MIDI 1.0
In 1983, synthesizers from different makers finally speak one language.
Related
Time and place
In 1983 Dave Smith of Sequential Circuits and Ikutaro Kakehashi of Roland pushed manufacturers to accept a common digital interface; MIDI 1.0 was demonstrated at that year's NAMM show.
What happened
Until then every maker's synthesizers, drum machines and computers spoke their own language, and even one cable depended on the brand. MIDI described which note, how hard, when on and off in a few simple messages, adding program change, clock sync and channels. Instruments from different makers could be chained, one keyboard could drive several modules, and a computer could store a performance as events rather than sound.
What changed
Music production moved from tape to data: notes could be edited, quantized, copied and undone. Home studios, game scores, advertising and dance production became cheaper to enter, and synthesizers, samplers and drum machines formed a new kind of band. MIDI separated performance from timbre, so the same sequence could be replayed through any sound source.
Listen to the turn
The MIDI Continuum puts MIDI in its title; the music is driven by event messages, not a recording. The second part switches timbre and rhythm through channel messages. The third uses triplets to create misalignment, proof that a grid can still breathe unevenly.
Related
This turn belongs to Contemporary; see MIDI Protocol and Synthesizer, and the Polyphonic synthesis.
Listen in the library
All tracks from midicn-lib — inline badge is the license tier (C1 commercial / C2 non-commercial / C3 study only).
Sources
- MIDI Manufacturers Association, MIDI 1.0 Detailed Specification, 1983（修订版 1996），用于核对消息格式与 1983 年发布
- Grove Music Online 的 MIDI 条目，用于交叉核对 MIDI 的历史与影响
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.