# BLB Hymns MIDI Gap Report

Generated: 2026-09-05

## Summary

- **Hymn HTML pages scanned:** 2,749 total; **1,925 (70%)** have ≥1 dead midi reference
- **Distinct missing midi files:** 1463
- **Total broken midi references:** 2156
- **Existing midi files (`hymns/hymns_mid/`):** 729 — tunes A–G only
- **Midi tune range present:** `mid_a_*` … `mid_g_*`
- **Midi tune range absent:** `mid_h_*` … `mid_z_*` (plus a handful of `mid_g_*`)

## Root cause

The `hymns/hymns_mid/` directory was ingested with **only tunes A through G** (729 files). The missing H–Z tunes (1,463 files) were **never part of the source data** — confirmed independently in:

- the ingest manifest `blb_manifest.txt` (snapshot of the original WebDAV source at download time)
- full `git log --all` history (no H–Z midi blob was ever committed)
- the source WebDAV (`files.thecookiejar.me/www/static/BLB/`) — returns 404 for the missing files
- the live Blue Letter Bible site (no longer serves these hymn pages) and the Internet Archive Wayback Machine (no capture)

These are **not broken links** (paths are correct and resolve properly); the destination files simply do not exist anywhere reachable.

## Missing files by first tune-letter

| Letter | Missing .mid files |
|---|---|
| g | 4 |
| h | 154 |
| i | 80 |
| j | 47 |
| k | 23 |
| l | 137 |
| m | 136 |
| n | 58 |
| o | 98 |
| p | 73 |
| q | 4 |
| r | 79 |
| s | 270 |
| t | 89 |
| u | 8 |
| v | 31 |
| w | 152 |
| x | 4 |
| y | 9 |
| z | 7 |

## Affected pages

1925 pages under `hymns/hymns_html/` reference at least one missing midi. Full page list is in `broken_pages.txt`.

## Data files in this directory

- `broken_pages.txt` — every page with ≥1 dead midi reference
- `missing_midis.csv` — one row per (page, missing .mid) reference pair
- `missing_midis_unique.csv` — one row per distinct missing .mid file
- `missing_to_pages.csv` — each missing .mid and the pages that reference it
- `gap_index.json` — machine-readable full dataset

## Recommendation

Do **not** attempt link-only fixes — there is no destination to point at. Realistic remediation paths, in order of safety:

1. **Accept the gap** (documented here) until a source for the hymn-tune midis is obtained.
2. **Synthesise/obtain** the missing public-domain hymn tunes from an external archive, then add the files under `hymns/hymns_mid/` (no HTML changes needed — the links will then resolve).
3. **Optionally neutralise** the dead audio controls on the 1,925 affected pages (removes 404s, loses audio).

*Links are `audio/midi` MIME; page HTML constructs them as `./hymns/hymns_mid/<file>.mid` relative to the BLB root (via `basepath.js`), so they resolve against `/BLB/hymns/hymns_mid/`.*