WHAT IS MIDI ?
Maybe you have never heard of MIDI and are not sure just what a MIDI Musician is? Most people are unfamiliar with this four-letter acronym (which stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface) unless you have had some exposure to newer, modern electronic instruments and software.
If you were to search the term MIDI on a search engine you would have enough technical data to keep you buried for a long winter. This is not my idea of fun but using MIDI is. Now, MIDI is used in recording studios and professional performances… everywhere there is music and without most people knowing it.
I like to make this simple comparison. MIDI is to music what word processing is to writing. Using computer software designed to process MIDI data, musicians can write, record and playback digital music. Once I have recorded the music I can now edit, change tempo and key signature and even assign different tones or timbres to different tracks. If I want to change the sound of a sax solo to flute, this is a very easy process. The possibilities are endless.
In my opinion the biggest challenge with MIDI (once you’ve gotten through a very long learning curve) is to make your music sound realistic and not “canned” or overproduced. MIDI is light-years ahead of Karaoke and has no relation whatsoever because Karaoke is just prerecorded music with a vocal track missing. It is true that some Karaoke tracks can change keys but it cannot be manipulated or controlled like MIDI.
Since I am a soloist I rely on MIDI for my backing tracks. All my bass, keyboards and drums are digital sounds run by sequencing software using standardized MIDI files (SMF). The keyword here is digital. When digital samples arrived, old synthesized sounds were mostly left behind. The reason my MIDI tracks sound so realistic is that the software and hardware I use are the highest possible, professional grade components. I’m often told that I sound like a live band. And that’s music to my ears!
Like so many things dealing with computers, MIDI is very time consuming. I spend more time in production and editing MIDI than I do playing the guitar! I’d be embarrassed to learn how many hours, days, weeks, months and years I’ve spent developing music with MIDI but I’m very pleased with the results I get and equally proud to call myself a MIDI Musician! (There are not a lot of us out there)!
Using MIDI makes me truly an “all-in-one-man band” and a good entertainment value!