midi files

[54xfire]

Im a long time band musician wanting to play guitar live with backup music. Ive had some experience programming with a roland computer, using a bass module, drum module and another sound module, when I was doing a duo (20years ago). So I guess you could say Ive been out of touch with new technology.
My question is: can the midi file songs you purchase be manipulated (taking unwanted tracks off: ie guitar parts). In other words. save me a lot of time programming songs from scratch?
Thanks

[Graeme]

Simple answer - yes.

Of course you will need the right software to do this - a simple midi player is unlikely to give you the features you need, but any half-way decent sequencer will suit your requirements.

[murfman]

i delete everything bar drums on my korg 1s50 keyboard. any midi keyboard would do i suppose

[CyberCat]

To answer your question, yes.

MIDI files can be manipulated and edited in a wide varriety of ways, but they still retain a very small file this, this makes them quite desirable.

[dmonitto]

i suggest you get something like garage band... or some other multitrack shareware program for your computer and paste the midi file into that... usually it will split the file into the components.. and you can delete the tracks you dont want

[midiaxe]

Yes, you can manipulate midi files using a software/hardware sequencer. I use both in studio and in live performances. You can modify everything in a midi file like track status (mute, solo, volume, pan) and track events (notes, velocity, program changes, controls, etc).

Hope this help!

[johnrowley]

Just edit the file in a sequencing package, delete any tracks and save as a different midi.