What is MIDI Exactly?
There are special guitar synthesizers that have touch-sensitive pads instead of frets. On stringed instruments, frets are the raised portions on the neck that divide it into musical fixed elements. But .MID files aren't restricted to keyboards or other electronic musical instruments. It just sends out the MIDI messages telling the other instruments what to play. Once the percussion track is recorded, for example, you can play it back and record over it with the bass line. Any computer with a sound card can play back .MID files. The controller itself doesn't generate any sound. This device, usually a keyboard, is called the controller. The classic MIDI synthesizer is the electronic keyboard, resembling a small piano. If you connect the keyboard to a computer, you can record that MIDI data onto a sequencing program. And full drum sets can be constructed of MIDI drum pads, cymbals and high-hats. Now let's talk about virtual instruments, one of the coolest advantages of making music with MIDI. But MIDI is no longer confined to just making music. A young musician no longer needs to spend thousands of dollars on expensive musical instruments and hours in a professional recording studio.
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Since MIDI is a universal standard, the recorded songs can be played back on any electronic musical instrument or MIDI-enabled device. There are wind instrument synthesizers that look like plastic clarinets, but can be adjusted to play like a saxophone. There are MIDI controllers that look like guitars, clarinets and drums. Now let's look at the basics of MIDI sequencers, also known as multi-track recording software. For a simple MIDI recording setup, all you need is a MIDI synthesizer or controller connected to a computer, plus some kind of sequencer software. A MIDI controller looks just like a MIDI synthesizer, except it doesn't emit any sound by itself. Their chief characteristic -- or what differentiates them from MIDI controllers -- is that they generate sound as well as MIDI data. But since MIDI data is digital, it's also extremely easy to edit. MIDI data files are perfect for karaoke machines, because they allow the machine to easily change pitch for different vocal ranges. The keyboard player can trigger the smoke machine every time he plays a D-flat and can control the lights during a live show. Or you can connect that keyboard to another device, like a drum machine or sampler, and control that device through MIDI commands.
Or you can invest in a small MIDI USB or Firewire adapter that easily plugs into the USB or Firewire port of a desktop PC or laptop. Today, there are special MIDI controllers -- still mostly keyboards -- that come equipped with multiple knobs and faders to manipulate the instruments they're emulating or controlling. As we mentioned earlier, the original motivation for inventing MIDI was that musicians wanted to be able to control multiple electronic instruments from one device. There are also plenty of soft synths that are original creations, rather than emulating an existing musical instrument. The synthesizer software runs on a tiny computer installed inside the musical instrument. Short for Musical Instrument Digital Interface, MIDI is the one and only standard by which electronic musical instruments, computers, software and other digital controllers share musical information. The standard MIDI connector is the five-pin MIDI DIN that attaches to the joystick port of a PC soundcard. Think of it like a joystick or a mouse. And since MIDI files don't contain sampled audio like MP3 or WAV files, they're comparatively much smaller than audio files. You can grab chunks of audio -- say a drumbeat -- copy it and paste it 100 more times.
And since this is a MIDI interface, you can even add extra effects and capabilities -- like the ability to play more notes at the same time. MIDI controllers, like MIDI synthesizers, come in all shapes and sizes. Software packages like Pro Tools and Reason allow anyone to make professional quality music at home using an endless arsenal of virtual instruments. For more information on music technology and related topics, video shorts check out the links on the next page. The combination of MIDI and powerful home computers has changed the way people make music. But it's also possible to take that same synthesizer software -- which contains all of the code that produces the unique sounds of an electronic instrument -- and run it on a normal home computer. For a more complicated MIDI recording setup, you might need a multi-port MIDI interface that allows you to connect several MIDI devices to a computer at the same time.
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