Sixteenth Lesson - Posted on 2015-07-18 by Nicolas Anderson

     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.