percussion track. Adding harmonic parts can be more difficult for some students as it requires an understanding of harmony.

This lesson will unlock some very important areas for students. They will learn how to use the Internet to locate MIDI files, and manipulating MIDI files will help them to become aware of the instrumentation, the form, and many other aspects of the piece. Finally, arranging and adding new tracks helps students move toward the eventual goal of recording their own original sequences.

Tom Rudolph (terudolph@aol.com) is the director of music and a middle school classroom and instrumental-music instructor for the School District of Haverford Township, Pennsylvania. He also is an adjunct assistant professor at the University of the Arts and is president of the Technology Institute for Music Educators (TI:ME).