ClydeSight2.0!

presents...

ClydeSight2.0! explains
MIDI Clyde Tunes™!

NOTE: Browsers and Synthesizers have changed considerably since much of this music was posted in between 1996 and 1998. The current sound on browsers is not accurate to the original scores and the overall experience can be very poor quality. You CAN hear the original versions of many of the MIDI Clyde Tunes in their full and original orchestration, on Clyde's cassette "Symphonia Felina and Other Mewsical Masterworks". This collector's edition tape is the ONLY source of the original SOUND of the the MIDI Clyde Tunes.

ClydeSight2.0! is pleased to provide all site visitors, "Johann Sebastian" Clyde's virtual musical offerings (VMO).

These compositions are rendered in MIDI format, and play through the speakers on your computer. The music is virtual because MIDI is not an acoustical system, it is a digital code that controls the synthesizer capabilities of your computer's sound system. There is no real music in MIDI Clyde Tunes™, only the MIDI codes. The music sounds like it is being played by a computer because, well, it IS being played by a computer! So, it is virtual music.

(Clyde HIGHLY recommends that if you want to hear music on your computer, you connect it to an external stereo speaker system. These systems offer excellent sound, which the internal speakers of a computer cannot hope to match. They cost extra, but the sound is worth it!)

How MIDI works:

A sheet of music is really a code, printed notes and musical symbols. Of themselves, they make no sound. A musician interprets this code and plays them on an instrument. The notes aren't the music; the actions of the performer with the instrument generate music, the sound you hear.

MIDI is like the sheet music; the computer is the performer; and the synthesizer is the instrument. You need all three to hear sound described by MIDI files. Basically, MIDI data is sheet music for a computer. As such, it is very compact and a MIDI file loads FAST!

"Johann" Clyde with his Synth

This makes it possible for Clyde to create virtual performances that could never occur in real time.

THE DOWNSIDE:

MIDI files depend on the sound card and synthesizer built into your computer to generate music. To a musician, TIMBRE (the quality of tone) is extremely important. It can make or break a performance. MIDI files are NOT sound recordings. They are computer codes.

On the Internet, people have all kinds of configurations, sound cards, computers, etc. So, the sound TIMBRE can be very different, depending on the computer.

MAC users usually don't have a problem with this because most MACs use the same quality sound card.

Windows users can have any number of different sound cards, and as you might guess, they generate sound differently.

Clyde can't guarantee that what you hear is played by YOUR computer exactly the way he wanted you to hear it. This is VERY IMPORTANT to understand, because the configuration of your computer will change the actual sound of the tunes!

So, Clyde has some advice for you below. If you take his advice, you'll get the best sound you can.

• Early MIDI Clyde Tunes™ were arranged for best purrformance using Apple Computer's QuickTime 2.5 and a QuickTime supported plug-in, such as Live Audio or Cresendo. QuickTime 2.5 is no longer available.
  
  
• The QuickTime package has been updated to versions 3 and 4, both of which use the Roland Sound Canvas. The instrumental sounds of the Sound Canvas are quite good, but for technical reasons, the early tunes don't sound good on it.
  
  
• Yamaha's free MIDPLUG still contains instrument mappings that support these early tunes, and Clyde suggests that you use MIDPLUG for playing them.
  
  
• Gertrude and Eddie cats have taken up the baton from Maestro Clyde. They are composing for the new Roland Sound Canvas. Where their tunes will play well on that synth, they will tell you.
  
  There is a also an explanation of how MIDI works and why it may sound different on different machines and browsers in the ClydeGalleryVR.

Hearing MIDI Clyde Tunes™ on the Internet.

Clyde uses Netscape's Navigator, so he will describe what you would need if you used that browser. If you have MSIE, the process is similar, but the details are different. You'll have to check with Microsoft to find out what to do. But, here's what to do if you have Navigator:

You have to add a "plug-in" or two to your browser if you want to listen to MIDI Clyde Tunes™. A plug-in is a helper for your browser and is easy to install. Usually, you just put it into the plug-ins folder of your browser package and tell the browser what files to use with it. Many now come with an installer. Be sure and follow the directions that come with whatever you download, and you should be okay.

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You need a MIDI controller the play the tunes:

NOTE: Sometimes, you can have more than one of these for your browser, but you'll have to configure it for the one you want to use.


Yamaha Corp.: MIDPLUG

It will not use QuickTime. It has its own sounds.
Be sure and read their instructions on this one!

All the MIDI Clyde Tunes™ will play very well through this MIDI player.

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APPLE Computer's "QuickTime"

QuickTime Musical Instruments, provided by APPLE Computer Corp. and featuring sound patches by Roland Corp., is FREE from Apple Computer's web site as part of their QuickTime package.

QuickTime will also let you view movies on the Net. They have versions for both Macintosh and Windows platforms. All you have to do is download the package and load it according to the instructions Apple provides in their Read Me files. Check your Plug-Ins folder, you may already have it if you have Navigator 3.x or above.

NOTE: The early MIDI Clyde Tunes™ were optimized for the performance by QuickTime Musical Instruments 2.5 or the FREE Yamaha MIDPLUG. QTMI 2.5 is no longer available. The new version of QuickTime doesn't play these early tunes well. So, for these tunes, try MIDPLUG.

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Live Update's Crescendo.

It will use QuickTime if it is installed.

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Live Audio (comes with Navigator 3.x+)

It will use QuickTime if it is installed.

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Headspace: BEATNIK

It will not use QuickTime. It has its own sounds.
Be sure and read their instructions on this one!

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For more information on MIDI (and some more MIDI tunes), visit Concert at CLAW, where Clyde performs 10 original MIDI Clyde Tunes™ in a special Concert at the CLAW Theater.

Some early MIDI Clyde Tunes™ offer TWO controllers on the page.

One is for MOV files, and you MUST have QuickTime installed to use it. MOV is a movie soundtrack format, not a MIDI file format, but it works like a MIDI file in this situation. It will use the QuickTime Musical Instruments to generate the music.

The other is for MIDI files, and you MUST have a MIDI controller loaded on your browser to use it. Any MIDI controller will play the music, and if the controller has its own synth (as MIDPLUG does), it will generate sounds mapped into that synth.

If you get a blank grey box, or two, or get an error message, you must configure your browser to play MIDI and/or MOV files. Check your plug-ins folder and see that there is a MIDI plug-in listed there, as well as QuickTime. If they are not in the folder, you'll have to get them (see above) and put them in your plug-ins folder according to the instructions they provide.

Use the controllers to play, stop or move around in the music. But don't use both of them at the same time.

When you leave the page, the browser will stop the music and release the plug-in. You can continue in ClydeSight2.0! in silence until the next musical offering.

MIDI Clyde Tunes™ are very powerful and demand a lot from your computer. They use many features and can tax your system resources. So, make sure you aren't running anything but your browser and Internet connection software.

External speakers will greatly enhance the sound!

MIDI Clyde Tunes™
Clyde's Virtual Musical Offerings
(VMO)

Have fun, and enjoy!

(If you came here from one of the pages within ClydeSight2.0!, use the BACK control at the top of your browser window to return to that page. Otherwise, use the navigation icon to follow Clyde home.)

Clyde, Take me Home!

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