The Mystery of the 3 .mid Music Files in Windows 7

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When you open the C:\Windows\Media folder, you will notice that it includes Windows sounds & sound schemes. Among them you will find 3 MIDI sequence sound files: onestop.mid, flourish.mid & town.mid.

I happened to be browsing this Media folder when I decided to click on the 39 KB onestop file, out of curiosity. I loved what I heard!

This led me to Google, err Bing on the net. And this is all that I found, scattered in different places.

There are 3 such .mid files, with rather enthralling music!

C:\Windows\Media\flourish.mid
C:\Windows\Media\onestop.mid
C:\Windows\Media\town.mid

MIDI stands for “Musical Instrument Digital Interface”, a compression format for encoding music.

These MIDI sequence music files have existed in Windows Vista & XP; and maybe earlier versions too.

Flourish and Town were made by Nathan Grigg & Onestop by David Yackley, for Microsoft in 2000.

Flourish, it seems, is used, when you run a DirectX diagnostic test for DirectMusic.

I have no idea what the others are used for. Were they once used to showcase Media Players capabilities?

Why they exist, is still unanswered, it appears…

You can always get the 3 files from your Media folder, or alternatively, click here to download, if you’d like to hear them.

Incidentally, here is a nice video, the search threw up.

If anyone has any ideas about these 3 files or why they are there in the first place, please do share in the comments below. I’d love to know more about them!

If you have liked this post, you might want to check out some more, on topics like Features, Sound.

Tasgall

Or, you can think of it as a piece of sheet music since that’s what it’s trying to emulate; time and note info that can be played by any instrument without any additional audio samples. The benefit is tiny files, whose quality can improve over time with newer drivers/programs with higher quality samples to use for playback.
Madi

the MIDI called town reminds me of pokemon. ^_^
TheNick

these are the song we will be forced to listen to everyday when windows is going to take over the world after Jobs is dead. Windows Union is what the world will be called and this will be the 3 anthems, why 3 ? because world will be divided into 3 parts: Europe with Africa will be called the Start button, Asia with Australia will be the Taskbar and America the BlueScreen of Death
Remote741

I first saw Onestop in windows 98 and I first saw Town and Flourish when windows ME millennium edition came out.
Kevin

To prove that it’s not a normally “recorded” song, just press the pause button when you’re playing a MIDI file and the notes will sustain.

Also, if you play the song from the beginning, at 0:03 there’s a bass drop that sustains for a couple of seconds. But if you start playing the song at, let’s say, 0:04 onward, it won’t output the bass drop. This is because the MIDI info from the bass instrument is never sent to the computer after 0:03.

Also, there are elves in your computer that play music.
AlanD

yea you people (most of you) are idiots. Just because sound comes out does not mean it’s just like MP3.

In n00b terms, this is what MIDI Does (imagine we’re programming in a strange BASIC dialect here:)

SELECT INSTRU PIANO
VOL 127
PLAY “A”
PLAY “A#”
PLAY “C#”
PLAY “D”
PLAY “Fb”

and the Microsoft GS Wavetable processes that information and makes it into sound.
Someone

What MIDI most deffinately is NOT, is a compression format for music…
Grebgrebson

They’re in there because they are fucking awesome.
Saint Abe

When Jesus, Lord our God, rose on the third day he composed onestop. It has been in every version of Windows since the late 16th century, when Pope Johnson decreed it so. This is the music of the Resurrection and it is played to all souls before the enter our Father’s Kingdom.
Mrs O’Connell

It’s on Win 7 Ultimate as well. Someone make up a conspiracy theory we can all belive in.
Kevin

yeah, that post is at LEAST 150 words…you fucking idiot.

“I’m not going to read your well informed post, so here’s some completely untrue bullshit I just guessed at”

prick
Anonymous

MIDI is not a compression scheme, it is an encoding method…
Steenkampd39526

You are like.. So cool..
Anonymous

I became to be a midi lover after first I heard this on my xp. Is there any advanced midi, than 128 ins, can some one tell me more about XG, GS
Deyo

Jobs is dead and i am already listening to this shit, CRAP ITS THE WORLD DOMINATION GOING ON…
Abbeyrosethompson

Became a midi lover? Please, the music makes my ears bleed.
JG

MIDI files don’t contain any audio themselves. Actually MIDI files can even contain no notes at all, just Control Messages that are used to control MIDI-enabled devices, such as live rigs (i.e.: for guitarists). But the most common use is to include information for pitch, duration, and velocity of a sequence of notes that is then interpreted by the MIDI soundbank of your sound card. So the sound produced actually is determined by what sound card you have, since each card may have a different MIDI soundbank, unlike MP3, WAV’s and other audio files that playback the same everywhere independently of the sound card you have.
JG

MIDI files don’t contain any audio themselves. Actually MIDI files can even contain no notes at all, just Control Messages that are used to control MIDI-enabled devices, such as live rigs (i.e.: for guitarists). But the most common use is to include information for pitch, duration, and velocity of a sequence of notes that is then interpreted by the MIDI soundbank of your sound card. So the sound produced actually is determined by what sound card you have, since each card may have a different MIDI soundbank, unlike MP3, WAV’s and other audio files that playback the same everywhere independently of the sound card you have.
Lazyshoegazer

here is to old times… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwgSmXkIQf8
Pitfall Harry

They are probably there to reward adventurers, like myself, who love finding these things.
Chris Hutchison

I Remember these from my Windows 95/98 Days
Tommy Smith

There are a lot of hidden songs on windows that aren’t even mentioned. Some didn’t make it to Windows 7 though…
canyon.mid
clouds.mid
CSSAMP1.mid
passport.mid
Don’t forget on Windows XP there is a song in the oobe folder called title.wma. Search it.
oobe stands for Out Of the Box Experience. Windows XP just stands for Windows Experience. The oobe folder in the Windows directory is simply for the Exploring Windows XP popup that comes after installing Windows XP, and title.wma is the song that plays.
Scixori

These were all included in windows 98se, which was their first appearance.
Melogien

I already heard the song at the end of the file (excuse my english i’m french) , but don’t know where or when, if someone can help me…
http://www.facebook.com/vanshroomcloud Van Mushroom Cloud Harrison

this thread is like, so dead
Whyamikillingmyself

Flourish actually came in windows 98 my fav computer!
Whyamikillingmyself

YES YES YES! THEIR IS ONE CALLED CSSCAMP1! SO IM NOT ALONE!!!!
U KNOW IT TOO! YAY!!!!!!!
Whyamikillingmyself

sorry imean cssamp1!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Marten-Aluste/100001057449674 Marten Aluste

The Onestop music plays when you beat Windows XP
Watcher2006

Onestop is pretty awesome. My guess is they just left them there as a little treat. I remember the Windows95 startup CD had a lot of goodies.
Vsdgad

SUBLIMINAL MASSAGE!!!! lol
Jaimico_monkey

This is made for aliens, windows is a enormous system that was made for aliens. Reptil Aliens.

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The Mystery of the 3 Music Files in Windows 7

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