Quote:

If I'm using a keyboard Midi controller and play a G chord, or I'm using a Midi-capable software application and enter a G chord, neither G chord is recorded/saved in the Midi file?

If not, how would a hard or soft synth know to play the G chord later?



You're thinking like a musician, you have to think like a dumb computer. Your synth doesn't know from chords, it's just responding to the midi data the file is sending it. So yes, the information is there but it's not organized as chords, just binary on/off note data and other things like sustain, pitch bend, modulation, reverb etc. Open up the Event List and see, it's all there. Anything that is necessary to create the basic sound is an event. All that stuff is simply data. It took PG to go that extra step and create an algorithm to put the note information together, ignore the rest of it and call it a chord.
What is simple for a human is practically impossible for a computer in certain cases. All it is is a collection of mathematical formulas that tell it things like if the key sig is G and the notes are D, G, Bb, F then it's a Gm7 but if the key sig is Bb it's probably a Bb6 but still could be a Gm7 depending on the bass note. What would you call it if the key sig is A? Maybe a D+ sus4? Or just do the cop out and still call it a Gm7?
As you can tell, the different combinations are endless and while most of us players just "know" what something should be, a literal computer is liable to come up with anything.

Bob

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