MIDI Christmas?

ROBERT.BAK · 5 Dec 2003, 06:15 AM

I have Christmas for Windows (release 4) on my machine, and as usual during Advent, I have the Continuous Carols feature engaged.

BUT!... I'm beginning to get fed up with the tinny quality of some of the collection, and I've never liked the funereal tune people in the US use for "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" — the British tune is far more lively.

Can anyone suggest some good Christmas-themed MIDI downloads, to supplement or in some cases replace the tunes I've got?

dragon1 · 5 Dec 2003, 07:12 AM

Try this site:

I'm listening to (and this is not the true title) "Chestnuts." Doesn't sound too bad.

robert@fm · 16 Dec 2003, 06:10 AM

Thanks — I've now finally got to listen to them, and they're vastly better quality than the C4W ones!

Pity their "It Came Upon The Midnight Clear" is still the US version — I think the tune used in Britain is much livelier...

dragon1 · 16 Dec 2003, 09:00 AM

I found another site, but I can't hear any of the MIDIs here for some odd reason. (edit: couldn't hear any songs b/c husband had speakers turned off

)

It's Laura's MIDI Heaven. She has a few versions of many Christmas songs including "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear."

robert@fm · 6 Dec 2004, 06:18 AM

It's that time of year again...

Still looking for a MIDI of the British version of It Came Upon the Midnight Clear, although the others I downloaded last year are lovely (much better than the rubbish which was supplied with Christmas for Windows)...

Also, does anyone know of a suitable replacement for C4W's Continuous Carols Player?  I want a MIDI-jukebox prog which has the following features:

Able to be started automatically with Windows (by placing the shortcut in the Start Menu | StartUp folder).
Able to use a fixed playlist (user-selected of course)
Minimal desktop presence (just the Play/Pause, Skip and Stop buttons).
Pausing the player releases the MIDI stream, so other programs (e.g. games) can use it

The thing I most dislike about the present program is that the desktop presence is too minimal — just the Stop button and nothing else.

kander · 8 Dec 2004, 04:23 AM

Winamp can do most of that for you. Using the SmallOne skin you can bring the desktop elements down to a minimum, it plays Midi's, it doesn't hog the MIDI stream when not playing and it's got excellent playlist support.

--K

robert@fm · 15 Dec 2008, 11:42 PM

Having never found a MIDI file of the British It Came Upon the Midnight Clear, I've finally given up on MIDI files and for my Continuous Carols during Advent I now use a double CD called Essential Christmas Music which of course sounds much better. Much greater variety as well (40 tunes instead of about a dozen) and longer playing time before it repeats (1:31:55 according to WinAmp).

Though I've also tried listening to the MIDIs again, and they (perhaps not surprisingly) sound a lot better on my current Realtek soundcard than they ever did on the cheap Soundblaster clone I used to have. Though probably the ones I downloaded a few years back (now buried in my Downloads folder somewhere) would sound better still.

5 Dec 2003, 06:15 AM	#1
ROBERT.BAK Essential Contributor Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Backup of robert@fm Posts: 245	MIDI Christmas? I have Christmas for Windows (release 4) on my machine, and as usual during Advent, I have the Continuous Carols feature engaged. BUT!... I'm beginning to get fed up with the tinny quality of some of the collection, and I've never liked the funereal tune people in the US use for "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" — the British tune is far more lively. Can anyone suggest some good Christmas-themed MIDI downloads, to supplement or in some cases replace the tunes I've got?

16 Dec 2003, 09:00 AM	#4
dragon1 Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: California Posts: 674	I found another site, but I can't hear any of the MIDIs here for some odd reason. (edit: couldn't hear any songs b/c husband had speakers turned off ) It's Laura's MIDI Heaven. She has a few versions of many Christmas songs including "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear." Last edited by dragon1 : 16 Dec 2003 at 09:36 AM.

6 Dec 2004, 06:18 AM	#5
robert@fm The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: London, UK Posts: 4,681	It's that time of year again... Still looking for a MIDI of the British version of It Came Upon the Midnight Clear, although the others I downloaded last year are lovely (much better than the rubbish which was supplied with Christmas for Windows)... Also, does anyone know of a suitable replacement for C4W's Continuous Carols Player?  I want a MIDI-jukebox prog which has the following features: Able to be started automatically with Windows (by placing the shortcut in the Start Menu \| StartUp folder). Able to use a fixed playlist (user-selected of course) Minimal desktop presence (just the Play/Pause, Skip and Stop buttons). Pausing the player releases the MIDI stream, so other programs (e.g. games) can use it The thing I most dislike about the present program is that the desktop presence is too minimal — just the Stop button and nothing else.

8 Dec 2004, 04:23 AM	#6
kander The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 4,112	Winamp can do most of that for you. Using the SmallOne skin you can bring the desktop elements down to a minimum, it plays Midi's, it doesn't hog the MIDI stream when not playing and it's got excellent playlist support. --K Last edited by kander : 8 Dec 2004 at 04:56 AM.

15 Dec 2008, 11:42 PM	#7
robert@fm The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: London, UK Posts: 4,681	Having never found a MIDI file of the British It Came Upon the Midnight Clear, I've finally given up on MIDI files and for my Continuous Carols during Advent I now use a double CD called Essential Christmas Music which of course sounds much better. Much greater variety as well (40 tunes instead of about a dozen) and longer playing time before it repeats (1:31:55 according to WinAmp). Though I've also tried listening to the MIDIs again, and they (perhaps not surprisingly) sound a lot better on my current Realtek soundcard than they ever did on the cheap Soundblaster clone I used to have. Though probably the ones I downloaded a few years back (now buried in my Downloads folder somewhere) would sound better still. Last edited by robert@fm : 16 Dec 2008 at 12:02 AM. Reason: "then I find I got the number wrong...!

5 Dec 2003, 07:12 AM	#2
dragon1 Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: California Posts: 674	Try this site: I'm listening to (and this is not the true title) "Chestnuts." Doesn't sound too bad.

16 Dec 2003, 06:10 AM	#3
robert@fm The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: London, UK Posts: 4,681	Thanks — I've now finally got to listen to them, and they're vastly better quality than the C4W ones! Pity their "It Came Upon The Midnight Clear" is still the US version — I think the tune used in Britain is much livelier...