The first electronic musical instruments As electricity became more widely available, the early 20th century saw the invention of electronic musical instruments including the Telharmonium, Trautonium, Ondes Martenot, the Theremin and the Hammond organ. What is interesting in looking at these early devices is how much they foreshadow the future...
From mechanical to digital to virtual....and back! The relationship between mechanical musical machines and MIDI gets even more intriguing with orchestrions and "fairground organs". Orchestrions have multiple mechanical instruments in them and are designed to sound like a complete orchestra (hence the name). Orchestrions a...
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 was even electricity to the very first mechanical music machines. The very first mechanical musical instruments were documented in the Book of Ingenious Devices...
The golden age of mechanical music machines really came in the late 19th century and early 20th century with player pianos and orchestrions. A player piano is defined as any actual acoustic piano that is played by a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism that operates the piano action via pre-programmed music. Between 1910 and 1...
If you were forced to pick one single person who is responsible for the creation of the modern music production environment, Bob Moog would be a good choice. He spans the era from the early days of synths to the post MIDI world and is arguably the most influential figure in synth history. In researching...
This 30 minute TV show from 1986 is a window into the state of the art in MIDI music technology back then. Guests: Chris French, Music Software; Bob Moore, Hybrid Arts; David Schwartz, Compusonics; Chris Potter, Mimetics; Curtis Sasaki, Apple; Gary Kildall, Digital Research; Gary Leuenberger, Midi RevolutionProducts/Demos: Casi...
The core MIDI 2. Specifications are available for download by MIDI Association Individual MembersCorporate Members have access to all specifications including those under development You must be logged in as a TMA member to download the spec. If you are not a member yet (or not logged in) , clicking on the link will take you to the s...
MIDI Association announces global initiative by over 50 MIDI Association companies to prototype MIDI 2.0. The MIDI Association has released details of the ongoing, industry-wide initiative by over 50 MIDI Association companies to develop MIDI 2.0 products and services. Despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, MIDI Associati...
November 1, 2022 - The Association of Musical Electronics Industries (AMEI), the organization that oversees the MIDI specification in Japan, has committed to funding the development of an open-source USB MIDI 2.0 Host Driver for Windows Operating Systems under a memorandum of understanding between AMEI, AmeNote Inc, and Microsoft. AMEI is underwrit...
A new French company EMBODME launched a KickStarter on October 14 for their new Polyphonic MIDI Controller, the Erae Touch. Here's what they have to say about it, Super Sensitive & Reactive 1000 nerves in a backlit muscle padwith blazing fast aquisition speed, grasping every nuances, every articulations with...
