MOTM

--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, "gooboworks" <andy@g...> wrote:
> The plan is to have several speakers strewn about the area and we 
> want to play .wav files out to these speakers.   There may be about
8 
> to 10 speakers, and we want to control what sounds go out to the 
> speakers.
> 
> 1) Can midi play .wav files?
> 
MIDI can't handle any audio data directly. It transmits control
information. It can trigger hardware or software that plays wav
files.  

> 2) Any suggestions on readings, software, hardware that may help in 
> doing this?
> 
Two options come to mind.

You could use a cheap sequencer and assign multiple audio tracks to
multiple outputs. I use Sonar, but there are several audio/midi
programs in the $100 range. 

The real trick is that you'll need an audio out for each
channel/speaker. If you don't have or need a sound card with multiple
outs, you could add a couple of el-cheapo audio cards. That would do
for Halloween purposes. Then it would be a matter of creating the
number of tracks you need in your sequencer, and assigning each track
to an individual output.

Another option would be using MIDI to trigger a hardware sampler.
You'll be limited to the number of outputs on the hardware sampler.