Can I make a MIDI file with the sound I want?

[docjong]

If possible, could you tell me which program I should use and what I should be careful about?

I'm using Mac. Is there a good program for Mac?

[Sammy1Am]

Any MIDI program is fine. I personally used Sibelius back in the day, but it's super overkill (I just had it already for some other things). I don't have a Mac so I can't speak to any editors on there. I think Garage Band used to edit MIDI files back in the day, but... it's been like a decade and a half since I used it last, so 🤷‍♂️ .

Things to be careful about:

• Each MIDI channel is by default assigned to a different floppy drive / device; this is different than MIDI tracks. You can have multiple tracks all using the same channel, or even channel switches within one track.
• Floppy drives generally have trouble playing notes above B4 ish, and if you go too low it starts to turn into a bit of a rumble rather than sounding like a note.
• Short notes end up sounding better than long notes because the head direction changes sort of interrupt the timbre. One of the things I did when arranging existing pieces for floppy drives was to make all the notes staccato because it helped keep things from sounding muddled.
• Don't forget to set the tempo in your MIDI file so that it will playback at the right speed.

Happy to answer any other specific questions as you go along. Good luck!