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 Keyboards and modules:
Practically every musical keyboard sold today has MIDI connections...
from the $100 portables to $300,000 digital grand pianos.
Wind controllers, MIDI guitars & drums etc.:
You don't have to be a keyboard (piano) player to benefit from MIDI. There are specially
made MIDI wind controllers, MIDI guitars, MIDI drums, even MIDI accordions. Since MIDI
was primarily designed for ‘keyboard players', these devices are often referred to as
'alternate MIDI controllers.'
(Interested in MIDI Guitar? Check out Craig
Anderton's High-Tech
Guitar forum over at Harmony Central.)
Non-Traditional Controllers: Another category of "alternate MIDI controllers" are those that don't mirror traditional musical instruments.
There are many people who feel that traditional musical instruments are too hard to learn, or limit their
expression to "traditional" forms.
MIDI controllers come in a large variety of shapes and formats,
and thanks to motion and impact sensors just about anything can be made to send MIDI data.
We've compiled some examples of non-traditional controllers here,
and some additional and unusual uses of MIDI here.
Control Surfaces: This type of ‘alternate MIDI
controller' includes unique products designed to trigger or modify
notes on a sound-engine, as well as products to remotely control the
settings of software or other hardware using knobs, sliders, buttons, wheels, and
joysticks that send MIDI Messages.
 
Lighting Controllers: Many professional stage lighting controllers allow
external control of scene and program changes via MIDI.
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Computers & Interfaces: Practically every computer made today comes with the ability
to play MIDI files, and can connect to other MIDI gear with a PC-to-MIDI
interface (connector) available as an accessory. Professionals and amateurs alike can compose,
arrange, and record original music, or use the computer to learn about music or
how to play an instrument.
Software applications: There are hundreds if not thousands of
software applications that involve MIDI, either actively or passively. Included are MIDI
Sequencers (now commonly combined with audio recording into Digital Audio Workstations or
‘DAWs'.), auto accompaniment applications, notation programs, music teaching software, games,
DJ/remix environments, and more.
Software sounds: ‘Softsynths' or ‘software musical instruments' started
to appear in the late 1990s. With the development of plug-in architectures and virtual studio
technology (e.g. VST, AU, etc.) there has been an explosion of sound-generating software products
in both ‘new' and ‘vintage' styles.
Games: Computer and video game music, now generally referred to as game audio,
began in the early days of MIDI and to some extent, its history exemplifies both the creativity
and the limitations of ‘ MIDI music.'
Today, game music delivers startling levels of ‘reality'. Both recorded music and MIDI, are
at the heart of most game audio developers' systems.
Interactivity, however, is a current hot topic in the game industry and MIDI's inherent
flexibility coupled with microscopic file sizes, makes it a natural choice for a new
generation of both hardware and software that puts control of game music in the hands of
the players.
MOBILE PHONES AND MORE:
Although the trend in recent years has been towards ‘real' (compressed) audio versions of
popular hits, MIDI ring-tones are still very popular for their ability to be changed in
any way imaginable, and many phones (especially "smart
phones") support downloadable games that benefit
from the compact size of MIDI data.
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Eigenlabs:
Eigenharp
Inspired
Instruments: "You Rock Guitar"
C-Thru Music: Axis
Haken Audio: The Continuum Fingerboard
Yamaha: Tenori-On
MIDI-driven Marimba
Free MIDI Game
MIDI Sequencing with Hamster Control
MIDI Ladder 