the.com/midi
Music as instructions, not sound — the player's problem, not the composer's.
means A technical standard that lets electronic instruments and computers talk to each other by sending messages like 'play this note, this loud, this long' rather than actual audio.
from Short for Musical Instrument Digital Interface, coined in the early 1980s when synthesizer makers who'd previously built incompatible proprietary systems agreed on a common language so a keyboard from one company could control a synth from another — a rare case of rival manufacturers cooperating instead of fighting.
- born
- 1983, so synths could finally talk to each other
- contains
- no audio at all, just notes and timing
- why tiny
- a symphony can weigh less than one mp3 second
- legacy
- still runs most studio gear, unglamorously immortal