MP3 vs MIDI - What’s the Difference? by Omnis and Hunter2049
Sound or music can be recorded in many formats and some can even sound differently when played back. In this article we explore the unique attributes of the MP3 and the MIDI and why we have chosen the format we use to encode our music.
MP3 which stands for MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 was developed around the late 80s to earlier 90s by a team of German Engineers. It is a compressed audio format designed to use less data to represent audio, whilst still sounding as close as possible to the original uncompressed audio. Since its release it has become a popular digital audio compression format for encoding sound and music.
MIDI which stands for Musical Instrument and Digital Interface was developed in the earlier 80s. It is an electronic communications protocol that allows electronic musical instruments (synthesizers, drum machines and so on), computers and other equipment to communicate with each other. A MIDI file contains no audio data but musical information (such as notes or keys) that allows for example a sound card to interpret this information and synthesize the music accordingly.
MP3 and MIDI record music in their own distinct way, whilst the former records music by sampling it digitally, the latter records it in notes and keys. MP3s reproduce music very close to that of the original file, but can still be large in file size. MIDIs on the other hand playback music differently depending on what sound card you have and what person has sequenced it or created the file, even the instrument used may play a role in how the music sounds.
In conclusion we believe that the MP3 format is the best choice since its reproduction of the original music is the closet. Although MIDIs could have been used there was no way to ensure it sounds the same across everyones computer, since everyone uses a different sound card. In the end we wanted to provide music exactly as it sounds in the game. Here are examples of MP3 and MIDI music. Be sure to pause the player in the upper right hand corner of the screen before clicking the links that follow! GoldenEye 007 - Facility in MP3 and MIDI, and Jet Force Gemini - Intro in MP3 and MIDI.