MIDI Eddie

If you happen to own a musical instrument, you might as well hook it up to your PC in order to enhance sound or flawlessly record it. Specialized applications can be used to alter sound on the spot or import files for a little more tweaking. In this regard, MIDI Eddie gives you the possibility to apply effects to audio files found under the MID format.

Running the application brings up a visually appealing interface, with a professional look about it. An abundance of buttons, knobs and sliders make you instantly feel like a professional MC, eager to make the crowd go wild. However, it's not all fun and games, because you most likely won't get to use all of them.

As the name suggests, the application specifically targets MIDI files, which you can only import through the dedicated file menu, without support for dag and drop. There's a lyrics display in case target files are also configured to hold text, but with no options to edit or create lyrics yourself.

There are up to sixteen channels that offer the initial rewarding sense, but you only get to enjoy all of them if the file you load is equipped with that many instruments. That's right, you can end up with only one channel in use and no option to toggle visibility of inactive ones.

You don't get to work with too many controls. Besides the volume slider, you can mute a specific instrument, cut out all others to enable a solo mode, transpose, adjust pan, and turn a couple of knobs to add reverb and chorus effects.

Playback controls are clearly visible and can also be triggered through keyboard hotkeys. What's missing though, is an option to leave the track on repeat for careful adjustment, and it can get a little frustrating to press “Play” each time when dealing with short files.

From the available MIDI instrument gallery, you can pick the one you consider best for a specific part, and attribute it to one of the channels. Moreover, the application lets you adjust the general volume, transpose values, as well as tempo for a slower or faster playback.

Unfortunately, the application does not let you record sessions and adjust instruments for mixing songs. Nor is there an implemented playlist to easily access files you want to edit, which is a pain considering drag and drop is not supported. On the other hand, you can export all changes to a MID file if you consider your creation is better than the original.

Taking everything into consideration, we can say that MIDI Eddie lives up to expectations, but not completely. The overall design is impressive, with polished visual elements and intuitive buttons and menus that quickly get you up and running. However, the poor set of editing options and lack of support for audio plugins cut a little out of practicality. Although you can't use it for batch processing, it comes in handy for quickly applying minor adjustments or change instruments in MIDI tracks.