ABSTRACT
Simply stated, Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) is a digital communications language and compatible specification that allows multiple hardware and software electronic instruments, performance controllers, computers, and other related devices to communicate with each other over a connected network. MIDI is used to translate performance-or control-related events (such as playing a keyboard, selecting a patch number, varying a modulation wheel, triggering a staged visual effect, etc.) into equivalent digital messages and then transmit these messages to other MIDI devices where they can be used to control sound generators and other performance parameters. The beauty of MIDI is that its data can be easily recorded into a hardware device or software program (known as a sequencer), where it can be edited and transmitted to electronic instruments or other devices to create music or control any number of parameters.
