Most computers with a sound card will play general midi audio files. Sound card manufacturers usually bundle a midi player with the sound card software. Windows Media Player is also capable of playing general midi files.

MIDI

The Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) was made public in 1983, as a standard way for electronic instruments from different manufacturers to communicate with one another. A performer, for example, could use one "master keyboard" to play several different synthesizers at the same time.

Since then, the world of MIDI has grown to include tools used in the music industry, theatre, audio/visual production and multimedia. Most recording studios use computer-controlled MIDI networks extensively; most popular music acts make use of MIDI to control and automate their on-stage audio and musical hardware. MIDI devices can control lighting systems, theatrical pyrotechnics, video equipment, A/V presentation systems, multitrack tape recording systems, and much more.

For computer users, the simplest implementation of MIDI is to use a "MIDI File Player" (e.g., a "play-only sequencer") to run pre-existing MIDI files, sending their output to the synthesizer section of an internal sound board. While these boards are often not really MIDI devices, they all include software drivers that allow them to understand most MIDI messages.

The next level includes adding an external MIDI synthesizer, connected to the PC via a "MIDI Interface." Such interfaces are included or optional with most sound boards, or can be dedicated MIDI I/O boards or external interfaces connected to a serial or parallel port. With an external MIDI keyboard/synth and a sequencing program, music can be recorded, edited, saved, and played back using the computer as the "MIDI recorder."

There is a wide variety of MIDI software available for the PC, both for DOS and Windows, commercial, shareware or, sometimes, free. The main categories:

File Players: Often referred to as "Jukeboxes," these programs simply compile a list of files and play them.

Sequencers: From simple to sophisticated, from $30 to over $300, these MIDI recorders can let even beginning musicians create their own computer-based music.

Notators: Using mouse or MIDI keyboard entry, or by importing a MIDI file, a notation program can create musical transcriptions using standard notation, and then print the results. Capabilities vary widely, as do prices ($100-700); none are "automatic;" all require some degree of musical knowledge.

Integrated Programs: Combining the features of a sequencer and a notator, these programs are usually better as one than the other.

Editor/Librarians: These programs duplicate the programming functions of a particular synthesizer, allowing the user to create and store new sounds.

Utilities: "Niche" programs that can analyze the MIDI data stream, or load data into a synthesizer, or let you play a synth from the computer keyboard, etc.