Ancient Web: Frank Lennon Arranged Irish Songs as MIDI Files

Part of the Ancient Web Collection.

The old Web had a distinctive sound: a MIDI file trying very hard to sound like an entire band through whatever sound card happened to be installed.

Visit Frank Lennon's Irish MIDI Files

Frank Lennon assembled an enormous personal library of Irish and Irish-associated songs, with individual MIDI arrangements, lyric pages, karaoke material, and supplementary teaching resources. The site explains that the arrangements use General MIDI's 128 instruments and settings, made with a Korg NS5R sound module and Roland Virtual Sound Canvas.

Lennon makes the distinction from ordinary audio recordings explicit: MIDI contains musical instructions, so playback depends heavily on the listener's own sound equipment. The files could accompany somebody singing at home or in a pub without carrying a recording of the singer's voice.

The MIDI index says that every listed title was arranged by Lennon and requests attribution if people repost his arrangements. The page itself acknowledges that some songs are not Irish by origin; the organizing principle is what people actually sing in Irish settings.

A songbook built for participation

The paired lyrics section covers songs associated with love, emigration, folklore, politics, and the pubs where they are sung. The Learn an Irish Song page offers vocal examples alongside MIDI accompaniment, sometimes including different female and male versions.

Specific entries include A Bunch of Thyme, Arthur McBride, The Black Velvet Band, Carrickfergus, Danny Boy, and Dirty Old Town. In places Lennon identifies the singer of his example track and briefly explains a song's historical association or authorship.

The guitar lyrics page goes further, listing keys and downloadable Word documents with chord positions, intros, breaks, and endings for music students. Another section offers karaoke-style backing tracks. The website is less a static library than a kit for making songs happen away from the screen.

Some pages now mention contemporary streaming platforms, original compositions, and newer recording technology. Those additions sit beside an older organization built around MIDI, sound cards, MP3 downloads, and individual HTML indexes. The accessible pages do not supply a verified initial launch date, so the age of the music arrangements should not be mistaken for the age of the domain.

The enduring charm is practical. This is one musician's personal effort to make a shared song tradition playable, one track and one lyric sheet at a time.

Explore the MIDI song list and the learn-a-song collection.

Part of the Ancient Web Collection.