What Are MIDI Files?
Music producers typically use MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) files to record sound from electronic synthesizers. These files capture information about which musical notes/keys are played at a specific time.
It also includes details like how long or loud each note will be so that any software that supports MIDI playback can reproduce the sound sequence.
Although the data recorded in a MIDI file might seem rudimentary, MIDI offers much more flexibility compared to your regular MP3 or WAV audio files due to two reasons:
- Lower file size: Compared to other audio files, MIDI files don’t contain the actual sound; they only contain the data required to reproduce it as a sequence of notes. Hence, the storage space needed to store a typical MIDI file is minuscule (in Kbs).
- Editable even after recording: Unlike MP3 and WAV files, you can edit MIDI files on a per-note basis. Furthermore, the same MIDI file can be opened with different virtual instruments to reproduce the sound of any musical instrument, as MIDI only stores the data required to produce a sequence of notes but not the actual sound.
How to Open MIDI Files on Windows 11
The best method to play MIDI files is using the VLC Media Player. However, you can’t play MIDI files using VLC Media Player right out of the box. Once you download and install VLC Media Player on your PC, you must download a SoundFont file from FluidSynth codec to play the MIDI files.
Step 1: Launch VLC.
Step 2: Click on Tools > Preferences to install the codec into VLC.
Step 3: When a Simple Preferences dialog appears on the screen > click on All at the bottom left corner.
Step 4: Expand the Audio codecs drop-down from the Input/Codecs section and select FluidSynth.
Step 5: On the right panel, click on Browse.
Step 6: Locate the SF2 (SoundFont) file you downloaded on your computer and click on it, followed by Open.
Step 7: Click Save to confirm the changes.
Step 8: Now, press the Ctrl + O keys simultaneously inside the VLC Media Player and select the MIDI file(s) you want to play. Then, click on Open.
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Last updated on 26 July, 2024
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