MIDI for beginners :: Computer Science

midi for beginnersBackgroundThe acronym harmonyal instrument digital interface stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. AMusical Instrument is a machine that makes sounds which humans havedecided to call music. Digital performer information that is encoded innumerical form, i.e. numbers, while Interface means a machine whichfacilitates communication between two or to a greater extent systems.In practical terms, MIDI is a standard way for all sorts of sophisticatedmusical equipment to talk to each other. This equipment commonlyconsists of things like keyboards, computer sequencers, synthesisers,and samplers, nevertheless it also includes mixers, tape recorders, effectsgenerators, guitars, drum kits, wind instruments etc.The MIDI Standard was designed in the early 80s by a unionbetween Roland and Sequential Circuits, two of the largest synthesisermanufactures of the time. This came about because of pressure fromkeyboard players, who cherished a universal interface stand ard for alltheir synthesisers to comply to. They were cater up with differentsynthesiser corporations utilize 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 widely standard.A major improvement of MIDI e veryplace old analogue interface standards, suchas CV (Control Voltage), is that it is practicable to ship up tosixteen channels of data down mavin cable, as opposed to CVs singlechannel 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 bath give a veryhigh degree of control over music, impossible through establishedmeans.Another advantage of MIDI is that it is now a world wide standard,insuring that practically all p rofessional 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 realtime digital audio.MIDI information is transferred by displace 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 tail fin volts for one or on.Certain binary numbers convey accredited types of information, forexample a certain binary number will separate the device that a descent on akeyboard has been pressed. This is called a note on event and the