History of Computers - Midi

Introduction

The Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) was first premiered at the 1981 AES, where Dave Smith of Sequential Circuits presented a long paper on the Universal Synthesizer Interface. The demand for a new device that could connect different musical instruments was high and MIDI filled that role.

Overview

This interface is very valuable to certain artists and musical professionals around the world who value synthesizing and producing music.

Significance

The significance of the MIDI was that artists that were able to explore a completely new type of music, synthesizers. These instruments allowed a whole new type of sound to be played thus helping to spawn new genres in music.

How it works

Although a "musical interface", a sound is not created by the MIDI itself. Rather electronic signals are sent to different pieces of equipment, telling them to make the sound. These messages between the MIDI and the equipment not only tell the pitch to play but also can mean things like velocity, aftertouch, pitch bend, pan, modulation, volume, or multiple other MIDI controlled function.

References

https://www.midi.org/articles/a-brief-history-of-midi http://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/30-years-of-midi-a-brief-history-568009