I can't believe I only have four more weeks of this. :D Sorry that I was late to post this blog. I had to hold off on completing the assignment until I could get a working MIDI controller. Speaking of which, that was this weeks chapter, MIDI. MIDI stands for Multiple Instrument Digital Interface. It's the binary values used to allow a musical performance to be recreated by another instrument &/or sequenced by the DAW (digital audio workstation) running on your computer. All you really need to create your own MIDI tracks are a DAW & a MIDI controller. I bought a used Oxygen 8 MIDI controller, but because M-Audi, the manufacturer, didn't create a compatible driver for Windows 8, I was unable to use it. So I bought myself an Alesis Q25, & I love it to say the least. lol.
Before the days of MIDI, in the late 1960's, analog synthesizers were just growing in popularity; they relied on CV (contoll voltage) to produce sound. We take a lot of things for granted now, like: storgae, portability, easy controlls, & the ability to play more than one note at a time (polyphony). These simple things were not enjoyed by the engineers & producers in the late 1960's. As more advancements rolled through in the 1970's with the Minimoog by R.A. Moog & the Fairlight CMI synthesizers, the demand grew for a single language with which all the insrtuments from different manufacturers could syncronize & communicate. This idea was proposed by Dave Smith & Chet Wood in 1981 & by 1983 they had done it. The MIDI 1.0 specificationwas was created & has gone pretty much unchanged since then.
I really enjoyed working on the MIDI assignment. It makes simple composition of music a lot of fun. I hope you guys get a chance to check it out some time.