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प्रत्यक्ष मिडी करने के लिए एमपी 3 कनवर्टर एक उपकरण है कि कर सकते हैं सांकेतिक शब्दों में बदलना मिडी फ़ाइलों के लिए एमपी 3, WAV, अर्थोपाय अग्रिम और OGG प्रारूपों ।

आवेदन के इंटरफेस सरल और सहज है । आप आयात कर सकते हैं MIDIs का उपयोग करके फ़ाइल ब्राउज़र केवल, के बाद से "खींचें और ड्रॉप" विधि समर्थित नहीं है (लेकिन बैच प्रसंस्करण है).

सूची में आप देख सकते हैं, नाम, प्रकार, समय के साथ, स्थिति और पथ के प्रत्येक स्रोत फ़ाइल । एक बार जब आप निर्धारित किया है के उत्पादन के विस्तार और निर्देशिका के साथ, आप कर सकते हैं के साथ आगे बढ़ने के रूपांतरण की प्रक्रिया है ।

इसके अलावा, आप पूर्वावलोकन कर सकते हैं फ़ाइलें, गति समायोजित करें, reverb और स्तर, के रूप में अच्छी तरह के रूप में संपादित ID3 टैग और रीसेट गति.

इसके अलावा, आप कॉन्फ़िगर कर सकते हैं ऑडियो सेटिंग्स में से प्रत्येक के लिए ऊपर उल्लिखित प्रारूप के बारे में, नमूना आवृत्ति दर, चैनल, बिट दर, VBR या सीबीआर, और गुणवत्ता.

इसके अलावा, आप सक्षम कर सकते हैं सीधे करने के लिए मिडी एमपी 3 कनवर्टर करने के लिए फाइल के ऊपर लिख एक ही नाम के साथ, एक ध्वनि खेलने के लिए और खुला आउटपुट स्थान के लिए जब सभी कार्यों को पूरा कर रहे हैं, बचाने के लिए ID3 टैग, और दूसरों । जेड

उपकरण पर चलाता है एक कम करने के लिए उदार राशि का सिस्टम संसाधनों, शामिल है एक कदम दर कदम गाइड के साथ फोटो और नहीं था फ्रीज या दुर्घटना हमारे परीक्षण के दौरान. इसके अलावा, यह प्रबंधन करने के लिए रखने के लिए एक बहुत अच्छा ध्वनि की गुणवत्ता के उत्पादन में पटरियों. हालांकि, यह ऊपर popped एक त्रुटि एक बार विफल रही है और पहचान करने के लिए हमारे मध्य फ़ाइलें.

समाप्त करने के लिए, सीधे मिडी करने के लिए एमपी 3 कनवर्टर एक बहुत अच्छा आवेदन के लिए मिडी एन्कोडिंग और हम दृढ़ता से की सिफारिश यह करने के लिए सभी उपयोगकर्ताओं, की परवाह किए बिना अपने अनुभव के स्तर पर.

Using MIDI, a single controller (often a musical keyboard, as pictured here) can play multiple electronic instruments, which increases the portability and flexibility of stage setups. This system fits into a single rack case, but prior to the advent of MIDI, it would have required four separate full-size keyboard instruments, plus outboard mixing and effects units.

MIDI (/ˈmɪdi/; an acronym for Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and related audio devices for playing, editing and recording music.^[1] The specification originates in a paper published by Dave Smith and Chet Wood then of Sequential Circuits at the October 1981 Audio Engineering Society conference in New York City then titled Universal Synthesizer Interface.^[2]

A single MIDI link through a MIDI cable can carry up to sixteen channels of information, each of which can be routed to a separate device or instrument. This could be sixteen different digital instruments, for example. MIDI carries event messages; data that specify the instructions for music, including a note's notation, pitch, velocity (which is heard typically as loudness or softness of volume); vibrato; panning to the right or left of stereo; and clock signals (which set tempo). When a musician plays a MIDI instrument, all of the key presses, button presses, knob turns and slider changes are converted into MIDI data. One common MIDI application is to play a MIDI keyboard or other controller and use it to trigger a digital sound module (which contains synthesized musical sounds) to generate sounds, which the audience hears produced by a keyboard amplifier. MIDI data can be transferred via MIDI or USB cable, or recorded to a sequencer or digital audio workstation to be edited or played back.^[3]:4

A file format that stores and exchanges the data is also defined. Advantages of MIDI include small file size, ease of modification and manipulation and a wide choice of electronic instruments and synthesizer or digitally-sampled sounds.^[4] A MIDI recording of a performance on a keyboard could sound like a piano or other keyboard instrument; however, since MIDI records the messages and information about their notes and not the specific sounds, this recording could be changed to many other sounds, ranging from synthesized or sampled guitar or flute to full orchestra. A MIDI recording is not an audio signal, as with a sound recording made with a microphone.

Prior to the development of MIDI, electronic musical instruments from different manufacturers could generally not communicate with each other. This meant that a musician could not, for example, plug a Roland keyboard into a Yamaha synthesizer module. With MIDI, any MIDI-compatible keyboard (or other controller device) can be connected to any other MIDI-compatible sequencer, sound module, drum machine, synthesizer, or computer, even if they are made by different manufacturers.

MIDI technology was standardized in 1983 by a panel of music industry representatives, and is maintained by the MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA). All official MIDI standards are jointly developed and published by the MMA in Los Angeles, and the MIDI Committee of the Association of Musical Electronics Industry (AMEI) in Tokyo. In 2016, the MMA established the MIDI Association (TMA) to support a global community of people who work, play, or create with MIDI.^[5]

History[edit]

In the early 1980s, there was no standardized means of synchronizing electronic musical instruments manufactured by different companies.^[6] Manufacturers had their own proprietary standards to synchronize instruments, such as CV/gate and Digital Control Bus (DCB).^[7]Roland founder Ikutaro Kakehashi felt the lack of standardization was limiting the growth of the electronic music industry.^[7] In June 1981, he proposed developing a standard to Oberheim Electronics founder Tom Oberheim,^[6] who had developed his own proprietary interface, the Oberheim System.^[8]

Kakehashi felt the Oberheim System was too cumbersome, and spoke to Sequential Circuits president Dave Smith about creating a simpler, cheaper alternative.^[8] While Smith discussed the concept with American companies, Kakehashi discussed it with Japanese companies Yamaha, Korg and Kawai.^[6] Representatives from all companies met to discuss the idea in October.^[6] Initially, only Sequential Circuits and the Japanese companies were interested.^[9]

Dave Smith (right), one of the creators of MIDI

Using Roland's DCB as a basis,^[7] Smith and Sequential Circuits engineer Chet Wood devised a universal interface to allow communication between equipment from different manufacturers. Smith and Wood proposed this standard in a paper, Universal Synthesizer Interface,^[10] at the Audio Engineering Society show in October 1981.^[2][11]:4 The standard was discussed and modified by representatives of Roland, Yamaha, Korg, Kawai, and Sequential Circuits.^[12][13]:20 Kakehashi favored the name Universal Musical Interface (UMI), pronounced you-me,^[8] but Smith felt this was "a little corny".^[14] However, he liked the use of "instrument" instead of "synthesizer", and proposed the name Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI).^[14][11]:4Moog Music founder Robert Moog announced MIDI in the October 1982 issue of Keyboard.^[15]:276

At the 1983 Winter NAMM Show, Smith demonstrated a MIDI connection between Prophet 600 and Roland JP-6 synthesizers. The MIDI specification was published in August 1983.^[6] The MIDI standard was unveiled by Kakehashi and Smith, who received Technical Grammy Awards in 2013 for their work.^[16][17][18] In 1982, the first instruments were released with MIDI, the Roland Jupiter-6 and the Prophet 600. In 1983, the first MIDI drum machine, the Roland TR-909,^[19][20] and the first MIDI sequencer, the Roland MSQ-700 were released.^[21] The first computer to support MIDI, the NECPC-88 and PC-98, was released in 1982.^[22]

The MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA) was formed following a meeting of "all interested companies" at the 1984 Summer NAMM Show in Chicago. The MIDI 1.0 Detailed Specification was published at the MMA's second meeting at the 1985 Summer NAMM show. The standard continued to evolve, adding standardized song files in 1991 (General MIDI) and adapted to new connection standards such as USB and FireWire. In 2016, the MIDI Association was formed to continue overseeing the standard.^[9] An initiative to create a 2.0 standard was announced in January 2019.^[23] The MIDI 2.0 standard was introduced at the 2020 Winter NAMM show.^[24]

Impact[edit]

MIDI's appeal was originally limited to professional musicians and record producers who wanted to use electronic instruments in the production of popular music. The standard allowed different instruments to communicate with each other and with computers, and this spurred a rapid expansion of the sales and production of electronic instruments and music software.^[13]:21 This interoperability allowed one device to be controlled from another, which reduced the amount of hardware musicians needed.^[25] MIDI's introduction coincided with the dawn of the personal computer era and the introduction of samplers and digital synthesizers.^[26] The creative possibilities brought about by MIDI technology are credited for helping revive the music industry in the 1980s.^[27]

MIDI introduced capabilities that transformed the way many musicians work. MIDI sequencing makes it possible for a user with no notation skills to build complex arrangements.^[28] A musical act with as few as one or two members, each operating multiple MIDI-enabled devices, can deliver a performance similar to that of a larger group of musicians.^[29] The expense of hiring outside musicians for a project can be reduced or eliminated,^[3]:7 and complex productions can be realized on a system as small as a synthesizer with integrated keyboard and sequencer.

MIDI also helped establish home recording. By performing preproduction in a home environment, an artist can reduce recording costs by arriving at a recording studio with a partially completed song.^[3]:7–8

Applications[edit]

Instrument control[edit]

MIDI was invented so that electronic or digital musical instruments could communicate with each other and so that one instrument can control another. For example, a MIDI-compatible sequencer can trigger beats produced by a drum sound module. Analog synthesizers that have no digital component and were built prior to MIDI's development can be retrofit with kits that convert MIDI messages into analog control voltages.^[15]:277 When a note is played on a MIDI instrument, it generates a digital MIDI message that can be used to trigger a note on another instrument.^[3]:20 The capability for remote control allows full-sized instruments to be replaced with smaller sound modules, and allows musicians to combine instruments to achieve a fuller sound, or to create combinations of synthesized instrument sounds, such as acoustic piano and strings.^[30] MIDI also enables other instrument parameters (volume, effects, etc.) to be controlled remotely.

Synthesizers and samplers contain various tools for shaping an electronic or digital sound. Filters adjust timbre, and envelopes automate the way a sound evolves over time after a note is triggered.^[31] The frequency of a filter and the envelope attack (the time it takes for a sound to reach its maximum level), are examples of synthesizer parameters, and can be controlled remotely through MIDI. Effects devices have different parameters, such as delay feedback or reverb time. When a MIDI continuous controller number (CCN) is assigned to one of these parameters, the device responds to any messages it receives that are identified by that number. Controls such as knobs, switches, and pedals can be used to send these messages. A set of adjusted parameters can be saved to a device's internal memory as a patch, and these patches can be remotely selected by MIDI program changes.^[a][32]

Composition[edit]

MIDI events can be sequenced with computer software, or in specialized hardware music workstations. Many digital audio workstations (DAWs) are specifically designed to work with MIDI as an integral component. MIDI piano rolls have been developed in many DAWs so that the recorded MIDI messages can be easily modified.^[33] These tools allow composers to audition and edit their work much more quickly and efficiently than did older solutions, such as multitrack recording.

Because MIDI is a set of commands that create sound, MIDI sequences can be manipulated in ways that prerecorded audio cannot. It is possible to change the key, instrumentation or tempo of a MIDI arrangement,^[34]:227 and to reorder its individual sections.^[35] The ability to compose ideas and quickly hear them played back enables composers to experiment.^[36]:175Algorithmic composition programs provide computer-generated performances that can be used as song ideas or accompaniment.^[3]:122

Some composers may take advantage of standard, portable set of commands and parameters in MIDI 1.0 and General MIDI (GM) to share musical data files among various electronic instruments. The data composed via the sequenced MIDI recordings can be saved as a standard MIDI file (SMF), digitally distributed, and reproduced by any computer or electronic instrument that also adheres to the same MIDI, GM, and SMF standards. MIDI data files are much smaller than corresponding recorded audio files.

Use with computers[edit]

The personal computer market stabilized at the same time that MIDI appeared, and computers became a viable option for music production.^[15]:324 In 1983 computers started to play a role in mainstream music production.^[37] In the years immediately after the 1983 ratification of the MIDI specification, MIDI features were adapted to several early computer platforms. NEC's PC-88 and PC-98 began supporting MIDI as early as 1982.^[22] The Yamaha CX5M introduced MIDI support and sequencing in an MSX system in 1984.^[38]

The spread of MIDI on personal computers was largely facilitated by Roland Corporation's MPU-401, released in 1984, as the first MIDI-equipped PC sound card, capable of MIDI sound processing^[39] and sequencing.^[40][41] After Roland sold MPU sound chips to other sound card manufacturers,^[39] it established a universal standard MIDI-to-PC interface.^[42] The widespread adoption of MIDI led to computer-based MIDI software being developed.^[37] Soon after, a number of platforms began supporting MIDI, including the Apple II Plus, IIe and Macintosh, Commodore 64 and Amiga, Atari ST, Acorn Archimedes, and PC DOS.^[15]:325–7

The Macintosh was a favourite among US musicians, as it was marketed at a competitive price, and it took several years for PC systems to catch up with its efficiency and graphical interface. The Atari ST was preferred in Europe, where Macintoshes were more expensive. The Atari ST had the advantage of MIDI ports that were built directly into the computer. Most music software in MIDI's first decade was published for either the Apple or the Atari. By the time of Windows 3.0's 1990 release, PCs had caught up in processing power and had acquired a graphical interface and software titles began to see release on multiple platforms.^{[15]:324–335}

Standard files[edit]

The Standard MIDI File (SMF) is a file format that provides a standardized way for music sequences to be saved, transported, and opened in other systems. The standard was developed and is maintained by the MMA, and usually uses a extension.^[43] The compact size of these files led to their widespread use in computers, mobile phone ringtones, webpage authoring and musical greeting cards. These files are intended for universal use and include such information as note values, timing and track names. Lyrics may be included as metadata, and can be displayed by karaoke machines.^[44]

SMFs are created as an export format of software sequencers or hardware workstations. They organize MIDI messages into one or more parallel tracks and timestamp the events so that they can be played back in sequence. A header contains the arrangement's track count, tempo and an indicator of which of three SMF formats the file uses. A type 0 file contains the entire performance, merged onto a single track, while type 1 files may contain any number of tracks that are performed in synchrony. Type 2 files are rarely used^[45] and store multiple arrangements, with each arrangement having its own track and intended to be played in sequence.

Microsoft Windows bundles SMFs together with Downloadable Sounds (DLS) in a Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF) wrapper, as RMID files with a extension. RIFF-RMID has been deprecated in favor of Extensible Music Files (XMF).^[46]

A MIDI file is not an audio recording. Rather, it is a set of instructions – for example, for pitch or tempo – and can use a thousand times less disk space than the equivalent recorded audio.^[47][48] This made MIDI file arrangements an attractive way to share music, before the advent of broadband internet access and multi-gigabyte hard drives. Licensed MIDI files on floppy disks were commonly available in stores in Europe and Japan during the 1990s.^[49] The major drawback to this is the wide variation in quality of users' audio cards, and in the actual audio contained as samples or synthesized sound in the card that the MIDI data only refers to symbolically. There is no standardization of how symbols are expressed. Even a sound card that contains high-quality sampled sounds can have inconsistent quality from one sampled instrument to another,^[47] while different model cards have no guarantee of consistent sound of the same instrument. Early budget-priced cards, such as the AdLib and the Sound Blaster and its compatibles, used a stripped-down version of Yamaha's frequency modulation synthesis (FM synthesis) technology^[50] played back through low-quality digital-to-analog converters. The low-fidelity reproduction^[47] of these ubiquitous^[50] cards was often assumed to somehow be a property of MIDI itself. This created a perception of MIDI as low-quality audio, while in reality MIDI itself contains no sound,^[51] and the quality of its playback depends entirely on the quality of the sound-producing device (and of samples in the device).^[34]:227

Software[edit]

The main advantage of the personal computer in a MIDI system is that it can serve a number of different purposes, depending on the software that is loaded.^[3]:55Multitasking allows simultaneous operation of programs that may be able to share data with each other.^[3]:65

Sequencers[edit]

Sequencing software provides a number of benefits to a composer or arranger. It allows recorded MIDI to be manipulated using standard computer editing features such as cut, copy and paste and drag and drop. Keyboard shortcuts can be used to streamline workflow, and editing functions are often selectable via MIDI commands. The sequencer allows each channel to be set to play a different sound, and gives a graphical overview of the arrangement. A variety of editing tools are made available, including a notation display that can be used to create printed parts for musicians. Tools such as looping, quantization, randomization, and transposition simplify the arranging process.

Beat creation is simplified, and groove templates can be used to duplicate another track's rhythmic feel. Realistic expression can be added through the manipulation of real-time controllers. Mixing can be performed, and MIDI can be synchronized with recorded audio and video tracks. Work can be saved, and transported between different computers or studios.^{[52][53]:164–6}

Sequencers may take alternate forms, such as drum pattern editors that allow users to create beats by clicking on pattern grids,^[3]:118 and loop sequencers such as ACID Pro, which allow MIDI to be combined with prerecorded audio loops whose tempos and keys are matched to each other. Cue list sequencing is used to trigger dialogue, sound effect, and music cues in stage and broadcast production.^[3]:121

Notation/scoring software[edit]

With MIDI, notes played on a keyboard can automatically be transcribed to sheet music.^[13]:213Scorewriting software typically lacks advanced sequencing tools, and is optimized for the creation of a neat, professional printout designed for live instrumentalists.^[53]:157 These programs provide support for dynamics and expression markings, chord and lyric display, and complex score styles.^[53]:167 Software is available that can print scores in braille.^[54]

SmartScore software can produce MIDI files from scanned sheet music.^[55] Other notation programs include Finale, Encore, Sibelius, MuseScore and Dorico.

Editor/librarians[edit]

Patch editors allow users to program their equipment through the computer interface. These became essential with the appearance of complex synthesizers such as the Yamaha FS1R,^[56] which contained several thousand programmable parameters, but had an interface that consisted of fifteen tiny buttons, four knobs and a small LCD.^[57] Digital instruments typically discourage users from experimentation, due to their lack of the feedback and direct control that switches and knobs would provide,^[58]:393 but patch editors give owners of hardware instruments and effects devices the same editing functionality that is available to users of software synthesizers.^[59] Some editors are designed for a specific instrument or effects device, while other, "universal" editors support a variety of equipment, and ideally can control the parameters of every device in a setup through the use of System Exclusive commands.^[3]:129

Patch librarians have the specialized function of organizing the sounds in a collection of equipment, and allow transmission of entire banks of sounds between an instrument and a computer. This allows the user to augment the device's limited patch storage with a computer's much greater disk capacity,^[3]:133 and to share custom patches with other owners of the same instrument.^[60] Universal editor/librarians that combine the two functions were once common, and included Opcode Systems' Galaxy and eMagic's SoundDiver. These programs have been largely abandoned with the trend toward computer-based synthesis, although Mark of the Unicorn's (MOTU)'s Unisyn and Sound Quest's Midi Quest remain available. Native Instruments' Kore was an effort to bring the editor/librarian concept into the age of software instruments.^[61]

Auto-accompaniment programs[edit]

Programs that can dynamically generate accompaniment tracks are called "auto-accompaniment" programs. These create a full band arrangement in a style that the user selects, and send the result to a MIDI sound generating device for playback. The generated tracks can be used as educational or practice tools, as accompaniment for live performances, or as a songwriting aid.^[62]:42

Synthesis and sampling[edit]

Computers can use software to generate sounds, which are then passed through a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) to a power amplifier and loudspeaker system.^[13]:213 The number of sounds that can be played simultaneously (the polyphony) is dependent on the power of the computer's CPU, as are the sample rate and bit depth of playback, which directly affect the quality of the sound.^[63] Synthesizers implemented in software are subject to timing issues that are not present with hardware instruments, whose dedicated operating systems are not subject to interruption from background tasks as desktop operating systems are. These timing issues can cause synchronization problems, and clicks and pops when sample playback is interrupted. Software synthesizers also exhibit a noticeable delay known as latency in their sound generation, because computers use an audio buffer that delays playback and disrupts MIDI timing.^[64]

Software synthesis' roots go back as far as the 1950s, when Max Mathews of Bell Labs wrote the MUSIC-N programming language, which was capable of non-real-time sound generation.^[65] The first synthesizer to run directly on a host computer's CPU^[66] was Reality, by Dave Smith's Seer Systems, which achieved a low latency through tight driver integration, and therefore could run only on Creative Labs soundcards.^[67] Some systems use dedicated hardware to reduce the load on the host CPU, as with Symbolic Sound Corporation's Kyma System,^[65] and the Creamware/Sonic Core Pulsar/SCOPE systems,^[68] which power an entire recording studio's worth of instruments, effect units, and mixers.^[69]

The ability to construct full MIDI arrangements entirely in computer software allows a composer to render a finalized result directly as an audio file.^[30]

Game music[edit]

Early PC games were distributed on floppy disks, and the small size of MIDI files made them a viable means of providing soundtracks. Games of the DOS and early Windows eras typically required compatibility with either Ad Lib or Sound Blaster audio cards. These cards used FM synthesis, which generates sound through modulation of sine waves. John Chowning, the technique's pioneer, theorized that the technology would be capable of accurate recreation of any sound if enough sine waves were used, but budget computer audio cards performed FM synthesis with only two sine waves. Combined with the cards' 8-bit audio, this resulted in a sound described as "artificial"^[70] and "primitive".^[71]

Wavetable daughterboards that were later available provided audio samples that could be used in place of the FM sound. These were expensive, but often used the sounds from respected MIDI instruments such as the E-mu Proteus.^[71] The computer industry moved in the mid-1990s toward wavetable-based soundcards with 16-bit playback, but standardized on a 2MB ROM, a space too small in which to fit good-quality samples of 128 instruments plus drum kits. Some manufacturers used 12-bit samples, and padded those to 16 bits.^[72]

Other applications[edit]

MIDI has been adopted as a control protocol in a number of non-musical applications. MIDI Show Control uses MIDI commands to direct stage lighting systems and to trigger cued events in theatrical productions. VJs and turntablists use it to cue clips, and to synchronize equipment, and recording systems use it for synchronization and automation. Apple Motion allows control of animation parameters through MIDI. The 1987 first-person shooter game MIDI Maze and the 1990 Atari STcomputer puzzle gameOxyd used MIDI to network computers together, and kits are available that allow MIDI control over home lighting and appliances.^[73]

Despite its association with music devices, MIDI can control any electronic or digital device that can read and process a MIDI command. The receiving device or object would require a General MIDI processor, however in this instance, the program changes would trigger a function on that device rather than notes from a MIDI instrument's controller. Each function can be set to a timer (also controlled by MIDI) or other condition or trigger determined by the device's creator.

Devices[edit]

Connectors[edit]

MIDI 1.0 connectors and MIDI 1.0 cable

The cables terminate in a 180° five-pin DIN connector. Standard applications use only three of the five conductors: a ground wire, and a balanced pair of conductors that carry a +5 volt signal.^[62]:41 This connector configuration can only carry messages in one direction, so a second cable is necessary for two-way communication.^[3]:13 Some proprietary applications, such as phantom-powered footswitch controllers, use the spare pins for direct current (DC) power transmission.^[74]

Opto-isolators keep MIDI devices electrically separated from their connectors, which prevents the occurrence of ground loops^[75]:63 and protects equipment from voltage spikes.^[15]:277 There is no error detection capability in MIDI, so the maximum cable length is set at 15 meters (50 feet) to limit interference.^[76]

Drawing of the MIDI 1.0 connector, showing pins as numbered

Most devices do not copy messages from their input to their output port. A third type of port, the "thru" port, emits a copy of everything received at the input port, allowing data to be forwarded to another instrument^[15]:278 in a "daisy chain" arrangement.^[77] Not all devices contain thru ports, and devices that lack the ability to generate MIDI data, such as effects units and sound modules, may not include out ports.^[58]:384

Management devices[edit]

Each device in a daisy chain adds delay to the system. This is avoided with a MIDI thru box, which contains several outputs that provide an exact copy of the box's input signal. A MIDI merger is able to combine the input from multiple devices into a single stream, and allows multiple controllers to be connected to a single device. A MIDI switcher allows switching between multiple devices, and eliminates the need to physically repatch cables. MIDI patch bays combine all of these functions. They contain multiple inputs and outputs, and allow any combination of input channels to be routed to any combination of output channels. Routing setups can be created using computer software, stored in memory, and selected by MIDI program change commands.^[3]:47–50 This enables the devices to function as standalone MIDI routers in situations where no computer is present.^[3]:62–3 MIDI patch bays also clean up any skewing of MIDI data bits that occurs at the input stage.

MIDI data processors are used for utility tasks and special effects. These include MIDI filters, which remove unwanted MIDI data from the stream, and MIDI delays, effects that send a repeated copy of the input data at a set time.^[3]:51

Interfaces[edit]

A computer MIDI interface's main function is to match clock speeds between the MIDI device and the computer.^[77] Some computer sound cards include a standard MIDI connector, whereas others connect by any of various means that include the D-subminiature DA-15 game port, USB, FireWire, Ethernet or a proprietary connection. The increasing use of USB connectors in the 2000s has led to the availability of MIDI-to-USB data interfaces that can transfer MIDI channels to USB-equipped computers. Some MIDI keyboard controllers are equipped with USB jacks, and can be plugged into computers that run music software.

MIDI's serial transmission leads to timing problems. A three-byte MIDI message requires nearly 1 millisecond for transmission.^[78] Because MIDI is serial, it can only send one event at a time. If an event is sent on two channels at once, the event on the second channel cannot transmit until the first one is finished, and so is delayed by 1 ms. If an event is sent on all channels at the same time, the last channel's transmission is delayed by as much as 16 ms. This contributed to the rise of MIDI interfaces with multiple in- and out-ports, because timing improves when events are spread between multiple ports as opposed to multiple channels on the same port.^[64] The term "MIDI slop" refers to audible timing errors that result when MIDI transmission is delayed.^[79]

Controllers[edit]

Two-octave MIDI controllers are popular for use with laptop computers, due to their portability. This unit provides a variety of real-time controllers, which can manipulate various sound design parameters of computer-based or standalone hardware instruments, effects, mixers and recording devices.

There are two types of MIDI controllers: performance controllers that generate notes and are used to perform music,^[80] and controllers that may not send notes, but transmit other types of real-time events. Many devices are some combination of the two types.

Keyboards are by far the most common type of MIDI controller.^[60] MIDI was designed with keyboards in mind, and any controller that is not a keyboard is considered an "alternative" controller.^[81] This was seen as a limitation by composers who were not interested in keyboard-based music, but the standard proved flexible, and MIDI compatibility was introduced to other types of controllers, including guitars, stringed and wind instruments, drums and specialized and experimental controllers.^[13]:23 Other controllers include drum controllers and wind controllers, which can emulate the playing of drum kit and wind instruments, respectively. Nevertheless, some features of the keyboard playing for which MIDI was designed do not fully capture other instruments' capabilities; Jaron Lanier cites the standard as an example of technological "lock-in" that unexpectedly limited what was possible to express.^[82] Some of these features, such as per-note pitch bend, are to be addressed in MIDI 2.0, described below.

Software synthesizers offer great power and versatility, but some players feel that division of attention between a MIDI keyboard and a computer keyboard and mouse robs some of the immediacy from the playing experience.^[83] Devices dedicated to real-time MIDI control provide an ergonomic benefit, and can provide a greater sense of connection with the instrument than an interface that is accessed through a mouse or a push-button digital menu. Controllers may be general-purpose devices that are designed to work with a variety of equipment, or they may be designed to work with a specific piece of software. Examples of the latter include Akai's APC40 controller for Ableton Live, and Korg's MS-20ic controller that is a reproduction of their MS-20