MIDI

Question 1

What does MIDI stand for?

Answer 1

Musical Instrument Digital Interface

Question 2

Describe the purpose of MIDI and how it works.

Answer 2

MIDI is a technical standard that describes
1. A protocol
2. Digital interface
3. Standard set of connectors

MIDI allows for a wide range of electronic musical instruments to communicate with each other so as to manipulate music

Question 3

Describe the use of event messages in MIDI. Include examples of event messages.

Answer 3

Event messages are a list of instructions that specify how the music should be played. For example
1. Digital signals that specify notation, pitch, and intensity
2. Control signals for parameters such as volume and vibrato
3. Clock signals to set the tempo

Question 4

Describe the advantages of using MIDI files for representing music.

Answer 4

A MIDI file uses far less storage than an equivalent sampled recording.

The performance data can be easily manipulated (e.g. duration of a note can be changed, or even the instrument can be changed)

Synthesised sound often doesn’t sound realistic (this can be both a pro/con)