Midi 6k312p

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT DIGITAL INTERFACE (MIDI) By Sergio Rodriguez, Santiago Rodriguez, Esteban Puyana and Juan David Vargas 8A

 Is the one and only standard

WHAT IS IT?

protocol by which electronic musical instruments, computers, software and other digital controllers share musical information.

 MIDI are the “instructions” to make the music, NOT the sound music by itself.

 It does not contain actual

SOME KEYS TO COMPREHEND MIDI

sounds.

 It is not stored in a digital music file. (We’ll talk later of how MIDI data is stored)

 MIDI is only data that tells other devices how to make the sound.

 The protocol can handle a total of 128 notes (from C five octaves below middle C through to G ten octaves higher)

 Also it has 16 channels, (so

MIDI’S CAPABILITIES

that 16 separate devices can be controlled per signal chain, or multiple devices assigned the same channel so they respond to the same input) and 128 programs (corresponding to patches or voice/ effect setting changes, we’ll see them later).

HOW IT WORKS?

MIDI works through a set of defined instructions, or MIDI messages, telling a compatible instrument which notes to play, how hard to strike them, with what effects (such as vibrato or sustain), and at what tempo and relative volume. MIDI signals also include built-in clock pulses, which set the tempo of the track and permit basic timing synchronization between equipment.

MIDI files are Saved on SMF format (Standard MIDI File).

HOW IS MIDI DATA STORED? As MIDI files don’t contain Audio but instructions, the file size of a MIDI file is way much smaller

Space it takes to save 1 minute of melody

When you record music onto a computer using MIDI, the software saves this data as .MID file.

Sound translated into Saved on Audio MIDI Format like .MP3 Approximately 10Kb (kilobytes)

Around 10Mb (megabytes)

IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT SMF’s DO NOT CONTAIN SOUND, THEY HAVE “INSTRUCTIONS”

DIFFERENCE WITH DIGITAL AUDIO

The great difference present between MIDI and digital audio, is that MIDI records the data of how to perform the sound, while digital audio is only the played sound. MIDI is also better for edition of the song, and it is more versatile, thus, the main disadvantage is that midi cannot perform the sound unless it is connected to special device capable of playing it

MIDI HISTORY

 In 1860, Hermann Von Helmholtz uses

BACKGROUND: 19TH CENTURY

a series of electromagnetic generators to create pure tones. In 1897, Thaddeus Cahill created the first synthesizer known as Dynamophone or Telharmonium. It was able to create electrical currents that could alter frequencies.

 In 1964, Robert Moog and

BACKGROUND: 20TH CENTURY

Donald Buchla started working on their own commercialized synthesizers independently and then released them in 1966.  After the release of the Moog and Buchla synthesizers companies like Tonus and EMS appeared to become the main competitions of the previously released synthesizers.  The 80’s were characterized by an avalanche of digital synthesizers like the USI and by the creation of the first instrument that came with MIDI technology, the Prophet-600.

 Roland, a Japanese enterprise created a new system that instead of using a sound chip it used a musical interface. It used a new type of language, a digital language that used all of the previously used keyboards.

 This new interface became known as MIDI or “Musical Instrument Digital Interface.”

CREATION OF MIDI

 MIDI arose from the need of different artists musicians and composers of improving and increasing the possibilities of synthesizers and rhythm machines to run their creations.

 MIDI has been seen as the universal

ACTUALITY

protocol for music. After 33 years of its appearance it is still used by almost all of the electrical instruments in the world.

 There have been new tendencies that are alternative methods to the MIDI protocol like the OSC (Open Sound Control) that works as being open so that it can use different protocols like UDP or T.

INSTRUMENTS  MIDI instruments are apparels capable of generating sound and MIDI data too. ( that the only thing that MIDI stores is data, not sound)

MIDI MAIN CATEGORIES

CONTROLLERS (OR DEVICES)  A MIDI controller only generates MIDI data that's interpreted by a computer or an audio-enabled MIDI synthesizer. (This will be explained in the presentation of the other group)

MIDI INSTRUMENTS These are the instruments in the General MIDI Level 1 sound set. This implies that it limits the sounds that can be played, but not how they should sound

 Permit that 24 voices are active at the same time (including at least 16 melodic and 8 percussive voices)

 Be able to answer to note velocity

REQUIREMENTS FOR MIDI INSTRUMENTS

instructed by the program

 all 16 channels simultaneously (with channel 10 reserved for percussion)

 Hold polyphony (multiple simultaneous notes) in every channel

PIANO

1 Acoustic Grand Piano 2 Bright Acoustic Piano 3 Electric Grand Piano 4 Honky-tonk Piano 5 Electric Piano 1 6 Electric Piano 2 7 Harpsichord 8 Clavinet

CHROMATIC PERCUSSION

9 Celesta 10 Glockenspiel 11 Music Box 12 Vibraphone 13 Marimba 14 Xylophone 15 Tubular Bells 16 Dulcimer

ORGAN

17 Drawbar Organ 18 Percussive Organ 19 Rock Organ 20 Church Organ 21 Reed Organ 22 Accordion 23 Harmonica 24 Tango Accordion

GUITAR

25 Acoustic Guitar (nylon) 26 Acoustic Guitar (steel) 27 Electric Guitar (jazz) 28 Electric Guitar (clean) 29 Electric Guitar (muted) 30 Overdriven Guitar 31 Distortion Guitar 32 Guitar harmonics

BASS

33 Acoustic Bass 34 Electric Bass (finger) 35 Electric Bass (pick) 36 Fretless Bass 37 Slap Bass 1 38 Slap Bass 2 39 Synth Bass 1 40 Synth Bass 2

STRINGS

41 Violin 42 Viola 43 Cello 44 Contrabass 45 Tremolo Strings 46 Pizzicato Strings 47 Orchestral Harp 48 Timpani

STRINGS CONTINUED

49 String Ensemble 1 50 String Ensemble 2 51 Synth Strings 1 52 Synth Strings 2 53 Choir Aahs 54 Voice Oohs 55 Synth Voice 56 Orchestra Hit

BRASS

57 Trumpet 58 Trombone 59 Tuba 60 Muted Trumpet 61 French Horn 62 Brass Section 63 Synth Brass 1 64 Synth Brass 2

REED

65 Soprano Sax 66 Alto Sax 67 Tenor Sax 68 Baritone Sax 69 Oboe 70 English Horn 71 Bassoon 72 Clarinet

PIPE

73 Piccolo 74 Flute 75 Recorder 76 Pan Flute 77 Blown Bottle 78 Shakuhachi 79 Whistle 80 Ocarina

SYNTH LEAD

81 Lead 1 (square) 82 Lead 2 (sawtooth) 83 Lead 3 (calliope) 84 Lead 4 (chiff) 85 Lead 5 (charang) 86 Lead 6 (voice) 87 Lead 7 (fifths) 88 Lead 8 (bass + lead)

SYNTH PAD

89 Pad 1 (new age) 90 Pad 2 (warm) 91 Pad 3 (polysynth) 92 Pad 4 (choir) 93 Pad 5 (bowed) 94 Pad 6 (metallic) 95 Pad 7 (halo) 96 Pad 8 (sweep)

SYNTH EFFECTS

97 FX 1 (rain) 98 FX 2 (soundtrack) 99 FX 3 (crystal) 100 FX 4 (atmosphere) 101 FX 5 (brightness) 102 FX 6 (goblins) 103 FX 7 (echoes) 104 FX 8 (sci-fi)

ETHNIC

105 Sitar 106 Banjo 107 Shamisen 108 Koto 109 Kalimba 110 Bag pipe 111 Fiddle 112 Shanai

PERCUSSIVE

113 Tinkle Bell 114 Agogo 115 Steel Drums 116 Woodblock 117 Taiko Drum 118 Melodic Tom 119 Synth Drum

SOUND EFFECTS

120 Reverse Cymbal 121 Guitar Fret Noise 122 Breath Noise 123 Seashore 124 Bird Tweet 125 Telephone Ring 126 Helicopter 127 Applause 128 Gunshot

MIDI EDITION

 With MIDI you can edit and create music productions

 MIDI contains many tools for editing music like:

As recently mentioned we can find lots of virtual instruments

Equalizer, where you can change

TOOLS

frequencies of a production (measured in KHz and Hz)

You can add loops and beats Record voices

Digital effects

PRODUCTIONS WITH MIDI EDITION  With MIDI you can master, create and edit music

 You can mix different components of the program to make an organized music production

 Edition in Midi helps a music production be a good product

 Editing with Midi is a very good option for music production.

 There are several programs to edit, according to the necessity of the

 Effects can be added to instruments.  The file for a song or several instruments put

together (can also be a guide track) is smaller.

 You can create music without having to have

musicians and live performers which can make pre production much cheaper.

 Since MIDI instructions are specific to each note it

MIDI ADVANTAGES

is easier to change one specific instruction of an specific sound.

 Information can be turned into musical notation.  You can convert MIDI information into musical notation and print out actual sheet music.

 You can also make entire sections repeat without playing them again. And you can rearrange and re-orchestrate your song as many times as you like.

CONCLUSION MIDI is a very useful tool for musicians to produce their songs, or other musical products. This is due to the great advantages that MIDI offers to facilitate the communication and the interaction between multiple devices. It has clearly made an evolution in the music industry, not only for professional producers, but even also for those who have a minimum interaction with musical instruments and music in general.

 Images taken from Bing & Google

REFERENCES  General MIDI Instrument List. (2017). Soundprogramming.net. Retrieved 22 August 2017, from http://soundprogramming.net/file-formats/general-midi-instrument-list/

 MIDI. (2017). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://school.eb.com/levels/high/article/MIDI/471618  Roos, D. (2008). How MIDI Works. How Stuff Works. Retrieved 22 August 2017, from http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/midi.htm

 Standard MIDI Files ("SMF"). (2017). Midi.org. Retrieved 28 August 2017, from https://www.midi.org/specifications/category/smf-specifications

 Moreno, R. (2013). Historia del MIDI. Diffusionmagazine.com. Retrieved 28 August 2017, from http://www.diffusionmagazine.com/index.php/biblioteca/categorias/historia/335-historia-del-midi

 30 years of MIDI: a brief history. (2012). MusicRadar. Retrieved 29 August 2017, from http://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/30years-of-midi-a-brief-history-568009

 MIDI Advantage's and Disadvantage's Flashcards. (2017). Quizlet. Retrieved 29 August 2017, from https://quizlet.com/100058957/midi-advantages-and-disadvantages-flash-cards/

 Mellor, D. (2006). What is the difference between audio and MIDI?. Recordproducer.com. Retrieved 29 August 2017, from http://www.recordproducer.com/what-is-the-difference-between-audio-and-midi

 Tutorial: Benefits of MIDI. (2017). Midi.org. Retrieved 29 August 2017, from https://www.midi.org/articles/tutorial-benefits-ofmidi

 MIDI Reference Tables. (2017). Midi.org. Retrieved 29 August 2017, from https://www.midi.org/specifications/category/reference-tables

 Thornton, M. (2005). Pro Tools 6.7: New MIDI Tools. Soundonsound.com. Retrieved 29 August 2017, from https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/pro-tools-6.7-new-midi-tools