Variorum Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 I sometimes like to go through my immense collection of old Midi files and use them for DAW practice... This is a re-orchestration based on a MIDI file named SONG5.MID, circa 1996. It was part of a collection of demos for a now defunct sequencer called WinJammer, and that's pretty much all the info I have on it. I'd love to know who composed the original MIDI song so I can credit him/her. It's a really nice piece... ashamed to see it lost to the obscurity of the old internet. If anyone has any information about the composer, please let me know. Thanks! I used several VSTs for the orchestration: Session Horns Pro NI Fretless Bass Ample Guitar AGG2 Addictive Drums Cakewalk Rapture Session Garritan Personal Orchestra 5 ...and my trusty Yamaha EX5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteenE Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 Can't help, but it sounds nice, allthough the bass comes in very strong here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 That is a nice song, and those instruments are a lot better than the GM sound sets available back in the day! I have a collection of old GM songs that I occasionally like to re orchestrate with modern virtual instruments. I agree that it is good DAW practice, and lots of fun! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Variorum Posted February 15, 2019 Author Share Posted February 15, 2019 8 hours ago, soundregion said: the bass comes in very strong here Yeah, doesn't surprise me. I get different results with 3 sets of headphones, the monitors, the car stereo, etc. Tons of respect for the good mastering engineers, I don't know how they make a song sound good on every system ? 2 hours ago, abacab said: and those instruments are a lot better than the GM sound sets available back in the day! Yup, but strangely, I like a lot of them played on the old crappy sound cards better than the newer instruments, especially the old Amiga "tracker" songs. Klisje Paa Klisje, anybody? Just nostalgia, I guess... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhonoBrainer Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 Quite the puzzle! Well, to start you off, process of elimination: it was not me that wrote this. It's a nice groove. You have revived it and it sounds nice, although for me it's less organically live, and would still be not out of place if encountered in an elevator, in which I would ride quite comfortably. Perhaps it's the 1990's arrangement that is too hard to update, even though your instruments make it sound better. If the original didn't have words, perhaps you could add some? I think a vocal would help, and it sounds like the arrangement could support a vocal. I think your vst's make it sound just fine so mission accomplished there. Good luck in your search! cheers, -Tom 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Variorum Posted February 16, 2019 Author Share Posted February 16, 2019 2 hours ago, emeraldsoul said: and would still be not out of place if encountered in an elevator Nah... this one would be too easy. I'm thinking about remixing some Death Metal into elevator music, though ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhonoBrainer Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 2 hours ago, Variorum said: Nah... this one would be too easy. I'm thinking about remixing some Death Metal into elevator music, though ? I would buy that CD in a heartbeat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegaltieribrothers Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 Hi Variorum, Nice track with an effortless groove. Thanks for sharing. regards paul 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K.P. Sullivan Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 Hey, Variorum. I've been scouring the net looking for info on this midi but found very little so far. What I've found suggests that it's not a WinJammer demo file, but rather the "WinJammer Demo" refers to the shareware WinJammer Demo (as opposed to WinJammer Pro), which puts WinJammer Demo in every midi's meta info. I believe this as I've found many midis with "WinJammer Demo" in the midi info. It probably served as a watermark of sorts back in the day. I do have an idea to find out what the midi might be though, but I would need the midi to do so. I'm a midi connoisseur and I have dumped several Gb of midis from the web onto a hard drive. If I had the midi I could compare byte for byte the content of the midi with all the midis in my collection, potentially I might already have the midi under another name besides "SONG5.MID" as many duplicates of the same midi exist on the web under many differing names. I also just want the midi because it's an awesome piece and I'd love to mess around with it myself. Let me know what you think until then I'll continue my search for info on this midi. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Variorum Posted February 23, 2019 Author Share Posted February 23, 2019 (edited) Wow @K.P. Sullivan! I didn't expect anyone to do real research on the file? Thanks for the effort! If you have a few GB's of midi files, you're way ahead of me. I only have a couple hundred meg. I think you're probably right about the "WinJammer Demo" label on the tracks... I didn't think of that, but it makes sense. I attached the original midi file below. I also uploaded it to my site. Here's a link if the attachment doesn't work for some reason. Let me know if you have any problems DLing it, and post a copy of your version when you're done! SONG5.MID Edited February 23, 2019 by Variorum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K.P. Sullivan Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 I meant to message you back sooner, but the weekend was a nightmare. I didn't manage to find a duplicate of the file, sadly. But I did learn some things of note. WinJammer was made for Windows 3.1 which was released in 1993. Which means that 1993 is about as early as this midi could have been made. It's also a GS midi, which means it may have been made before 1994 when the XG format was created. WinJammer may not have supported XG until it's Windows 95 release. This points towards 1993 to 1994 being the potential years the midi was created but this is just a theory as GS was still available as a format past this time frame. I'll be looking into jazz midis as well as jazz works of those years to see if there is anything there. I find the search interesting and I get to hear a lot of cool jazz songs along the way. I'll let you know if I find more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Variorum Posted March 1, 2019 Author Share Posted March 1, 2019 On 2/27/2019 at 11:33 PM, K.P. Sullivan said: I find the search interesting and I get to hear a lot of cool jazz songs along the way. Yeah, that's the cool part! There were quite a few good songs written back in the 90's using relatively primitive software. Some great orchestrations of anime and video game music, too. I often wonder if those people are still making music today... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K.P. Sullivan Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 @Variorum I found it, I found the song that the midi "Song5" is based off of. Took me forever, but I got it. The midi is modeled after Get Back In Love by Tatsuro Yamashita,1988. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7dxbap7F_Y Sorry for the radio silence, hopefully you get this message even after all this time. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Variorum Posted October 13, 2019 Author Share Posted October 13, 2019 Huge Thanks, @K.P. Sullivan! You're a master music sleuth! ? I got a copyright notice from YouTube on the song back in April that said "may have content that is owned or licensed by CASH" and TBH, I thought it was a fraudulent company issuing claims on obscure music. I couldn't dispute it, though, because it's not my song... Thanks to you, I got to listen to some other music by Tatsuro Yamashita (and his wife Mariya Takeuchi!) I've updated the YouTube page for Song5. Thanks again for your efforts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
user 905133 Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 (edited) On 2/27/2019 at 11:33 PM, K.P. Sullivan said: WinJammer was made for Windows 3.1 which was released in 1993. I was backreading this recently bumped thread and this comment reminded me where I got my WinJammer from. Not only that, but I was able to walk right over to where the book was. Roger Jennings, Discover Windows(tm) 3.1 Multimedia, Que, 1992. According to "Companion Disk" comments, it also included Cakewalk Professional for Windows (demo) among a few others. I have an idea where the 5 1/2" floppy might be. I also have an idea where my Windows 3.1 HDD is. IIRC, it booted the last time I checked--maybe 10-15 years ago--most likely in a Win98SE tower. Not sure if SONG5.MID was bundled with that version of WinJammer. There's no mention of any *.MID files on the "Companion Disk" page, just "Sample Sound Files." I like the orchestration you (Valiorum) did. UPDATE: The inside front cover says: "Ready-to-play sample MIDI and .WAV sound files!" Listed are: Medley of Spirituals, Original piano composition, Seven Scott Joplin rags, Several orchestral arrangements. Hmmmm. Maybe I made a backup of the files, like on a generic bulk CD-R, although I seem to remember tossing out a bunch of those several years back because they were little more than clear plastic disks with grey powdery stuff on them. ADDENDUM: My current PC has "LINER.TXT" (a file from 9-12-1992, referenced in the "Ready-to-play . . . " section). It lines up with the list from the inside front cover. No "Song5" file. Edited October 14, 2019 by MusicMan11712 (aka Dr. Steve) to add info from the inside front cover of the book cited Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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