AC Groove; the audio project

Before MP3's there was MOD's and MIDI's.  Rather than encoding the actual sound file, these files were dictated sheets of music that altered predefined musical instrument samples.

+ MIDI Explained   

How it started

While messing around with a program from MIDIsoft called MidiStudio 95, I figured out how to actually write one of these.  For the next 6 years, I found my spare time was used playing with MIDI files using a pc mouse and the finest instrument definitions available from my 32-bit SoundBlaster sound card. 

One day I realised just how much writing MIDI
became my new creative faucet

...Yes, '95.  That's dating it quite back there. 

I gave my musical hobby the label AC Groove mainly due to lack of good names but good logo possibilities. 

All music was defined manually by the clicking of a mouse.  Every music note, percussion noise, and varying tempo was defined by 3 or 4 clicks each.  Most criticism regarding my music addresses its repetitiveness.  While this is true, I blame the painstakingly long process of writing each song in a midi format and my complete lack of musical theory  ;P 

Looking back

In about 6 years, I wrote about 21 short and unique songs. 

I wrote some good music,
most were not and I knew it. 

The high was being able to play a good
song on a tape or CD and be able to say
"Ya, I wrote that".

In the end I was to make one 45 minute AC Groove audio CD which still exists today... somewhere.

Media Section

Best of AC Groove

1. Goodbye
2. The Collection
3. Parting by the Window
4. March of Power
5. Techno Cannon War
6. Where the Shore and I Meet

Download AC Groove

1. Confusion
2. Cosmic Galaxy Turn
3. Crystal Chronicles
4. Dreamers Fantasy
5. Duke Nukem Tribute
6. Goodbye
7. Guitar Twanging
8. Last Ecstasy
9. March of Power
10. Parting by the Window
11. Players Melody
12. Race of the Flute
13. Techno Cannon War
14. The Astral Way
15. The Collection
16. The Sax's Song
17. Where the Shore and I Meet

Music by Lauren Collis

1. Dancing Over the Abyss
2. Life is like a Boat
3. Michiyuki
4. Sakura Kiss
5. Soyokaze no Sonatine

MIDI Explained

MIDI or Musical Instrument Digital Interface is an industry-standard electronic communications protocol that enables electronic musical instruments, computers and other equipment to communicate, control and synchronize with each other in real time.

MIDI does not transmit audio — it simply transmits digital data such as the pitch and intensity of musical notes to play, control signals for parameters such as volume, vibrato and panning, and clock signals to set the tempo.