This assignment requires a Macintosh computer running OS X and with a MIDI keyboard attached. (There are about 20 computers that fit that description in the STC on the third floor of the Music Library.). It also requires the freeware program MIDI Monitor.

If you're going to use one of the Music Library computers, you'll need headphones with a 1/4-in. plug to hear anything; you can get a set at the Circulation Desk.

2. Double-click the MIDI Monitor icon to launch it. You should see a window with a stream of messages each giving the time with millisecond precision, followed by "From Port A Clock". To make the next steps easier, enlarge the window vertically.

3. Click Filter (near the top of MIDI Monitor's window), which reveals a bunch of checkboxes; notice the "Clock" checkbox at the top of the right-hand (Real Time) column, but don't click it yet.

4. Press any key and quickly release it; you should see "Note On" and "Note Off" messages scroll by, almost too quickly to read.

5. Now uncheck Clock; the clock messages should stop instantly. Click Clear (otherwise, when you print your results, you'll have pages of trash at the beginning). Again press a key and quickly release it; this time the "Note On" and "Note Off" messages should appear and stay on the screen.

6. Press a different key; while holding it down, play with the pitch-bend lever (It may actually be a wheel, depending on the keyboard) a bit, and you should hear the pitch change and see a series of "Pitch Wheel" messages; then release the key. Press it again, but this time vary the pressure of your finger on the key before releasing it; if your keyboard is pressure-sensitive (the Korg Tritons in the Music Library STC are), you should see some messages about "Channel Pressure".

7. Press another key softly and release it, then harder, then even harder; you should see Note On's with increasing velocity.

8. Press two other keys at once, and release them in two different orders; you should see the Note Ons and Offs in the correct order.

9. In the MIDI Monitor display window, select all the text; Copy it; Paste it into a text-processing program like TextEdit or MS Word; and print it. Indicate on the paper which lines are for which question by circling or bracketing them and writing the question number next to them.

10. Did MIDI Monitor show anything surprising? If so, circle it on the printout, and write in your best guess as to what it’s about. (If it says something repeatedly–say, "Weird Al for President!"–you only have to comment on one instance.) If you have more than one sheet of paper, please staple them together! Bring the printout to class to turn in.