You can think of a MIDIWork (short for "MIDI Work of
Art") as a new kind of music video performance that you view
on your PC. The "video" that you see is generated by
your computer (computer graphics), and the "music"
comes from pre-recorded MIDI files. Both the video and the music
are synchronized. This is because the computer graphic images are
actually triggered by the musical events recorded in the MIDI
file.
A MIDIWork file, like a MIDI file, is a small data file
containing performance information, and requires a player program
(software), which uses the information in the data file to create
a performance. The player program for a MIDIWork file is called
the MIDIWorks Player.
When the MIDIWorks Player is installed on your computer, all
MIDIWork files (which contain the .MWK file extension) become
"associated with" the MIDIWorks Player program. This
association allows you to simply double click on any MIDIWork
file inside the Windows Explorer in order to view the music/video
performance. When you double click on a MIDIWork file, Windows
will automatically start the MIDIWorks Player program and send it
the name of the selected MIDIWork file. The player software then
creates the music/video performance.
MIDIWork files are only slightly larger in size than MIDI
files, and so they are easy and fast to download over the
Internet. And since they are not Windows executable files, they
can not contain computer viruses.
A MIDIWork file is created using the
MIDIART Live program. MIDIART Live gives professional and amateur
musicians the ability to visualize the music they perform (either
pre-recorded or live) and record their music/graphic performance
as a MIDIWork file. MIDIART Live gives users complete control
over many image generating parameters that manipulate the visual
images created during a performance. (These parameters include
animation effects, visual element sizes, color cycling effects,
etc.) When a MIDIWork file is created, these image generating
parameters are saved in the file. The MIDIWorks Player will
restore these parameters in order to accurately re-create the
performance that was created using MIDIART Live. (Note that the
MIDIWorks Player does not allow users to control these same image
generating parameters.)
PC Hardware Requirements
The MIDIWorks Player requires a 486 or Pentium based PC
running a Microsoft Windows
(version 3.1 through XP and now Vista)
operating system. (There is currently no version for the Macintosh.) For Microsoft
Windows Vista, there are some software installation issues, so be sure to follow the
previous link. An
SVGA video card in 256 color video mode is also required. (Your
display settings must be set to use the 256-color color palette.)
For sound generation, you should have a wave table based sound
card or an external MIDI sound generator device connected to your
PC via a MIDI interface card. The sound card or MIDI interface
card must be correctly configured under Microsoft Windows.
Download the MIDIWorks Player
You can download the MIDIWorks Player by simply selecting the
link below. The software is freeware, which means it costs
nothing and is fully functional. (If you enjoy the product and
wish to contribute to its continued development, you can make a
donation to the authors MIDIART development fund. Refer to the
README.HLP file included in the software package for information
on making a donation.)
The software that you download is in compressed ZIP file
format. If you don't have the software to unzip the ZIP file,
check out WinZip.com. After
you download the ZIP file, un-zip the file and execute the single
self-extracting Windows executable file. This will automatically
invoke the SETUP program for installing the MIDIWorks Player
software.
Worried about viruses? All the software you download from
this Web page was scanned for viruses using McAfee VirusScan95.
It was found to be free of viruses prior to delivery to the Web
server. If you want to scan the files yourself, check out the
latest McAfee anti-virus
software.
Now View Some MIDIWorks...
The MIDIWorks Player software includes a small number of
MIDIWork files that you can view in order to test the software.
To look and listen to more MIDIWorks, select the link below.
After selecting the link, select the "Save File" option
in your Web browser program. Then save the MIDIWork .ZIP file in
any directory on your hard disk. After the file is saved, unzip
the file to obtain 7 new MIDIWork (.MWK) files. To view a
MIDIWork, simply double click on an .MWK file inside the Windows
Explorer.
The MIDIWorks above were all created by the author of MIDIART. (Using MIDI files
created by others.) But what about MIDIWorks created by other
extremely creative people who browse the Internet every day?
Below is what I hope will be a growing list of MIDIWorks created
by others. (If you want to make your own MIDIWorks available to
the public on this Web site, feel free to e-mail your MIDIWork or
Works to ajfconsult@pobox.com.
Note: Be sure to
specify whether you composed the music and/or sequenced the MIDI
file, or whether the music was composed and sequenced by someone
else, in which case it should be in the public domain.)
The Abyss ---
MIDIWork images mixed by Jacques Rouleau from Canada.
Beatles Medley
--- MIDIWork images mixed by Dominic Martin from the U.K.
Using the MIDIART Live software and the included on
line help, you must learn how to create a MIDIART
performance and convert this performance into a MIDIWork
file.
Convert your MIDIWork (.MWK) file or files into .ZIP
files using WinZip.
Embed a link (using the HTML anchor tag) to your
MIDIWork .ZIP file or files inside your Web page.
Place a link to this Web page inside your own Web
page so that others can download the very latest version
of the MIDIWorks Player. Please do not maintain and
distribute your own copy of the MIDIWorks Player
software, simply create a link to this Web page by
including a section similar to the following in your own
Web page:
In order to view the MIDIWorks I've created, you will
need to obtain a copy of the MIDIWorks Player software
developed by AJF Consulting, Inc. The MIDIWorks Player is
free to the public. You can read all about it and
download a free copy by viewing the MIDIWorks
Player Web Page.
If you want, you can send e-mail to AJF Consulting, (ajfconsult@pobox.com)
and request that a link to your Web site be placed on
this Web page. This will allow others to easily find more
MIDIWorks to view and enjoy...
