MIDI Workshop

20th March 2004 12h00-14h00

Special Guest: Jeff Fletcher

When it comes to making music, one thing for sure is that there is such an awesome array of computer software out there now that just about anything is possible. And the language most computer music talks is MIDI, and that stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It's a communications protocol that allows electronic musical instruments to interact with each other. Musical information is sent as digital computer information, and MIDI is the definition of what each piece of information means. Its like the letter "A" is represented by a byte of information with a number 65. Similarly MIDI information consists of bytes but the numbers represent musical notes. Middle C (C3) corresponds to MIDI key of 60. It goes back to the early 1980's, the time when the Personal Computer was just starting to happen.

At the workshop, we will be going through the basics, have a look at how it all works, and see some applications of MIDI in use for electronic music production.

Pics from the workshop here

 

Some Links for more info:

About MIDI:

• Here's a basic intro (going back to 1989) on Midiworld
  
  
• This is the nuts & bolts of MIDI: The UseNet MIDI Primer
  
  
• "Brief Overview of Proposed General MIDI Level 1 Spec" discuss what the codes represent at a higher level.
  
  
• The MIDI Manufacturers Association home page
  See their Technology of MIDI page

MIDI Resources and downloads:

• The MIDI Database