MIDI

MIDI

MIDI

MIDI System Messages

MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface), pronounced /'m?di/, is an industry-standard protocol defined in 1982[1] that enables electronic musical instruments, such as keyboard controllers, computers and other electronic equipment, to communicate and also to control and synchronize with each other. MIDI allows computers, synthesizers, MIDI controllers, sound cards, samplers and drum machines to control one another, and to exchange system data. MIDI does not transmit an audio signal or media — it transmits event messages such as the pitch and intensity of musical notes to play, control signals for parameters such as volume, vibrato and panning, cues, and clock signals to set the tempo. As an electronic protocol, it is notable for its widespread adoption throughout the music industry.

All MIDI compatible controllers, musical instruments, and MIDI-compatible software follow the same MIDI 1.0 specification, and thus interpret any given MIDI message the same way, and so can communicate with and understand each other. MIDI composition and arrangement takes advantage of MIDI 1.0 and General MIDI (GM) technology to allow musical data files to be shared among many different files due to some incompatibility with various electronic instruments by using a standard, portable set of commands and parameters. Because the music is stored as instructions rather than recorded audio waveforms, the data size of the files is quite small by comparison. Individual MIDI files can be traced through their own individual key code. This key code was established in early 1994 to combat piracy within the sharing of .mid files.

By the end of the 1970s, electronic musical devices were becoming increasingly common and affordable. However, devices from different manufacturers were generally not compatible with each other and could not be interconnected. Different interfacing models included analog control voltages at various standards (such as 1 volt per octave, or the logarithmic "hertz per volt"); analog clock, trigger and "gate" signals (both positive "V-trig" and negative "S-trig" varieties, between -15V to +15V); and proprietary digital interfaces such as Roland Corporation's DCB (digital control bus), the Oberheim system, and Yamaha's "keycode" system.

Following several months of discussion between US and Japanese manufacturers, in November 1981, audio engineer and synthesizer designer Dave Smith of Sequential Circuits, Inc. proposed a digital standard for musical instruments at the Audio Engineering Society show in New York. By the time of the January, 1983 Winter NAMM Show, Smith was able to demonstrate a MIDI connection between his Prophet 600 and a Roland JP-6. The MIDI Specification 1.0 was published in August 1983. (See MMA)[2][3]

In the early 1980s, MIDI was a major factor in bringing an end to the "wall of synthesizers" phenomenon in progressive rock band concerts, when keyboard performers were often hidden behind huge banks of analog synthesizers and electric pianos. Following the advent of MIDI, many synthesizers were released in rack-mount versions, which meant that keyboardists could control many different instruments (e.g., synthesizers) from a single keyboard.

In the 1980s, MIDI facilitated the development of hardware and computer-based sequencers, which can be used to record, edit and play ...