![]() ![]() Let’s look at this two ways one, which incorporates a MIDI controller, and another, which doesn’t. Just like an audio signal, MIDI data follows a very specific pathway as it moves from source to instrument. They manage the growth and development of the MIDI specification and protocol in all its forms and iterations, of which there have been several. There’s even a group of people who make up the MIDI Manufacturers Association, or the MMA. Each message has a very specific order that it gets sent in, which is done using binary code (the 1s and 0s your computer understands), and that is what we call the MIDI protocol. When you play or click in a note, it sends instructions to your instruments, such as turn on, play it this loud, modulate something, play for this long, turn off (or, in MIDI speak: note on, velocity, modulation, note duration, note off) etc. These can come in several forms-it could be a controller with any assortment of keys, faders, knobs, buttons, etc., or it could be a clip or region inside a DAW like Logic, Pro Tools or Ableton. MIDI data gets sent to an instrument via some sort of device or sequencer. It also made it difficult to get different pieces of gear to interface with each other. This made it really complex for users, since there was no standard. ![]() There were lots of different developers and manufacturers creating new and exciting hardware synthesizers, all of which had similar functionality but worked in their own way. This was pre DAWs, pre software instruments, pre MIDI controllers. When I say "thing" I mean, the thing as far as music technology was concerned. The early years of MIDIīack in the late 1970s and early 1980s, synthesizers were a thing. In this piece, we’ll take a look at what MIDI data is and how the data flows through device chains on your tracks before you start the mixing and mastering process. That is, until it doesn’t or you want to do something specific with it. Like your refrigerator or your cell phone, the way MIDI data functions is a mystery to most people. We speak to our instruments by sending them MIDI data and they respond by doing our musical bidding. In a nutshell, MIDI is a specific language that your software and hardware instruments understand. It’s a mouthful when called by its full name, and 99% of the time you’ll hear the acronym being used instead. MIDI (pronounced mid-e) stands for Music Instrument Digital Interface. ![]()
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