Alesis D4 manual Midi Basics, Midi Hardware

CHAPTER 6: MIDI SUPPLEMENT

(This chapter is an abridged version of material from Power Sequencing with Master Tracks Pro/Pro 4 and The Complete Guide to the Alesis HR-16 and MMT-8,copyright 1990 and 1989 respectively by AMSCO Publications, and is adapted with permission.)

6.0 MIDI BASICS

Most current electronic instruments and signal processors, including the D4, contain an internal computer. Computers and music have been working together for decades, which is not surprising considering music’s mathematical basis (consider frequencies, harmonics, vibrato rates, tunings, etc.). In the mid-70s, microcomputers became inexpensive enough to be built into consumer-priced musical instruments. They were used for everything from sound generation to storing parameters in memory for later recall.

In 1983, the MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) specification was introduced to better exploit the computers inside these new musical instruments, primarily to insure compatibility with equipment from other manufacturers. MIDI expresses musical events (notes played, vibrato, dynamics, tempo, etc.) as a common “language” consisting of standardized digital data. This data can be understood by MIDI-compatible computers and computer-based musical instruments.

Before electronics, music was expressed exclusively as written symbols. By translating musical parameters into digital data, MIDI can express not only the types of musical events written into sheet music, but other parameters as well (such as amount of pitch bend or degree of vibrato).

6.1 MIDI HARDWARE

MIDI-compatible devices usually include both MIDI In and MIDI Out jacks, which terminate in 5-pin DIN-style connectors. The MIDI Out jack transmits MIDI data to another MIDI device. As you play a MIDI controller such as a keyboard, data corresponding to what you play exits the MIDI Out jack. Example: If you play middle C, the MIDI Out transmits a piece of data that says “middle C is down.” If you release that key, the MIDI Out transmits another piece of data that says “middle C has been released.”

If the keyboard responds to the dynamics of your playing, the note data will include dynamics information too. Moving the modulation wheels and pedals attached to many synthesizers will also generate data associated with the wheel or pedal being used.

The MIDI In jack receives data from another MIDI device. In addition to the type of performance data described above, rhythmically-oriented MIDI devices (e.g., drum

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