Words & Music MIDI Files

The midi files playing on my pages were on a cover disc from MacFormat magazine, and were supplied by Words & Music. They come from their large collection of MIDI files. I'm just using them for my own entertainment, but I wanted to share knowledge of them with anyone who's interested, as they're so much better than most of the midi files I've picked up for free on the 'net. I haven't found a web site for Words & Music (if anyone else has let me know so I can include a link to it), so I've included the following from the information file that accompanied the files.
(BTW I've got no commercial relationship with Words & Music I was just impressed by their files ;-)

If You Have Enjoyed These...

The files on the cover disk come from our much larger collection of MIDI files. If you enjoyed them you may be interested in obtaining more files to play. Yes, here's the advert...

At the last count we had well over 500 files. Over half are classics but we also have a disk of Drum Patterns and a mammoth collection of festive Christmas tunes.

Our policy is to give value for money and each of the disks in our latest collection contains over 30 files. The Drummin' and Christmas disks contain 160 and 102 files.

The Classic Collection Volume 1

Beethoven's Symphony No. 8 (all four movements); extract from Beethoven's 5th Symphony; Shostakovich's 5th Symphony 2nd Movement (uses all 16 channels!); Mozart 40; Mozart's Rondo Alla Turca; Chopin's Fantasy Impromptu; Habanera; Anitra's Dance; Ave Maria and more...

The Classic Collection Volume 2

Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 (all three movements); Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue (full Piano/Clarinet arrangement); Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata (all three movements); Eine Kleine Nachtmusik; Widor's famous Organ Toccata; Air on a G String; Fur Elise; Flight of the Bumble Bee and more...

The Classic Collection Volume 3

Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition (all 16 movements); Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 (all three movements); Entry of the Gladiators; Hooked on Classics; extract from Beethoven's 3rd Symphony (Eroica); Chopin's Krakowiak Rondo (a 'live' virtuoso performance lasting over 13 minutes!); Blue Danube Waltz; Funeral March of a Marionette (Alfred Hitchcock's theme tune); Debussy's Arabesque No.1; Trumpet Voluntary and more...

It's Ragtime!

A collection of over 20 Rags on one disk arranged mainly for piano, some with an orchestral accompaniment. It includes The Black & White Rag (Pot Black TV theme), The Entertainer, The Maple Leaf Rag, The Blue Goose Rag and many more.

This collection really makes your 'Piano' talk. We like playing them using a Honky Tonk piano sound - or try using two different pianos and detuning them!

Christmas MIDI Song Collection

The Christmas MIDI Song Collection contains over 100 tunes for the festive season on disk in MIDI file format. There are Christmas songs, Carols and medleys plus festive classical pieces by Bach, Beethoven and other great composers. It contains over 600K of data - hours of listening pleasure.

Keep on Drummin'

Keep on Drummin' is a collection of 160 drum patterns on disk in MIDI File Format. They are arranged into 16 Styles:- Afro, 12/8 Blues, 4/4 Blues, Disco Fills, Funky, Heavy, Hip Hop, House, Latin, Motown, Reggae, Rock, Rhythm 'n' Blues, Rock 'n' Roll, and Shuffle.

As well as containing a collection of 'Killer Grooves', there are also lots of good, useable, down-to-Earth patterns suitable for a wide range of songs and tunes. There are two and four-bar patterns plus many which are 12 or 16 bars long, making it very easy to select individual bars for assembling your own drum tracks.

All this and bass lines too! - Several patterns also have an accompanying bass line which suggests the sort of music lines which work well with them. Use them 'as is' or edit them to suit your own music.

The technical bits...

The drum pattern files are configured to the General MIDI (GM) standard which ensures compatibility with the greatest number of synths and expanders. These include Roland's Sound Canvas range (whose drums are based on Roland's MT-32), the Yamaha TG100, Korg's 03R/W and so on. But the patterns will work with any instrument which has built-in drum sounds.

The package contains full written documentation including an explanation of GM and drum maps. There's a GM drum map diagram for the drums used in the patterns along with a full explanation of how to use them with other, non-GM equipment - don't worry, it's easy!

The above files do not contain any Program Change information.

* New Files * New Files * New Files * New Files * New Files *

The following disks are new additions to the catalogue. All the files are mapped to the GM/GS standard and will play 'instantly' on any GM/GS instrument. Each of these disks also comes with a four-page leaflet which gives more detailed information about each file.

The Classic Collection Volume 4

Extract from Mozart's Kyrie Eleison (popularised by many TV and films) arranged for five voices; Purcell's Trumpet Tune (no, not the one he didn't write - that's on Classics Disk 3); Mozart's Divertimento in F for String Quartet; Tchaikovsky's Russian Dance and the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (full, orchestrated arrangements) from The Nutcracker Suite; the theme from Swan Lake; the Rondo from Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik; Mendelssohn's Opus 25 (a gigantic piano piece lasting over 18 minutes) and more...

The Classic Collection Volume 5

Erik Satie's three Gymnopedies (Gynmopedie 1 became very popular when it was used on a TV advert); Debussy's Arabesque 2 and Danse; Spring from Vivaldi's Four Seasons; a collection of four virtuoso Hungarian Dances; an orchestral arrangement of Handel's Water Music; Beethoven Opus 6 for piano duet; Haydn's London Trios; 10 favourite pieces from Schumann's Opus 68 (which includes The Merry Peasant, A Soldiers' March, The Post Horn) and more...

The Classic Collection Volume 6

Mozart's Piano Sonata in C major No. 15 (one of the most famous of all Mozart's Piano Sonatas); Badinerie from Bach's Overture (Suite) Nr. 2 for flute and strings (a well known flute tune although not everyone knows where it comes from); Chopin's famous Polonaise in A; Spanish Guitar Collection (a superb and novel collection of 10 virtuoso pieces for Spanish Guitar - if your instrument has a guitar sound you must try these); Mozart's 1st Quartet; a collection of Mozart's early works and more...

Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier

The Well-Tempered Clavier is the title of two sets of Preludes and Fugues, each set consisting of 24 Preludes and 24 Fugues in all the major and minor keys. Together, the two sets are familiarly known as The Forty-Eight although Bach applied the title to the first book only and these are the 48 pieces on this disk.

He described it as: 'for the use and profit of young people who are desirous of learning, as well as for the amusement of those already skilled in this study'. It was also obviously designed as a practical demonstration of the advantage of Equal Temperament.

The Files and GM

Although GM is generally considered to be a 'good thing', not every musician has a GM instrument. Bearing this in mind, our files contain the minimum of control information so A) the tracks are easy to edit and, B) they won't drastically affect users without GM equipment. You can easily insert additional information in a MIDI sequencer if required.

Some Technical Info

For the technically-minded, most of the files are in MIDI File Format 1 which puts each MIDI channel on its own track. The Carols and Christmas tunes on the Christmas MIDI Song Collection are in MIDI File Format 0 which puts all MIDI channels on one single track. The Classical pieces are in Format 1.

Most of the Keep On Drummin' patterns have individual drum sounds on separate tracks for ease of editing although all drums are on MIDI channel 10. The Bass lines are on a separate track and MIDI channel.

All disks come with full printed instructions.

PLEASE NOTE: These files are copyright and are for personal use only. If you want to use them for any commercial purpose, please contact us for a licence.

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How To Order

Here is a list of available titles. The disks are £10.95 each (this price was from early 1996, so check with Words & Music what the current price is... - Peter)

Orders are normally despatched within 24 hours of receipt but please allow 14 days for delivery.

VERY IMPORTANT - We supply files for the Mac, Atari ST, PC and Acorn Archimedes so PLEASE STATE the computer format you require. Please write to:

Words & Music,
15 Falcon Hill,
Kirkhill,
Morpeth,
Northumberland,
NE61 2YG.
Unfortunately, we can't accept credit card orders but do phone if you have any queries.

Tel: 01670 519589
Fax: 01670 511827
Th-th-th-that's all folks!!
Background music can be heard using the Crescendo! plug-in. If you don't have it, go get it!
Now playing Funeral March of a Marionette (midi file © Words & Music)
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