'October 24, 1994

'This program demonstrates how to play midi files in
'Visual Basic without using the MCI.VBX custom control.
'Instead, it uses the mciSendString() function to issue MCI
'commands.  For the program to work properly, both the
'mciSequencer driver and the Midi Mapper must be installed.
'There is a function in the program which checks for
'these drivers.

'The program has numerous comments which should explain
'things pretty well.

'If there is something you're not sure of or you need a better
'clarification of something, you can send E-Mail to VDG Mike
'on America Online.

'I'm also working on a demo of how to play CD Audio discs
'without using the MCI control.  If you have a reference
'to the MCI commands, you can probably figure it out from this
'program, as the CD demo will also use mciSendString().

'On a final note, MCI cannot be used to record and save
'midi files.  To do that you must use the low-level
'multimedia functions.  Some of these have already be declared
'in the module file even though they are not actually used.
'Low-level functions will also give you much more control than
'the high-level MCI commands, since you communicate directly
'with the device rather than through the interface.  For example,
'you can send the midi data needed to play any note on any channel
'using any patch that you want.  There is a very good program
'called VB Piano, written by Artic Software, which demonstrates
'this.