From: "Saved by Internet Explorer 11" Subject: Chapter Three: How MIDI works Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 10:54:25 -0800 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0022_01CF1829.7AFAB450" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.1.7601.17609 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0022_01CF1829.7AFAB450 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: file://C:\Users\R&D 1\Documents\Research\Digital\MIDI\chapter3_MIDI.html
=20 =20Chapter Three: MIDI
Overview
MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital = Interface. The=20 development of the MIDI system has been a major catalyst in the recent=20 unprecedented explosion of music technology. MIDI has put powerful = computer=20 instrument networks and software in the hands of less technically versed = musicians and amateurs and has provided new and time-saving tools for = computer musicians. The system first appeared in 1982 following an agreement = among=20 manufacturers and developers of electronic musical instruments to = include a=20 common set of hardware connectors and digital codes in their instrument = design.=20 In 1983, the MIDI 1.0 Specification was formally released by the = International=20 MIDI Association* as Roland, Yamaha, Korg, Kawai and Sequencial Circuits = all=20 came out with MIDI-capable instruments that year.
The original goal was to connect or interface instruments of = different=20 manufacture to control common functions, such as note events, timing = events,=20 pitch bends, pedal information, etc. A note, patch change or pedal = applied to=20 one instrument would have the same effect on another connected via MIDI = cables,=20 even if it was of a different brand. As microcomputers, such as the = Apple II=20 became available, it wasn't long before instruments were hooked up = through a=20 MIDI interface to the computer as well as each other. This allowed = programmers=20 to write MIDI sequencing and editor/librarian software.
Though several classes of codes have been added to the MIDI 1.0 = Specification=20 (International MIDI Association, 1989) and MIDI applications have grown = far=20 beyond the original intent, the basic protocol has remained unchanged. = MIDI is a system very much like a player piano roll in that it is used to specify = the=20 actions of a synthesizer or other electronic devices, while the tone or = effect=20 is generated by the instrument itself.
*According to = Joel=20 Chadabe, the International MIDI Association was formed to diseminate = information and the MIDI Manufacturers' Association was formed to work = on=20 technical issues
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