For the past few days we have been at the SXSW Music Expo. It turns out that Austin now only has a vibrant synth scene, but there are a lot of Austin based startups doing some pretty cool things with MIDI. Also at the show we got to meet with some companies from around the globe and from all over the US doing cool things with Bluetooth M...
Hand-Held Controllers Electronic MIDI controllers that you hold in your hands and shake or move about to make music date back to 1986. That was the year Palmtree Instruments introduced Airdrums, a tabletop MIDI controller wired to two tubes that contain sensors for detecting motion in any of six directions. The control box transmits six triggers pe...
Join the MIDI Association and download the 21 page booklet "What is MIDI" excerpted from "MIDI for the Professional" by Paul Lehrman and Tim Tully. We're always trying to help our MIDI Association members get the most out of MIDI. Paul Lehrman has been involved with MIDI since its inception. Paul has w...
We have a soft spot for robots....... People who tinker with robots, art installations and circuit bending are right in our wheelhouse . They seem to share a passion for pushing the limits of what MIDI can do. Here's a quick selection of some of our favorite MIDI robots curated from the web. Eric Singer and the Le...
If you had a minute to tell us what MIDI means to you, what would you say? At the Winter NAMM show 2016, we wanted to capture what people felt about MIDI. Thanks to Lawrence and Mick Levine we were able to capture people's instant reaction to the question- What does MIDI mean to you? It is amazing how articulate and passionate...
Fix those little "gotchas" before they make it into the final mix by Craig Anderton MIDI sequencing is wonderful, but it's not perfect—and sometimes, you'll be sandbagged by problems like false triggers (e.g., what happens when you brush against a key accidentally), having two different notes land on the same beat when quantized, voice-stealing tha...
Companies and products listed here do not imply any recommendation or endorsement by the MIDI Manufacturers Association. MIDI Processing, Programming, and Do It Yourself (DIY) Components These are just examples of such products -- we make no warranty re: suitability (or anything else, for that matter) -- use at your own risk. If you are a manu...
We were really surprised to see so much MIDI activity at the Intel booth at CES 2016. There were two presenters on their main demo stage that have direct connections to The MIDI Association. DJ RaviDrums was there showing off the combination of a DJ MIDI controller and electronic drums with sophisticated video processing Ravi is always at th...
We had a great NAMM show in 2016. The MMA booth was really busy with constant demos by Quicco, Bome and Kagura from Shikumi Designs. All of the Tec Track panels we hosted were well attended. The Executive Roundtable: Keyboards and Virtual Instruments — with Craig Anderton, Jordan Rudess, Mi...
We put together a series of articles about the history of electronic music and MIDI. Here are links to the series. MIDI History:Chapter 1- 850 AD to 1850 AD - To really understand the origins of MIDI, you need to go all the way back to before there were digitally controlled synthesizers and computers, In fact you need to go back before there w...
Here is a collection of tutorials on MIDI which is a great place to get started. For quick access to a list of all MIDI Messages, see our Reference Tables section. Why MIDI Matters - MIDI is like air, it's all around you, most of the time you can take it for granted, but if you are a digital musician you probably couldn't live wi...
MMA Booth #1086 Hall E Winter NAMM 2016 is going to be a busy one for The MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA), the non-profit trade organization that develops and protects the MIDI specification and the brand new MIDI Association, the global community of people who work, play and create with MIDI. The&...
Alternative Controllers A keyboard isn't the only means of playing a synthesizer. Synthesist/multi-instrumentalist/composer Kevin Fortune (http://www.kevinbrahenyfortune.com) is one of many who enjoy using alternative controllers. He believes the kind of controller you use not only directly influences the type of music you create, but it also can l...
Touch Controllers (continued) Another beautiful and powerful touch controller, this one featuring 150 rectangular walnut keys arranged in a five-row by 30-column matrix laid within a 29" by 8" by 1-1/4" block of Washington alder and weighing 4.6 pounds, is the Madrona Labs Soundplane Model A (http://madronalabs.com). Each key senses velocity, posit...
Touch Controllers (continued) Although it isn't a dedicated controller, Teenage Engineering's OP-1 — a tiny (11.1" x 4.02" x 0.53", 1 lb. 4.4 oz.), battery-powered workstation packed with a variety of digital synthesis engines, effects processors, filters, audio recording and sampling, sequencing, and other capabilities — becomes a unique MIDI...
Touch Controllers (continued) If you'd prefer a surface that's stretched much further, consider the Haken Continuum Fingerboard (http://www.hakenaudio.com/Continuum). Its control surface feels like silk and looks like a wide ribbon with alternating scarlet and maroon stripes. Designed by Lippold Haken, the Continuum goes beyond two dimensions. Its ...
Tell us about yourself briefly- I write, sing, play various instruments, program drums etc, edit, mix and produce my own work in my home studio or wherever a project takes me. I'm now fully independent, with no management, publishing or label! It feels amazing to be completely untethered. Over the last 5 years I've been developing with a team of no...
5 Different Sites and 5 different views of the same song, but they are all driven by MIDI. Multimedia artist Andy Fillebrown creates visualizations of classical, public domain musical compositions. His YouTube channel, audiosculptures, is filled with 100+ spellbinding journeys through a tunnel of glowing, pulsing notes. by The ...
Conlon Nancarrow and impossible music In an earlier MIDI history blog, we talked about the strange symbiotic relationship between player pianos and MIDI. But one of the things we didn't talk about was Conlon Nancarrow, the 20th century American composer who lived most of his life in Mexico and wrote most of his pieces for player pianos because...
Serial, Parallel, and Joystick Ports Before USB and FireWire, personal computers were all generally equipped with serial, parallel, and (possibly) joystick ports, all of which have been used for connecting MIDI-equipped instruments (through special adapters). Though not always faster than MIDI-DIN, these connectors were already available on compute...
USB and MIDI MIDI has stayed relevant for over 30 years by adapting to the different ways that computers send information to and from external devices. MIDI can now be sent over 5 Pin DIN, Serial Ports, USB, Firewire, Ethernet, Bluetooth and more. But currently the most prevalent way to connect to computers, tablets and smartphones is USB...