(Happy listening!)

For a generation of Hungarian netizens, MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) files were the soundtrack of the early web. From personal "hobbi oldalak" (hobby sites) dedicated to Star Wars or Pokémon , to the guestbooks of underground bands, the Magyar MIDI was an essential digital artifact.

But what exactly was it, and why does it still evoke such powerful nostalgia? Technically, a MIDI file is not an audio recording. It is a set of instructions: "Play note C4 at volume 80 for 2 seconds on a piano sound." The final sound depends entirely on the listener's sound card (GM—General MIDI).