The impact of electronic music has caused some people to question if MIDI technology is the death of musical instruments themselves. Barker said it was once thought that MIDI would replace instruments, but in reality it's just supplementing and adding new sounds to the instrumentÕs original sound and making it easier to create and compose pieces.  "Sometimes it does happen. You can replace a pit orchestra in a Broadway play with a MIDI program," Barker said. "But my feeling is that using synthesizers is just a way to change sound."

From computer geek to music freak MIDI mania hits Chico State Listen to MIDI sound  Professor Barker and his Midi Class

Recording arts student Jeremy Malander said he likes exploring how to add sounds, change the tempo, and create music quickly and easily. He said the software helps musicians by letting them add certain grooves with 8-track recording and digital signals from MIDI. It also lets students listen to one track at a time, so they can change the way it sounds by adding or subtracting volume. The monitor displays the measures as they roll by and students can automatically switch volumes on different sounds. Just like a word processing document, MIDI allows musicians to cut and copy sounds so they don't have to play them over and over. "Movies used to have orchestras and stuff and now it's just some guy sitting at a keyboard," Malander said. "The Internet is making it capable for people to come out with their own songs to publish."  Malander's final project in his composition with electronic media class last semester was to compose a song using 8 components on MIDI. It took him half an hour to complete. "It will take you no time and the availability of sounds is amazing," Malander said.  Professional drummer and electronic composition instructor Jeff Forehan said the introduction to MIDI class is great for anyone who doesn't have a fear of computers and can make music. "New sounds are formed by playing instruments way beyond their natural range in a synthesizer or software and playing them in layers," Forehan said. " You can manipulate it to a degree far beyond that of computers which creates a sound that is as outlandish and outrageous as possible," What Forehan means by "layers" is taking a single sound or "timbre" and play it with several instruments at once to form one unique sound. Some of the MIDI effects include: humanize, transpose, echo, change velocity, reverse sequence, arpeggiate, time sift, and quantize. One of Forehan's favorite musical tricks is the ability to record a real audio file and run it with the synch with MIDI.  "Say you take a Martin Luther King speech. You can make him sound like a woman. You can make him sound like Darth Vader. You can also make it sound like six of them talking and add reverb and echo," Forehan said.  Dr. Keith Seppanen, a professor of recording arts for ten years at Chico State, said that one of the biggest advantages is that rather than having to look at a professor's screen, students can look on the overhead display and work on their own songs during the lesson. "It's more functional.  "There is more opportunity for students to come in creatively on their songs," Seppanen said.  Seppanen also said that the software gives people a lot of flexibility to play back parts that would take a lot of memory to store. "People like it because it's technical and creative at the same time," Seppanen said.  Graphics design major Tiffanie Tipton had an interest in synthesizers after doing some sequencing in high school and her previous college. She is currently enrolled in MUS 101 even though she had no MIDI experience, and is enjoying her time in the class. "I've had all these songs that I've been working on for ages. It's nice to come in here [the MIDI lab] and just work for hour and hours and be in your own little world," Tipton said.