debian port of timidity doesn't work here

[Jude DaShiell <jdashiel@shellworld.net>]

I figured to use timidity to listen to some midi files and found out 
missing instruments make that impossible.  Would it be better to convert 
the midi files to another format and listen to them that way and if so 
which format and what tool does that conversion?  If midi files aren't 
possible to play on debian I'd like to know that too since I may be able 
to do it on my mac.