MIDI is short for Musical Instrument Digital Interface and is another method of connecting your music equipment together or connecting up to a computer. MIDI transfers information and does NOT transfer audio. Connecting MIDI involves using 1 or 2 MIDI cables to the MIDI ports of the devices being used.
What kind of information is transmitted down a MIDI cable?
Information about the length of notes, pitch of notes, sustain, volume, pan, program changes, fx parameters etc can be transmitted – there is a whole lot more, in fact there are books about the subject because it’s so big.
MIDI is extremely flexible, editable and the information sent down the cable is compact and small. MIDI can be used with or without a computer. Within the music industry MIDI is used on a day-to-day basis.
What types of hardware include MIDI?
- Computer Sound Cards – Internal / External
- Drum Machines
- Keyboards
- Sound Modules
- MIDI Guitars, Wind Controllers
- Guitar FX Units
- General FX Units
- Stand-alone Sequencers
- Multi-track Recorders
- Lighting for stage
- Mixing Desks
- DJ Controllers
Examples of MIDI in Action…
Connect a MIDI Guitar to a Synthesizer. This would allow the guitar to access and play the sounds of the synthesizer, the guitar becomes the controller and triggers the sounds. This opens a whole new world up to guitarists! Guitars playing orchestral strings, piano, bells, strange fx all from the fretboard.
Connect a MIDI Keyboard with its own sounds up to a computer and record some music within a popular music software package. Play the music back and change the sound. Edit any mistakes within the computer without re-recording. Layer more sounds to build up a great sounding track.
Connect and control the presets of a MIDI Guitar FX Unit to a computer. Save the preset used with the song or change presets while playing along to the song.
Connect a MIDI Controller Keyboard (with no sounds) to a sound module to trigger and play the sounds inside the module.
Connect a MIDI controllable mixing desk with automated faders to a computer and control the volume, pan of the mixing desk while the song is playing back.
MIDI Connections
There are 2 main MIDI connections on most hardware units – MIDI IN and MIDI OUT. Additionally, on most keyboards there is a MIDI Thru.
When connecting one device to another we must always connect MIDI IN to MIDI OUT and / or MIDI OUT to MIDI IN. The MIDI Thru always goes to MIDI IN. MIDI Thru is used when we want to expand our MIDI system to include more equipment and is often not used in smaller setups.
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