Comment by vardump
14 hours ago
MIDI songs? I checked, I couldn't find any from the link you posted. Most were different module formats, like XM, Protracker, S3M, Impulse Tracker. Those have nothing to do with midi other than they also produce music.
At one point in time, (I think maybe in connection with some mobile phone being able to play .midi files?) MIDI songs was (incorrectly) referring to a style/type of music rather than the transport/protocol we use for sending notes between instruments/devices, or the file format.
I'm still since then always assuming the above when someone says "MIDI music"; they really mean "really basic/simple music" or just straight up "chiptune" sometimes.
It has nothing to do with MIDI really, just a misnomer.
I'd say 'MIDI music' became a catch-all for music that's represented as data that is in turn triggering samples, rather than being a pure audio file. Might be actual MIDI or might be tracker music etc.
A more appropriate term is "chiptunes". I also heard people refer to it as keygen music.
If it's a tracker module of some kind with very short looping samples, then yeah, it's a chiptune.
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They've probably been converted over the years, just like you might convert an mp3 into flac or ogg or whatever.