{"id":73,"date":"2020-10-15T20:15:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-15T20:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imitone.com\/blog\/?p=73"},"modified":"2023-09-13T23:54:46","modified_gmt":"2023-09-13T23:54:46","slug":"inventing-midi-2-0","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imitone.com\/blog\/index.php\/2020\/10\/15\/inventing-midi-2-0\/","title":{"rendered":"inventing midi 2.0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This post was transcribed from the imitone kickstarter. Click here to view the original posting.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For some time now, I’ve been hinting at our involvement in MIDI 2.0, and teasing an update about it.  To be honest, though, it’s a bit of a monster.  MIDI is big, and for those who aren’t already familiar with it, can be… mysterious.  I couldn’t hope to do it justice in a regular update.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, I’ve spent some weeks writing an interactive guide called Discover MIDI<\/strong><\/a>.  Like MIDI itself, the guide is… big!  It assumes some familiarity with either music production or programming, and more than anything it’s meant to promote understanding of how MIDI works and where it’s headed.  That’s because, in time, MIDI 2.0 is going to make huge improvements possible for alternative controllers like imitone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A sample page from our guide.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 There’s an important question to ask here:  Why would a tiny company like ours spend precious time and resources in order to work on a technical standard for three years<\/em> \u2014 attending hundreds of meetings, authoring dozens of proposals, and going so far as to write an online book<\/em> about it..?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As side projects go, it has been a bit… overboard.  But I might just be able to persuade you this has all been worth it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is MIDI?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

MIDI is a digital language describing and controlling music as it happens<\/em>.  It’s made up of messages and rules.  For example, we send a “Note On” message to start a sound.  Every “Note On” must have a matching “Note Off”.  The message “Control Change: Volume” allows a controller (often a knob) to change the loudness of an instrument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MIDI is a crucial<\/em> technology for music \u2014 without it, things like imitone simply wouldn’t be possible.  It enables thousands of different musical controllers, editors and virtual instruments to understand each other.  It allows each of these to do one job<\/em> as part of a complete setup.  Needing to do only one job means we can focus on doing that job well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The makeup of Note On, one of the most common messages in MIDI 2.0 and MIDI 1.0.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The most familiar shape for a MIDI controller is a piano.  See our Piano Keyboard example<\/a> for a look at the MIDI messages you can send with one of these.  The original MIDI standard tends to think in terms of piano controllers while making some provisions for other types.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

imitone is a relatively uncommon type of controller, converting voice to MIDI.  See our imitone example<\/a> for a look at some of the messages we send as you sing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does MIDI 2.0 solve?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

MIDI is…  old.  It dates back to 1983, not long after the first personal computers.  Because of its age, flexibility and simplicity, it’s one of the most widely-supported standards in computing.  If you have a laptop, or a tablet, or a cell phone, it probably has MIDI in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, again, MIDI is… old<\/em>.  MIDI 1.0 was originally designed for very <\/em>slow connections and processors, and as a result it has many limitations.  These include…<\/p>\n\n\n\n