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-
- Hello, fellow MIDI musicians. In this archive, you should have
- the following files:
-
- Divert_1.MID
- gesualdo.MID
- greatlove.MID
- Silver_Swan.MID
- UbiCaritas.MID
-
- Divert_1.ALL
- gesualdo.ALL
- greatlove.ALL
- Silver_Swan.ALL
- UbiCaritas.ALL
-
- The .MID files, obviously, are meant for anyone who wants to use
- a MIDI application that supports the generic .MID format (.MID1 to be
- precise.. these are multiple-track files).
-
- The .ALL files are meant for those using Dr. T's KCS. I've been a
- fairly dedicated user of the Dr. T line of products. It's really quite a
- pity they have given up on the Amiga market. It would seem to suggest
- that, perhaps, as a batch of users, we are not prone to pay for decent
- programs, because I KNOW there are tons of Amiga musicians out there, and
- Dr. T's KCS is an excellent program, if a little cumbersome because of
- their assinine MS-DOS feel. When will a software company learn to stick
- to a system's specifications, and USE WHAT IS AVAILABLE!?
-
- But enough bitter woe concerning the Amiga and Commodore's
- astrological approach to marketing. These files represent a bit of work
- that I've put in over time for some excellent music that will culturally
- stimulate your mind, if it doesn't put you to sleep. Contrary to popular
- belief, not ALL Americans are culturally illiterate. Those who are are not
- always as sarcastic as I am, either.
-
- * Divert_1.MID : Mozart's "Divertimento #1" for Strings. You should
- recognize it. It represents perhaps the most work I've put into a MID
- file. It is huge. It will eat your mother. Unfortunately, I consider it
- unfinished, as I couldn't put in all the repeats (for which you should
- thank me), and various other details I like to commit to MID files were
- left undone (dynamics, phrasing, etc). My apologies for the slop job, but
- I didn't get to keep the music I was borrowing long enough to finish these
- details. Perhaps another time I'll finish it, or perhaps someone else
- will do the detail work.
-
- * gesualdo.MID : Carlo Gesualdo's "Morro Lasso Al Mio Duolo" for voices.
- In this case, however, I'd suggest using a nice pipe-organ.
- Unfortunately, you will miss every bit of text-painting that you would
- otherwise have, but at least you can listen to the beautiful (if bizarre)
- chordwork he didn't use. I say that he didn't use it, because he wrote
- this madrigal in 1611, when composers didn't use functional harmony.
- Gesualdo was definately before his time. Be advised: if you cheat on your
- husband while listening to this song, you and your lover will be killed,
- and your naked bodies left on your husband's front porch. This is some
- powerful music. Unfortunately, I have not yet put in phrasings in this
- piece.
-
- * greatlove.MID : "No Greater Love Hath Man" for organ and voices. For
- the most part, I've been extremely careful to stick to the music on this
- piece, however, I've made the mistake of not making the organ's pedals
- staccato in various parts throughout the music (the music calls for
- staccato, but again, I didn't get to it before I had to return the music).
- I've mapped the voices for strings on a Yamaha TG-33, and the solo voices
- are set for individual instruments.. you may wish to edit them to your own
- tastes and instrumentation. Phrases, dynamics, tempo, and all kinds of
- other nonsense have been painstakingly attended to in order to make up for
- the lack of staccato in the pedals. If you don't enjoy this piece of
- music, get better equipment. I apologize for forgetting the composor's
- name.
-
- * Silver_Swan.MID : "The Silver Swan" for voices. I would suggest using
- a very nice, ethericalish (note: newly created word.. I claim credit for
- this one) instrument for this.. or experiment a little with your own
- tastes. This is a beautiful madrigal that should be sung to be fully
- appreciated.. but you'll have to do with this .MID file instead. I've
- taken pains to put crescendoes and decrescendoes in strategic places,
- although I don't think I was careful about phrasing. Again, I forgot the
- composor's name.
-
- * UbiCaritas.MID : Durofle`'s "Ubi Caritas et Amor" for voices. Once more,
- a soft, ethericalish instrument would probably apply to this work. I
- programmed it EXACTLY as the score would have a group perform it..
- although, personally, I feel it should be taken slower. This is a sacred
- work, full of reverence and awe of God.. enough to make an atheist become
- Christian. The work is based on a Gregorian chant, but the chord
- progressions and voice leading adds a new dimension to a wondrous work.
- This five part sacred work blew me away when our little church choir sang
- it for the congregation; it is truly an amazing work of art. I have taken
- great pains to include phrasings, dynamics, and temp changes.
-
- If one has trouble with the .MID format generated by Dr. T's,
- please don't blame me. I understand they do some very naughty things to
- the format, and it may not work quite as well as it should, but it is the
- only way I have right now of generating .MID format files. This is why
- I've included the .ALL format, in case someone should find a program that
- can convert from the KCS .ALL format to .MID better than KCS can handle
- it, and for those individuals who happen to have KCS or MRS.
-
- For those who are wondering how I managed to create these files, I
- painstakingly typed in the information using DeluxeMusic Construction Set
- (which will NEVER be improved.. since Electronic Arts doesn't feel it's
- worth their effort and time.. and the programmer who worked on the project
- ran out on them anyway), then saved the works in .SMUS format. I then
- used SMUS2MID to convert the files over to MID format, loaded them into
- KCS, and used Tiger to do the finer editing. In earlier days (that is,
- with Divert_1.MID) I loaded the file into The Copyist, went through all
- kinds of nasty hoopla and conversion thingamabobs, only to come up with a
- very nasty .ALL format file that had to be worked on with KCS (since Tiger
- didn't exist back then).
-
- For those wondering WHY I went to so much trouble to generate
- these files, I can only say that I'm not entirely sane. In at least two
- cases, I put the works in the computer for other people to hear, and so I
- could keep them on file for my own malevolent purposes. In a sense, I'm
- just expanding the audience from the single people who requested the work
- be done to all of you. I also have a sort of dream of being able to
- borrow bits of music information stored in .MID or .ALL format, and using
- them in other works of music.. maybe slightly altered or whatever. It'll
- probably never come to fruition, but it's nice to dream.
-
- If you would like the words to the madrigals, I can only suggest
- that you do a little research in the library. I didn't feel like typing
- out all the text (although it wouldn't take much time)... especially since
- most of the text would be lost in the translation, since you can't tell
- when what comes where without a score, and I don't have all the scores
- available to me anymore anyway. I will, however, type out the Latin to
- "Ubi Caritas" since I have most of it memorized anyway:
-
- Ubi caritas et amor, deus ibi est. Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor.
- Exultemus et in ipso, iucundemur. Timeamus et amemus deum vivum. Et ex
- corde diligamus nos sincero. Ubi caritas et amor, deus ibi est. Amen.
-
- I apologize for any mispellings, but I memorized the sounds more
- than the spellings, and I'm still learning my Latin. Unfortunately, I can
- only translate some of the Latin, so if you are REALLY interested in the
- meaning, seek a Latin scholar more educated than I. My guess is the
- following:
-
- Where is there love and caring? God is here. We gather together in
- Christ's love. We worship, and in Him, we are purified. We fear and love
- the life of God. And from our hearts, we care (for our own?). Where is
- there love and caring? God is here. Amen.
-
- I'm asking for no money whatsoever for these works. All of them
- were written by men who are long since dead and buried (and busy
- de-composing now). I only offer them to the public, so they may share in
- some of the beautiful music I've had the opportunity to enjoy. I
- hope that more people will take pieces of music they find and enjoy, and
- carefully put them into .MID files for people like me to share. Any
- gripes, moans, or compliments can be directed to me at my E-mail address:
-
- jvanriper@uncavx.unca.edu
- Joseph E. Van Riper III (aka: Trey or Machine)
-
- Notes regarding the "performer:"
-
- Trey is working towards a BA in Music, emphasis on composition.
- He is only in his sophmore year, but is 25 years old. He spent five years
- in the US Army, originally as a journalist, and later as a bandsman
- playing euphonium. He spent two years in Japan. He is now singing in an
- Episcopal Choir, playing valve trombone in a jazz band, singing in a jazz
- choir in University of North Carolina, Asheville, and doing a very tiny
- bit of computer programming (C++) when he has the time. Future plans
- include writing some major compositions, learning more about audio
- engineering, finishing Quip 0.07 (a "fortune"-like program), and working
- in some creative field that will accept a hyperactive artist with decent
- music and computer experience.
-
- Bon Appetit!
-