MIDI

music technology · electronic instruments · digital

Universal instrument language. MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface, and it's like a translation tool that lets any electronic musical instrument understand commands from keyboards, computers, or other controllers, no matter who made them.

One cable, many channels. A single MIDI cable can carry information for up to sixteen different musical channels at the same time, so you can control multiple instruments through one connection.

Every touch becomes a signal. When you press a key, turn a knob, or slide a fader, MIDI converts that movement into digital instructions that tell instruments what note to play, how fast to play it, and how loud it should be.

Control and creation. Musicians use MIDI to connect keyboards to sound modules that produce actual sounds, or they record MIDI data into computers to edit and arrange their music however they want.

Information you can edit. Unlike regular audio recordings, MIDI stores the instructions for playing music, not the actual sound waves, so you can change notes, timing, and instruments even after you've recorded everything.