IV. Useful Midi Tools

The most useful midi editor I've ever tried is GNMidi. Thanks to the author for this unique software designed for all midi musicians, so managing and editing your midifile is easy at your fingertips and menus are very straightforward. But the coolest thing I like in this program is the batch processing editor, obviously powerful enough to polish and enhance all your midifiles at one shot. Simply assign the parameters, click the button and things will run automatically.

Not all media players are able to support SoundFont for midi playback. Of course, there are ways or methods, but the result may vary and some virtual routing  is needed or what we call "Virtual Midi Port."  to run in your operating system.

If you want fast and simple application, you should try either Spider Player Pro or Midi Converter Studio. These are stand-alone players that allow you to load SoundFont bank straight without using any additional plug-in which is often used in Cubase or other DAW. Some softwares are quite similar, but these two programs are just my great choices that doesn't look cheap to use at all.  SynthFont is also another great player, it's only that I wasn't used with the interface.  But the feature that I like most in this program is the ability to load individual SoundFont bank for each track.  This is great especially when your auditioning the quality of a SoundFont Instrument.

Both Spider Player Pro and Midi Converter Studio support playback of midifile using GM SoundFont in real time and conversion to MP3 or Wave format as well. Though they aren't free, it's worth spending few dollars to either one of them. Next thing is, converting your midifiles into an MP3 or Wave format may be a little bit better and has some advantage.

Obviously, filesize may increase but turning your midifile into this format, you'll have wider options producing a great backing track. Apart from queueing your song similar to DJ, playing is really enjoyable and fun. You'll definitely love it. You can even apply EQ, or other DSP audio plug-ins supported by MP3 so long you don't overdo it. DJ softwares has more advantage for a non-stop music playback and I regularly use it on disco and party occasions.

For MP3 playback, one of my top pick  is Virtual DJ Pro and my next list is J.River Media Center, this program helps you cut the gap between your songs, fair enough and all your music just plays non stop. Really cool, I would say.

After all it's your choice which one really suits you.There are dozens of softwares I've tried in the past, yet only pick up the best, simple but easy to understand and most important, practical in every areas you want to do in your setup.  From menus, navigation and shortcut keys, you should consider these things when buying a software of your choice.

As an aspiring musician, "Learning from zero is just a beginning,  it is your passion  that should rather motivate and make you successful."

I never realized that I would still be on this line after so many years.  No matter how much I try to quit the music industry, I'm still hooked into this profession and hobby.  My friends always tell me, it's just about time to retire, share something and inspire young musicians..

All I can say is, "wish you all the best and good luck to your career"