A method of playing music using a computing system in which MIDI events are synchronized with samples is disclosed. A sequence of MIDI events is provided. At least one of the MIDI events includes delta time parameter data, and the MIDI events are provided to a digital signal processing resource. Audio stream events are processed, and one or more of the audio stream events has associated therewith audio sample data, and the audio sample data is provided to the digital signal processing resource; the audio sample data is not provided from a MIDI sound bank. A first MIDI event is provided that is configured to include delta time parameter data associated with the intended playback timing of at least one audio stream event. The audio stream event is rhythmically synchronized with the sequence of MIDI events using the first MIDI event. The first MIDI event may be an NRPN MIDI command. The audio sample data may be decoded before the audio sample data is provided to the digital signal processing resource, and as a first step the audio sample data may be encoded in a compressed audio format. The digital signal processing resource may consist of a first section associated with the MIDI events and a second section associated with the audio stream data. The audio stream data may be preloaded using a second MIDI event associated with an earlier point in time in the music than the first MIDI event. The second MIDI event may be processed in response to user input.