The word MIDI might not generate a spark of recognition in the average person, yet for years it has been indispensable technology for scores of musicians, producers, and recording engineers. Increasingly, it’s found in instruments developed for beginner and hobbyist musicians. It’s a selling point, for instance, on Yamaha and Roland digital pianos, entry-level Casio keyboards, and classic Hammond organs.
But what exactly is MIDI and how can it enhance your playing? MIDI is an acronym for Musical Instrument Digital Interface, which, put simply, means it is an industry software standard created by electronic instrument and computer manufacturers in the 1980s. The average musician at this point might say, “Who cares? It’s something for manufacturers and geeky electronica musicians. What does it have to do with me?” The truth is that MIDI is a technology that can enhance the experience of any musician, professional and amateur alike.
Think of MIDI as a digital language that allows keyboards and other musical equipment, like synthesizers, drum machines, samplers, mixers, PAs, and even stage lighting control units, to communicate with each other.
Another way to think of MIDI is as a three-part process. If you are using MIDI to enhance what you are doing on your keyboard, the first part involves creating a MIDI file (on your computer, the MIDI file suffix is .mid) using the keyboard’s sequencer. The second part involves the transfer of this music as electronic data. The third part involves translating that data back into sound, via a synthesizer or a sound card on your computer.
This means if you own a keyboard that supports MIDI and a computer with a MIDI-compatible sound card, you can make your computer part of your instrument. It makes practicing, even writing songs, much easier. For instance, when MIDI keeps track of what notes you play on your keyboard, it can transfer the notes onto your computer screen.
This transfer makes it easier to see the notes and re-arrange them. As long as your computer has a sound card that can synthesize various instruments, you can play the notes back and listen to your song or practice piece. MIDI files are very small, so they don’t take up much computer memory, and once on the computer, they can be manipulated in many different ways.
This keyboard-to-computer communication works the other way too. Most modern electronic keyboards enable you to browse the Internet for .mid files and download them into your keyboard’s computer hard drive. This can give you many more practice songs to play along to than are found in your keyboard’s library of songs.