MIDI for beginners :: Computer Science

MIDI for beginnersBackgroundThe acronym MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. AMusical Instrument is a machine that makes sounds which humans harbourdecided to call music. Digital means information that is encoded innumerical form, i.e. numbers, while Interface means a machine whichfacilitates communication between 2 or more systems.In practical terms, MIDI is a standard way for all sorts of modernmusical equipment to talk to each some other. This equipment commonlyconsists of things bid keyboards, computer sequencers, synthesisers,and samplers, but it also includes mixers, tape recorders, effectsgenerators, guitars, drum kits, wind instruments etc.The MIDI Standard was designed in the early 80s by a partnershipbetween Roland and Sequential Circuits, two of the largest synthesisermanufactures of the time. This came about because of pressure fromkeyboard players, who wanted a universal interface standard for alltheir synthesisers to comply to. They were supply up with differentsynthesiser corporations exploitation their own communications standard whichwere incompatible with those of other corporations.After the publication of the MIDI standard in 1984, other musicalequipment manufactures quickly began to implement it in the designs oftheir products and MIDI became a world wide standard.A major advantage of MIDI over old line of latitude interface standards, suchas CV (Control Voltage), is that it is possible to transfer up tosixteen channels of data down maven cable, as opposed to CVs onechannel per cable.Another major advantage of MIDI is that it enables computers equippedwith MIDI to be used to write music and control musical equipment.This is done with programs called sequencers. They advise give a veryhigh degree of control over music, impossible through conventionalmeans.Another advantage of MIDI is that it is now a world wide standard,insuring that practically all professional electronic music equipmentwill be compatible with it. Having sixteen channels to transfer MIDI data can also be a limitationwhen you want to use more than sixteen channels. However, this problemcan be got around by using two or more midi interfaces each givingsixteen channels.Another limitation of MIDI is that you can not use it to transfer reliabletime digital audio.MIDI information is transferred by sending a digital signal down awire from one system to another. This digital data takes the form ofbinary numbers, physically transferred by sending zero volts for zeroor off and plus five volts for one or on. legitimate binary numbers convey certain types of information, forexample a certain binary number will tell the device that a note on akeyboard has been pressed. This is called a note on event and the