MIDI

Introduction
Midi (which stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a
device used to compose music on DAWs (Digital Audio
Workstations).
Midi instruments first appeared in the early 1!"s# first
announced to the pu$lic in 1!%. &he first instrument to feature any
kind of 'Midi &ech( was the Sequential Prophet 600.
QuickTime and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
MIDI )*+,-A.D/
A Midi key$oard has your usual piano style user interface $ut instead
of acting as a usual piano a midi key$oard sends out Midi signals to
the computer or any other device that it is connected to.
0ere is the layout of a $asic Midi )ey$oard1
QuickTime and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
When using a Midi key$oard it is always good to adopt the correct
posture while sitting at your desktop# that posture $eing sitting with
your $ack straight and your face level with the computer monitor.
It is also a good idea to adopt a suita$le hand posture. &he
hand posture you should adopt is one where your hands and arms
are level and your fingers are spread evenly over the key$oard.
2itch
3ontrol
Modulation
2iano
/tyle
Interface
4olume
-utput
Microphone
5ain
QuickTime and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
DAW
&o $e a$le to use a Midi key$oard successfully you will need a certain
type of software that can support the Midi key$oard and read and
interpret the Midi signals into sounds. &he type of software you will
need is called a Digital Audio Workstation# or DAW for short.
&here are a lot of different DAWs out there# for e6ample#
Fruityloops and Logic Express. ,oth of these programs are designed
to $e compati$le with Midi )ey$oards and are a$le to read and
interpret the Midi signals into sounds.
I am more familiar with Logic Express than I am with
Fruityloops so I am going to show you a little of how Logic Express
works and operates.
When you first open 7ogic this screen will come up. &o
start a new pro8ect all you need to do is click the aptly
named '*mpty 2ro8ect( option.
After that this $o6 will appear. &his $o6 has three listed
options# Audio# /oftware Instrument# and *6ternal MIDI.
&he num$er you type into the space ne6t to the word
'9um$er( will $e the amount of tracks that will appear on
the screen once you have clicked create.
9ow# a Midi key$oard sends Midi signals or Midi messages to the
computer and into the DAW for the DAW to read and interpret into
sounds generated $y the computer. &hat is how Midi messages work
$ut not how they are generated.
A Midi message is generated when you interact with the Midi
key$oard# $y pressing a key or moving the pitch wheel or moving
modulation wheel# you get it. &his creates a specific Midi message
that is sent to the computer and into the DAW affecting a specific
aspect of the song you are creating.
9e6t this screen will
appear with amount of
tracks that you have
included.
0ow 0as MIDI 3hanged
&he Way We Make Music
Midi Instruments have changed the way we make music a lot. Due to
DAWs it has made it easy for artists to create melodies and tunes
and then see what they sound like on different instruments# for
e6ample# an artist my create a melody on a piano $ut would like to
see what it sounds like $eing played on a guitar. ,ecause the artist
has created this melody using a Midi key$oard on a DAW he:she can
easily select another instrument for the melody to $e played on.
Another way in which Midi has changed the way we make
music is that it has made it a lot easier for composers to create
electronic music# given the fact that composers won(t necessarily
need to know how to play a certain instrument.
Another way in which Midi has changed the way we make
music is that it is easy to use therefore encouraging more people to
compose music who don(t really know how to play any kind of
instrument.

QuickTime and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
3onclusion
In conclusion I found that Midi made composing electronic music a lot
more interactive than 8ust dragging and clicking the mouse:cursor.
;sing the Midi key$oard also taught me a $it on how to play the
piano# for e6ample# where each note is and how to play different
chords and so on.
,ut# as good as Midi key$oards are# there will always $e room
for improvement and e6pansion. I mean# the Midi key$oard could
include a 'learning mode( that teaches people the $asics of playing a
piano. Midi key$oards could do this $y including 7*D indicators on
each# telling you which key is which.
All in all Midi is a valua$le asset when it comes to composing
modern music and# like I said $efore# is easy for 'first timers( to use.