Bill's Original Midi Gallery

I have been playing around with music for many years, plunking out little tunes on the piano for my own amusement and scribbling down the notes on scraps of paper. Recently I got the idea of printing some of it out in a legible format, so I went out and bought some cheap software that creates sheet music. As a bonus, this software also creates midi files.

The sheet music prints out rather nicely, but the midi software seems to be rather primitive and limited. I would ask the curious listener to keep these limitations in mind while browsing this modest gallery of some of my musical ideas.

I am not a musician, nor do I claim to be one. Anyone who has looked around on my website for any length of time can clearly see that I've got other things on my mind besides music. For me it's an amateurish passtime at best, and the only good thing I can say about my music is that it is original.

Having said that, let me put in my 2 cents worth regarding original midi files. I have browsed lots of other personal websites out there with original midi music files, and I have to admit that I have been quite disappointed in what I've found. About 95% of this stuff is -- in my humble opinion -- not very good. Although most of these pieces are masterfully executed with beautifully clean, clear, and smooth midi instrumentation, all you actually hear are just a couple of random chords thrown together, droning on back and forth in a dreamy fashion, with a lot percussion in the background to jazz it up. I suppose that for a lot of people this sounds "really neat", but I personally find it rather insipid and unimaginative. Rarely have I found any fellow amateurs out there who can actually create an original tune or a catchy melody or some clever counterpoint; - you know, something that sticks in your head after you hear it a couple times. That's what I try to do, anyway, and I think I've had at least a certain degree of success in some of the things I've put together. But it's all a matter of taste, I suppose, and the people whose midi creations I have just maligned will probably think that it's my music that stinks. Ah, well...

(One site I do like is Hans Zimmermann's "Neun liederliche Lieder", the four pieces BBBCCC (the part from 3:57 to the end is fascinating), ESESDES, CAFGDH, and CBASBAS.)

Also bear in mind that the instrumentation chosen is not always essential to the piece itself. I have chosen a variety of midi voice instrumentations from piece to piece just to break the monotony. I think that a lot of people tend to listen to the voicing of these pieces rather than the actual notes. A case in point: I once played the "Kakerlaken" piece below for a friend of mine, and he immediately blurted out, "That's the theme from 'The Third Man'!" Well, no, it's not the theme from "The Third Man", nor is there any resemblance to that theme, other than the fact that they both have that solo guitar sound at the beginning. He was listening to the instruments rather than listening to the actual melody. Many of these pieces could easily have been created with completely different instrumentation - e.g., guitar, clarinet, or synthesizer instead of piano - and in most cases they would sound just fine that way. My point is that I am more interested in the actual music itself, i.e., the combination of notes created, rather than in the voices that portray this music. I know that a lot of people don't feel this way. They just want to hear some "cool sounds" and they don't give a hoot about how insipid or brainless the actual music score might be. But I'm more interested in content than in packaging. 'Nuff said; you get my point.

Note also that these pieces will sound different depending on which midi player you use. They used to sound pretty good in QuickTime Player, but with the newest version of QuickTime (7.5) they are all so muted that I have to crank up the volume full blast just to hear anything at all. Windows Media Player does a pretty good job, but for some odd reason (probably the buggy midi software I'm using) the music cuts off too abruptly at the end of nearly every piece. Grrr.

The more recent pieces I am listing first, followed by older pieces from the 1970's and 1980's. The recent pieces I have divided into two categories: simple two-part melodies, and more complex pieces with three or four voices. There's a simple explanation for this. The simple two-part ones are straight from my piano playing. The more complex ones are the result of me going hog-wild with this music software that allows me to create things that no solo piano player would be able to reproduce unless he were endowed with four arms and hands like some kind of Hindu god.

The "More Complex" Pieces:

twainrainrag, 1 minute 36 seconds
The "Twain Rain Rag", a brave attempt at writing a true "ragtime" piece.
(Plays best, although not flawlessly, in Window Media Player. QuickTime messes up with the "percussion" instrumentation in a couple spots, again probably due to the buggy midi software I have.)

straycatrag, 1 minute 22 seconds
The "Stray Cat Rag", another "ragtime" piece.

ducksandgeese, 1 minute 23 seconds
The "Ducks and Geese Rag", another "ragtime" piece.

oct232007, 59 seconds
Not exactly a "ragtime" piece, but something similar - happy, bouncy, and a little silliness thrown in for good measure.

oct252007, 1 minute 22 seconds
A minor key cousin to the above piece.

kakerlaken.mid, 1 minute, 30 seconds
Another favorite, which I call "Mitternachtstanz der Kakerlaken" ("Midnight Dance of the Cockroaches"). Listen to it and see if you can't picture the nasty little critters furtively creeping out from the cracks, one by one.

wednesdayyogurt, 1 minute 30 seconds
"Wednesday's Yogurt".

redwineonions, 1 minute
"Red Wine and Onions".

colonelsclock, 1 minute 45 seconds
"The Colonel's Clock".

lieutenantsclock, 1 minute 14 seconds
"The Lieutenant's Clock".
(Windows Media Player works best here; QuickTime screws up on the voices in a couple spots.)

sweetsour, 1 minute 17 seconds
"Sweet and Sour".

hotplasterstep, 51 seconds
"Hot Plaster Step".

cypressdejavu, 1 minute 38 seconds
"Cypress Dejavu".

kongchaochocolate, 1 minute 23 seconds.
"Kong Chao Chocolate"
(Sounds best with Windows Media Player.)

happyecho, 1 minute 42 seconds.
"The Happy Echo"
happyecho2, 1 minute 42 seconds.
"The Happy Echo", with banjo instead of piano.

crazyqueue, 1 minute 6 seconds.
"Crazy Queue"
(Sounds best with Windows Media Player. QuickTime lags behind one note on all the instrumentation switching.)

jackfruithaircut, 54 seconds.
"Jack Fruit Haircut"
(Again, sounds best with Windows Media Player.)

atfourtoten, 38 seconds.
"At Four to Ten"

marchsaltritz, 51 seconds
The "March Salt Ritz". A strange little piece with a persistent beat.

violetlantern, 1 minute 30 seconds
The "Violet Lantern Phalanx". A happy little piece with a persistent beat.

littleriverpotluck, 1 minute 15 seconds
The "Little River Potluck". A busy little piece with a persistent beat.
littleriverpotluck2, 1 minute 15 seconds
The same piece with "music box" instrumentation.

redrobinboxes, 44 seconds
"Red Robin Boxes".

fleas, 48 seconds
"Fleas in a Frying Pan". A graphic name for a bizarre little piece.
fleas2, 48 seconds
The same piece in piano; a little less grating on the ear.

windrally, 1 minute, 17 seconds
"Wind Rally", a bit restless and changeable.

christmasmallrush, 57 seconds
"Christmas Mall Rush", written December 24, 2008.

aluminumhens, 55 seconds
"Aluminum Hens". If there were such a thing as aluminum hens, they would probably sound something like this.

alvasprompts, 1 minute 7 seconds.
"Alva's Prompts".

fridaystrain, 1 minute 7 seconds.
"Friday's Train".

tapiocafloaters, 1 minute 16 seconds.
"Tapioca Floaters".

daisybabble, 44 seconds
"Daisy Babble".

febtriangle, 1 minute 43 seconds
The "February Triangle" - written, appropriately enough, in February.

poochy, 54 seconds
I know this sounds really corny, but this piece was inspired by our cat Pucci ("Poochy").

nov292007, 1 minute 36 seconds
I was pretty depressed when I wrote this one, but I don't think it shows that much.

barcelonacatnip, 58 seconds
"Barcelona Catnip".

parkdicewaltz, 59 seconds
The "Park Dice Waltz".

aprilmartin.mid, 43 seconds
The "April Martin", a short, slow, somewhat regal piece.

madisonbiscuits, 50 seconds
"Madison Biscuits".

The "Simpler" Pieces:

oct192007.mid, 1 minute, 4 seconds
Sort of a Halloween mood to this minor key bouncy piece (written twelve days before Halloween, as a matter of fact).

oct152007.mid, 54 seconds
A bit thoughtful and dreamy.

aug282007.mid, 49 seconds
Tunes like this get stuck in my head all day long.

sept92007.mid, 58 seconds
This one, too.

july252007.mid, 30 seconds
A simple piece, very typical of many others I like to write.

feb22003.mid, 32 seconds
Another simple piece that I really like.

dec282002.mid, 41 seconds
Another simple piece, in a minor key.

aug112007.mid, 48 seconds
Another one in a minor key.

sept102006.mid, 46 seconds
Another typical short piece.

july162007.mid, 51 seconds
A slow, thoughtful piece.

sept62007.mid, 53 seconds
A silly piece.

jan032008.mid, 54 seconds
A cheerful woodwind trio - but a little dorky, I admit.

april252007.mid, 48 seconds
I hammer this frenetic piece out really loud on the piano whenever I feel hyper, or whenever I want to drown something out that I don't want to listen to.

sept172007.mid, 35 seconds
Here's another frenetic one.

revolve1.mid, 1 minute, 31 seconds
Here's something I wrote while experimenting with changing chords.
revolve2.mid, 1 minute, 31 seconds
Same piece with different instrumentation. How would you like your grandfather clock to clang this out every half hour? (Just kidding!)

polka1.mid, 46 seconds
Besides Bach and the Beatles, I like listening to polka music. Yes, polka music! It's simple, upbeat, and fun. I have written a lot of simple polka-like tunes myself, and here's one of them from around 1996.

sept272007.mid, 1 minute 11 seconds
What is this? Polka? Ragtime? Or maybe just another one of Bill's silly tunes? It was fun to write, anyway.

breakfast, 24 seconds
This short one is called "Breakfast is Free". There are some silly meaningless lyrics that go along with it, but I will refrain from embarrassing myself by publishing them here.

OLDER PIECES (1970's - 1980's)

markw.mid, 1 minute 10 seconds
The melody to this one I wrote in 1971, and a few years later I expanded on it with some rather far-fetched variations. Why the name? I once played it for an organist friend named Mark W. and asked him who he thought the composer was. "You," he immediately replied. I wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult, but in any case I associated the piece with his name from that time forth.

brent.mid, 55 seconds
Here's another old piece, written in 1972, for reasons since forgotten associated with a fellow in college I knew by the name of Brent.

aug1978.mid, 1 minute, 8 seconds
Another old piece, written a couple days before I moved from Berlin to California.

may201986.mid, 41 seconds
Here's a bouncy piece I wrote in 1986 while experimenting with counterpoint.

printemps.mid, 3 minutes 4 seconds
The monotonous repetition in this piece will probably drive most people batty, but I like it anyway. The original melody I wrote in August 1978, and in 1986 I expanded it into four voices on my Yamaha Music Computer. A French friend told me that it sounded like the drip-drip melting of snow in the beginning of spring, hence the name "Le Debut du Printemps". The midi representation may need some tweaking, since I noticed that in QuickTime the fourth voice tends to drown out the others - but I'll leave the fixing for when I get some better midi software.

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