How do I know which college is right for me?

How do I know which college is right for me?: If you want to explore what’s in store for your future beyond secondary school, discover what professionals from various industries have to say about their careers – from accountants to chefs, doctors to designers. Be at Sunway Education Day, 17 & 18 December 2011 and the possibilities are endless! Also be wowed by exciting showcases by our Hospitality, Art & Design, Performing Arts students and explore our Sunway campus. Counseling sessions have extended right up till 15 January 2012. Be there!

The book that inspired James Cameron to make Avatar. This is gonna be huge!

The book that inspired James Cameron to make Avatar. This is gonna be huge!: The epic, action‐adventure film 'John Carter', is based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs classic, “A Princess of Mars,” the first novel in Burrough’s Barsoom series. Former military captain John Carter (played by Taylor Kitsch) is strangely transported to the mysterious, exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars) and involuntarily becomes entangled in an epic conflict among the inhabitants of the planet.

Vocaloid

Development history


Yamaha announced its development in 2003 and on January 15, 2004, Leon and Lola, the first Vocaloid products were launched. They were not released as Yamaha products, but as Vocaloid Singer Libraries, developed by third party developers, the products were powered by the Vocaloid software, under license from Yamaha. Leon, Lola, and Miriam (Miriam using the voice of Miriam Stockley) have been released from Zero-G Limited,[1] UK, while Meiko (released on October 5, 2004 and using vocal samples from the Japanese singer Meiko Haigo[2]) and Kaito (released on February 17, 2006 and sampled from Naoto Fuuga) have been released from Crypton Future Media, Japan.[3][4]



In January 2007, Yamaha announced a new version of the software engine, Vocaloid 2, with various major improvements in usability and synthesis quality. Zero-G and others announced products powered by the new software engine in early 2007. PowerFX released the first Vocaloid 2 package in June 2007, an English product named Sweet Ann. This was shortly followed in August 2007, when Crypton released Hatsune Miku, the first in a series of Japanese Vocaloid 2 character voices. The second package Kagamine Rin/Len was released on December 27, 2007 and the updated edition "act2" was released in July 2008. The first Vocaloid 2 product from Zero-G, Vocaloid Prima, an English classical voice, was finally released on January 14, 2008 in the UK[5] and February 22, 2008 in Japan. It was originally scheduled for release in spring 2007. Prima was introduced at the NAMM Show 2008;[6]. The third Vocaloid 2 product from Crypton, Megurine Luka, went on sale on January 30, 2009. She is the first bilingual Vocaloid product, capable of singing in both Japanese and English.

Products based on Vocaloid


Vocaloid
Leon: English male (March 3, 2004)
Lola: English female (March 3, 2004)
Miriam: English female (July 26, 2004)
Meiko: Japanese female (November 5, 2004)
Kaito: Japanese male (February 17, 2006)



Vocaloid 2
Character Vocal Series

Hatsune Miku: Japanese female (August 31, 2007)
Hatsune Miku Append: (update of Hatsune Miku with six different tones, released April 30, 2010)
Kagamine Rin/Len: Japanese female and male respectively (December 27, 2007)
Megurine Luka: Japanese and English female (January 30, 2009)
Gackpoid: Japanese male (July 31, 2008)
Megpoid: Japanese female (June 25, 2009)
Sweet Ann: English female (June 29, 2007)
Prima: English female (January 14, 2008)
Big-Al: English male (December 22, 2009)
Sonika: English Female (July 14, 2009)[7]
SF-A2 Miki: Japanese female (December 4, 2009)[8]
Kaai Yuki: Japanese female (December 4, 2009)[9]
Hiyama Kiyoteru: Japanese male (December 4, 2009)[10]
Tonio: English male (to be released)


Crypton Future Media's Character Vocal Series


The Character Vocal Series is a computer music program that synthesizes singing in Japanese. Developed by Crypton Future Media, it utilizes Yamaha's Vocaloid 2 technology with specially recorded vocals of voice actors. To create a song, the user must input the melody and lyrics. A piano roll type interface is used to input the melody and the lyrics can be entered on each note. The software can change the stress of the pronunciations, add effects such as vibrato, or change the dynamics and tone of the voice.



The series is intended for professional musicians as well as light computer music users. The programmed vocals are designed to sound like an idol singer from the future. According to Crypton, because professional singers refused to provide singing data, in fear that the software might create their singing voice's clones, Crypton changed their focus from imitating certain singers to creating characteristic vocals. This change of focus led to sampling vocals of voice actors.[11]



Each Japanese Vocaloid is given an anime-type character with specifications on age, height, weight, and musical strengths (genre, pitch range and ideal tempos). The characters of the first three installments of the series are created by illustrator Kei.



Any rights or obligations arising from the vocals created by the software belong to the software user. Just like any music synthesizer, the software is treated as a musical instrument and the vocals as sound. Under the term of license, the Character Vocal Series software can be used to create vocals for commercial or non-commercial use as long as the vocals do not offend public policy. In other words, the user is bound under the term of license with Crypton not to synthesize derogatory or disturbing lyrics. On the other hand, copyrights to the mascot image and name belong to Crypton. Under the term of license, a user cannot commercially distribute a vocal as a song sung by the character, nor use the mascot image on commercial products, without Crypton's consent.

Hatsune Miku   

The cover of the first release.Hatsune Miku (初音ミク?) is the first installment in the Vocaloid 2 Character Vocal Series released on August 31, 2007. The name of the title and the character of the software was chosen by combining Hatsu (初, First?), Ne (音, Sound?), and Miku (未来, Future?).[12] The data for the voice was created by actually sampling the voice of Saki Fujita, a Japanese voice actress. Unlike general purpose speech synthesizers, the software is tuned to create J-pop songs commonly heard in anime, but it is possible to create songs from other genres.



Nico Nico Douga played a fundamental role in the recognition and popularity of the software. Soon after the release of the software, users of Nico Nico Douga started posting videos with songs created by the software. According to Crypton, a popular video with a comically-altered Miku holding a leek, singing Ievan Polkka, presented multifarious possibilities of applying the software in multimedia content creation.[13] As the recognition and popularity of the software grew, Nico Nico Douga became a place for collaborative content creation. Popular original songs written by a user would generate illustrations, animation in 2D and 3D, and remixes by other users. Other creators would show their unfinished work and ask for ideas.[14]



On October 18, 2007, an Internet BBS website reported Hatsune Miku was suspected to be victim of censorship by Google and Yahoo!, since images of Miku did not show up on the image searches.[15] Google and Yahoo denied any censorship on their part, blaming the missing images on a bug that does not only affect "Hatsune Miku" but other search keywords as well. Both companies expressed a willingness to fix the problem as soon as possible.[16] Images of Miku were relisted on Yahoo on October 19, 2007.



A Hatsune Miku manga called Maker Hikōshiki Hatsune Mix began serialization in the Japanese manga magazine Comic Rush on November 26, 2007, published by Jive. The manga is drawn by Kei, the original character designer for Hatsune Miku. A second manga called Hachune Miku no Nichijō Roipara! drawn by Ontama began serialization in the manga magazine Comp Ace on December 26, 2007, published by Kadokawa Shoten.



The character's first appearance in an anime is in (Zoku) Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei, where she (and various other people and characters) try out to be the voice of Meru Otonashi. For online multi-player games, the Japanese version of PangYa started a campaign with Hatsune Miku on May 22, 2008 in which a player could purchase her outfit for one of the characters.[17][18]. Her first appearance in a video game is in 13-sai no Hello Work DS (13歳のハローワークDS?) for the Nintendo DS where she is included as one of the characters.[19][20] Hatsune Miku was given a PlayStation Portable (PSP) game called Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA that was released on July 2, 2009 by Sega.[21] A sequel, Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA 2nd, will be released in Japan on July 29, 2010 by Sega for the PSP.[22] Hatsune Miku made a cameo appearance in the Lucky Star OVA in the form of Kagami's cosplay in her dream. She made a vocal appearance in the finale ending theme of the anime Akikan!. Hatsune Miku received the 2008 Seiun Award in the free category.[23][24] There is a costume for the characters of Tales of Graces available as downloadable content for 400 Wii points.[25]



On August 27, 2008, Victor Entertainment released the album Re:package which contains a collection of songs performed by Hatsune Miku and composed by a pair of dōjin artists named Livetune. The album sold over 20,000 copies in its first week and successfully broke into Oricon's charts by placing fifth for the week.[26] Following up with the success of Re:package, Victor Entertainment released Livetune's second Hatsune Miku album, Re:MIKUS, on March 25, 2009, which contains many remixed versions of original songs from various original music artists, such as Supercell and kz of Livetune.[27] It also contains four more original songs sung by Hatsune Miku, which again were made by original dōjin artists.



As a virtual idol, Hatsune Miku performed a "live" concert during Animelo Summer Live on August 23, 2009[28] and at Anime Festival Asia (AFA), Singapore in 2009.[29] In addition, singer Gackt performed alongside Miku.



In late November 2009, a petition was launched in order to get a custom made Hatsune Miku aluminum plate (8 cm x 12 cm, 3.1" x 4.7") made that will be used as a balancing weight for the Japanese Venus spacecraft explorer Akatsuki which will be launched in summer 2010.[30] Started by Hatsune Miku fan Sumio Morioka that goes by chodenzi-P, this project has received the backing of Dr. Seiichi Sakamoto of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. On December 22, 2009, the petition exceeded the needed 10,000 signatures necessary to have the plates made. An original deadline of December 20, 2009 had been set to send in the petition, but due to a couple of delays in the Akatsuki project, a new deadline of January 6, 2010 was set; by this deadline, over 14,000 signatures had been received.



On April 30, 2010, an update to Hatsune Miku was released under the name Miku Append, with a package of six different tones of Miku's voice: Soft (gentle, delicate voice), Sweet (young, chibi voice), Dark (mature, heartbroken-like voice), Vivid (bright, cheerful voice), Solid (loud, clear voice), and Light (innocent, heavenly voice).[31]


Kagamine Rin and Len

Released on December 27, 2007, Kagamine Rin/Len (鏡音リン・レン?) is the second installment of the Vocaloid 2 Character Vocal Series. Their surname was chosen by combining Kagami (鏡, Mirror?), Ne (音, Sound?), with the first syllables of their given names a pun on "Left" and "Right". According to Vocaloid's official blog, the package includes two voice banks: one for Rin and another for Len, both provided by the voice actor Asami Shimoda. Despite the double voice banks, the package still sells at the same price as Hatsune Miku.[32] Their only cameo appearance in an anime is in (Zoku) Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei, where the two, Miku, Kaito, and Meiko (and various other people and characters) try out to be the voice of Meru Otonashi.



Crypton released the updated edition, named "act2", in early July 2008. Users who had bought the old version will get an expansion disc free of charge. On June 18, 2008, beta demonstration songs using the new version were released on the company's official blog.[33] The expansion disc is an entirely different software and does not affect the original Kagamine Rin/Len installation in any way, giving the user options to either use the old or new voice sets exclusively or combine their usage.



Megurine Luka

The third installment in the character vocal series, Megurine Luka (巡音ルカ?), was released on January 30, 2009.[34] Her surname combines Meguri (巡, Circulate?) and Ne (音, Sound?). Luka's voice is that of a twenty-year-old female and she can sing in both Japanese and English. Her voice bank was sampled from Yū Asakawa. The manga artist Kei, who illustrated Miku, Rin, and Len, also designed her mascot. However, unlike previous mascots in the series, her costume is not based on a school uniform but more based on a modern style cheongsam.



Additional Vocaloids
Internet Co. Ltd.
Gackpoid

Internet Co. Ltd. wanted to utilize the voice of a musician for the creation of Vocaloid but felt it would be difficult to acquire cooperation. They consulted Dwango, who suggested Gackt, a musician and an actor, as he had previously provided his voice for Dwango's cell phone services.[35] He lent his voice and named the Vocaloid Gackpoid (がくっぽいど, Gakuppoido?). The product was originally intended to be released in June 2008, but although Gackt existed as a model for the Vocaloid, its illustrated avatar was yet to be determined. Finally a popular manga author Kentarō Miura, famous for his dark fantasy epic Berserk, was asked for his cooperation. Due to Miura's affection for Nico Nico Douga, he agreed to offer his services as a character designer for free. As a fan of Berserk, Gackt was more than happy with this arrangement, and requested Miura's sketches be faxed to him as well as the developers, even though he was on location for the filming of Guy Moshe's Bunraku.[36] Gackpoid was released on July 31, 2008.[37] Gackpoid includes a new program, OPUS Express, for mixing vocal parts with accompaniment or phoneme data.[38] Two of Gackt's songs and other three songs are also included as samples.[37] Miura's design for Gackpoid was named Kamui Gakupo/Gackpo (神威がくぽ?) after the stage name of Gackt and has a samurai aesthetic—the character is clad in Jinbaori, a kind of kimono which was used as a battle surcoat, and carries a katana that somehow acts as a musical instrument.[39]



Megpoid

Internet Co. published their second Vocaloid software titled Megpoid (メグッポイド?) on June 26, 2009 using the voice of Megumi Nakajima. She has bright green hair and wears red goggles on her head. This is a parody of both her theme color and a character that Nakajima voiced, Ranka Lee from Macross Frontier; as her design is similar to Ranka Lee.[40] One of her demo songs is "Be Myself", an original song by Nakajima. Megpoid sample files are included in the disc for the software.Her voice range is F2-A4 and her optimum tempo is 60-175BPM. Its character was named GUMI (ぐみ?), which was designed by the manga artist Yuki Masami.


Ah Software

Ah Software published three Vocaloids on December 4, 2009. The first is SF-A2 Miki using the voice of Miki Furukawa. She has a peach colored hair which includes a large ahoge. Her voice range is E2-G4 and her optimum tempo is 70-170BPM. The second is Kaai Yuki which is voiced by a grade school student, hence her grade school girl appearance. The third is Hiyama Kiyoteru.

E-Mel Staf Kolej Sultan Abdul Hamid

(updated: 07/09/09)

Staf Akademik

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Musical Instrument Digital Interface

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"Midi" redirects here. For other uses of Midi or MIDI, see MIDI (disambiguation).

This article needs additional citations for verification.Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2008)
MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface), pronounced /ˈmɪdi/) is an industry-standard protocol defined in 1982[1] that enables electronic musical instruments such as keyboard controllers, computers, and other electronic equipment to communicate, control, and synchronize with each other. MIDI allows computers, synthesizers, MIDI controllers, sound cards, samplers and drum machines to control one another, and to exchange system data. MIDI does not transmit an audio signal or media — it transmits "event messages" such as the pitch and intensity of musical notes to play, control signals for parameters such as volume, vibrato and panning, cues, and clock signals to set the tempo. As an electronic protocol, it is notable for its widespread adoption throughout the music industry. The first MIDI was invented by Clestin New.

Note names and MIDI note numbers.
All MIDI compatible controllers, musical instruments, and MIDI-compatible software follow the same MIDI 1.0 specification, and thus interpret any given MIDI message the same way, and so can communicate with and understand each other. MIDI composition and arrangement takes advantage of MIDI 1.0 and General MIDI (GM) technology to allow musical data files to be shared among many different files due to some incompatibility with various electronic instruments by using a standard, portable set of commands and parameters. Because the music is simply data rather than recorded audio waveforms, the data size of the files is quite small by comparison.

Contents
1 History
2 Interfaces
3 Controllers
4 Messages
5 Composition
6 File formats
6.1 Standard MIDI File (SMF) Format
6.2 MIDI Karaoke File (.KAR) Format
6.3 XMF File Formats
6.4 RIFF-RMID File Format
6.5 Extended RMID File Format
6.6 Extended MIDI File (.XMI) Format
7 Usage and applications
7.1 Extensions of the MIDI standard
7.1.1 General MIDI
7.1.1.1 GM Common Misconceptions
7.1.2 GS and XG
7.1.3 General MIDI Level 2
7.1.4 SP-MIDI
7.1.5 Alternative Tunings
7.1.6 MIDI Show Control
7.1.7 Console Automation
8 Alternate hardware transports
8.1 XLR3
8.2 Over a computer network
8.2.1 RTP-MIDI transport protocol
9 Converting instruments to MIDI
10 Other applications
11 Beyond MIDI 1.0
11.1 OSC
11.2 mLAN
11.3 HD Protocol
12 MIDI software
13 Sample Standard MIDI files
14 See also
15 References
16 External links
16.1 Official MIDI Standards Organizations
16.2 Unofficial Sources
16.3 Other resources

Since then, MIDI technology has been standardized and is maintained by the MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA). All official MIDI standards are jointly developed and published by the MMA in Los Angeles, California, USA (http://www.midi.org/), and for Japan, the MIDI Committee of the Association of Musical Electronic Industry (AMEI) in Tokyo (http://www.amei.or.jp/). By the end of the 1970s, electronic musical devices were becoming increasingly common and affordable. However, devices from different manufacturers were generally not compatible with each other and could not be interconnected. Different interfacing models included analog control voltages at various standards (such as 1 volt per octave, or the logarithmic "hertz per volt"); analog clock, trigger and "gate" signals (both positive "V-trig" and negative "S-trig" varieties, between −15V to +15V); and proprietary digital interfaces such as Roland Corporation's DCB (digital control bus), the Oberheim system, and Yamaha's "keycode" system. In 1981, audio engineer and synthesizer designer Dave Smith of Sequential Circuits, Inc. proposed a digital standard for musical instruments in a paper for the Audio Engineering Society. The MIDI Specification 1.0 was published in August 1983.
Primary reference for MIDI is The Complete MIDI 1.0 Detailed Specification, document version 96.1, available only from MMA in English, or from AMEI in Japanese. Though the MMA site formerly offered free downloads of all midi specifications, links to the basic and general detailed specs have been removed, ostensibly in the hope that visitors will buy their expensive printed documents. However, considerable ancillary material is available at no cost on the website.
In the early 1980s, MIDI was a major factor in bringing an end to the "wall of synthesizers" phenomenon in progressive rock band concerts, when keyboard performers were often hidden behind huge banks of analog synthesizers and electric pianos. Following the advent of MIDI, many synthesizers were released in rack-mount versions, which meant that keyboardists could control many different instruments (e.g., synthesizers) from a single keyboard.
In the 1980s, MIDI facilitated the development of hardware and computer-based sequencers, which can be used to record, edit and play back performances. In the years immediately after the 1983 ratification of the MIDI specification, MIDI interfaces were released for the Apple Macintosh, Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga and the PC-DOS platform, allowing for the development of a market for powerful, inexpensive, and now-widespread computer-based MIDI sequencers. The Atari ST came equipped with MIDI ports as standard, and was commonly used in recording studios for this reason. Synchronization of MIDI sequences is made possible by the use of MIDI timecode, an implementation of the SMPTE time code standard using MIDI messages, and MIDI timecode has become the standard for digital music synchronization.
In 1991, the MIDI Show Control (MSC) protocol (in the Real Time System Exclusive subset) was ratified by the MIDI Manufacturers Association. The MSC protocol is an industry standard which allows all types of media control devices to talk with each other and with computers to perform show control functions in live and canned entertainment applications. Just like musical MIDI (above), MSC does not transmit the actual show media — it simply transmits digital data providing information such as the type, timing and numbering of technical cues called during a multimedia or live theatre performance.
A number of music file formats have been based on the MIDI bytestream. These formats are very compact; a file as small as 10 KiB can produce a full minute of music or more due to the fact that the file stores instructions on how to recreate the sound based on synthesis with a MIDI synthesizer rather than an exact waveform to be reproduced. A MIDI synthesizer could be built into an operating system, sound card, embedded device (e.g. hardware-based synthesizer) or a software-based synthesizer. The file format stores information on what note to play and when, or other important information such as possible pitch-bend during the envelope of the note or the note's velocity.
This is advantageous for applications such as mobile phone ringtones, and some video games; however, it may be a disadvantage to other applications in that the information is not able to guarantee an accurate waveform will be heard by the intended listener, because each MIDI synthesizer will have its own methods for producing the sound from the MIDI instructions provided. One example is that any MIDI file played back through the Microsoft MIDI Synthesizer (included in any Windows operating system) should sound the same or similar, but when the same MIDI bytestream is output to a synthesizer on a generic sound card or even a MIDI synthesizer on another operating system, the actual heard and rendered sound may vary. One sound card's synthesizer might not reproduce the exact sounds of another synthesizer.
As such, MIDI-based mobile phone ring tones sound different on a handset than when previewed on a PC. In the same way, most modern software synthesizers can handle MIDI files but might render them completely differently from another synthesizer, especially since most modern software synthesizers such as a VST Instrument tend to allow the loading of different patches and the modification of these patches to create different sounds for each MIDI input. The term "MIDI sound" has gotten a poor reputation from some critics, which may be the result of the poor quality sound synthesis provided by many early sound cards, which relied on FM synthesis instead of wavetables to produce audio.
[edit] Interfaces

MIDI connector diagram
The physical MIDI interface uses DIN 5/180° connectors. Opto-isolating connections are used, to prevent ground loops occurring among connected MIDI devices. Logically, MIDI is based on a ring network topology, with a transceiver inside each device. The transceivers physically and logically separate the input and output lines, meaning that MIDI messages received by a device in the network not intended for that device will be re-transmitted on the output line (MIDI-OUT). This introduces a delay, one that is long enough to become audible on larger MIDI rings.
MIDI-THRU ports started to be added to MIDI-compatible equipment soon after the introduction of MIDI, in order to improve performance. The MIDI-THRU port avoids the aforementioned retransmission delay by linking the MIDI-THRU port to the MIDI-IN socket almost directly. The difference between the MIDI-OUT and MIDI-THRU ports is that data coming from the MIDI-OUT port has been generated on the device containing that port. Data that comes out of a device's MIDI-THRU port, however, is an exact duplicate of the data received at the MIDI-IN port.
Such chaining together of instruments via MIDI-THRU ports is unnecessary with the use of MIDI "patch bay," "mult" or "Thru" modules consisting of a MIDI-IN connector and multiple MIDI-OUT connectors to which multiple instruments are connected. Some equipment has the ability to merge MIDI messages into one stream, but this is a specialized function and is not universal to all equipment. MIDI Thru Boxes clean up any skewing of MIDI data bits that might occur at the input stage. MIDI Merger boxes merge all MIDI messages appearing at either of its two inputs to its output, which allows a musician to plug in several MIDI controllers (e.g., two musical keyboards and a pedal keyboard) to a single synth voice device such as an EMU or Proteus.
All MIDI compatible instruments have a built-in MIDI interface. Some computers' sound cards have a built-in MIDI Interface, whereas others require an external MIDI Interface which is connected to the computer via the newer D-subminiature DA-15 game port, a USB connector or by FireWire, ethernet or by MADI (RME standard). MIDI connectors are defined by the MIDI interface standard. In the 2000s, as computer equipment increasingly used USB connectors, companies began making USB-to-MIDI audio interfaces which can transfer MIDI channels to USB-equipped computers. As well, due to the increasing use of computers for music-making and composition, some MIDI keyboard controllers were equipped with USB jacks, so that they can be plugged into computers that are running "software synths" or other music software.
[edit] Controllers
In popular parlance, piano-style musical keyboards are called "keyboards", regardless of their functions or type. Amongst MIDI enthusiasts, however, keyboards and other devices used to trigger musical sounds are called "controllers", because with most MIDI set-ups, the keyboard or other device does not make any sounds by itself. MIDI controllers need to be connected to a voice bank or sound module in order to produce musical tones or sounds; the keyboard or other device is "controlling" the voice bank or sound module by acting as a trigger. The most common MIDI controller is the piano-style keyboard, either with weighted or semi-weighted keys, or with unweighted synth-style keys. Keyboard-style MIDI controllers are sold with as few as 25 keys (2 octaves), with larger models such as 49 keys, 61 keys, or even the full 88 keys being available.
MIDI controllers are also available in a range of other forms, such as electronic drum triggers; pedal keyboards that are played with the feet (e.g., with an organ); EWI wind controllers for performing saxophone-style music; and MIDI guitar synthesizer controllers. EWI, which stands for Electronic Wind Instrument, is designed for performers who want to play saxophone, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and other wind instrument sounds with a synthesizer module. When wind instruments are played using a MIDI keyboard, it is hard to reproduce the expressive control found on wind instruments that can be generated with the wind pressure and embouchure. The EWI has an air-pressure level sensor and bite sensor in the mouthpiece, 13 touch sensors arrayed along the side of the controller, in a similar location to where sax keys are placed, and touch sensors for octaves and bends.
Pad controllers are used by musicians and DJs who make music through use of sampled sounds or short samples of music. Pad controllers often have banks of assignable pads and assignable faders and knobs for transmitting MIDI data or changes; the better-quality models are velocity-sensitive. More rarely, some performers use more specialized MIDI controllers, such as triggers that are affixed to their clothing or stage items (e.g., magicians Penn and Teller's stage show). A MIDI footcontroller is pedalboard-style device with rows of footswitches that control banks of presets, MIDI program change commands and send MIDI note numbers (some also do MIDI merges). Another specialized type of controller is the drawbar controller; it is designed for Hammond organ players who have MIDI-equipped organ voice modules. The drawbar controller provides the keyboard player with many of the controls which are found on a vintage 1940s or 1950s Hammond organ, including harmonic drawbars, a rotating speaker speed control switch, vibrato and chorus knobs, and percussion and overdrive controls. As with all controllers, the drawbar controller does not produce any sounds by itself; it only controls a voice module or software sound device.
While most controllers do not produce sounds, there are some exceptions. Some controller keyboards called "performance controllers" have MIDI-assignable keys, sliders, and knobs, which allow the controller to be used with a range of software synthesizers or voice modules; yet at the same time, the controller also has an internal voice module which supplies keyboard instrument sounds (piano, electric piano, clavichord), sampled or synthesized voices (strings, woodwinds), and Digital Signal Processing (distortion, compression, flanging, etc). These controller keyboards are designed to allow the performer to choose between the internal voices or external modules.
[edit] Messages
All MIDI compatible controllers, musical instruments, and MIDI-compatible software follow the same MIDI 1.0 specification, and thus interpret any given MIDI message the same way, and so can communicate with and understand each other. For example, if a note is played on a MIDI controller, it will sound at the right pitch on any MIDI instrument whose MIDI In connector is connected to the controller's MIDI Out connector.
When a musical performance is played on a MIDI instrument (or controller) it transmits MIDI channel messages from its MIDI Out connector. A typical MIDI channel message sequence corresponding to a key being struck and released on a keyboard is:
The user presses the middle C key with a specific velocity (which is usually translated into the volume of the note but can also be used by the synthesiser to set characteristics of the timbre as well). The instrument sends one Note-On message.
The user changes the pressure applied on the key while holding it down - a technique called Aftertouch (can be repeated, optional). The instrument sends one or more Aftertouch messages.
The user releases the middle C key, again with the possibility of velocity of release controlling some parameters. The instrument sends one Note-Off message.
Note-On, Aftertouch, and Note-Off are all channel messages. For the Note-On and Note-Off messages, the MIDI specification defines a number (from 0–127) for every possible note pitch (C, C♯, D etc.), and this number is included in the message.
Other performance parameters can be transmitted with channel messages, too. For example, if the user turns the pitch wheel on the instrument, that gesture is transmitted over MIDI using a series of Pitch Bend messages (also a channel message). The musical instrument generates the messages autonomously; all the musician has to do is play the notes (or make some other gesture that produces MIDI messages). This consistent, automated abstraction of the musical gesture could be considered the core of the MIDI standard.
[edit] Composition
MIDI composition and arrangement takes advantage of MIDI 1.0 and General MIDI (GM) technology to allow musical data files to be shared among various electronic instruments by using a standard, portable set of commands and parameters. Because the music is simply data rather than recorded audio waveforms, the data size of the files is quite small by comparison. Several computer programs allow manipulation of the musical data such that composing for an entire orchestra of synthesized instrument sounds is possible. The data can be saved as a Standard MIDI File (SMF), digitally distributed, and then reproduced by any computer or electronic instrument that also adheres to the same MIDI, GM, and SMF standards. There are many websites offering downloads of popular songs as well as classical music in SMF and GM form, and there are also websites where MIDI composers can share their works in that same format.
Many people believe that the Standard MIDI File as a music distribution format used to be much more attractive to computer users before broadband internet became available to "the masses", due to its small file size. Also, the advent of high quality audio compression such as the MP3 format has decreased the relative size advantages of MIDI music to some degree, though MP3 is still much larger than SMF.
[edit] File formats
[edit] Standard MIDI File (SMF) Format
MIDI messages (along with timing information) can be collected and stored in a computer file system, in what is commonly called a MIDI file, or more formally, a Standard MIDI File (SMF). The SMF specification was developed by, and is maintained by, the MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA). MIDI files are typically created using computer-based sequencing software (or sometimes a hardware-based MIDI instrument or workstation) that organizes MIDI messages into one or more parallel "tracks" for independent recording and editing. In most sequencers, each track is assigned to a specific MIDI channel and/or a specific instrument patch; if the attached music synthesizer has a known instrument palette (for example because it conforms to the General MIDI standard), then the instrument for each track may be selected by name. Although most current MIDI sequencer software uses proprietary "session file" formats rather than SMF, almost all sequencers provide export or "Save As..." support for the SMF format.
An SMF consists of one header chunk and one or more track chunks. There exist three different SMF formats; the format of a given SMF is specified in its file header. A Format 0 file contains a single track and represents a single song performance. Format 1 may contain any number of tracks, enabling preservation of the sequencer track structure, and also represents a single song performance. Format 2 may have any number of tracks, each representing a separate song performance. Sequencers do not commonly support Format 2. Large collections of SMFs can be found on the web, most commonly with the extension .mid. These files are most frequently authored with the (rather dubious) assumption that they will be only ever be played on General MIDI players.
[edit] MIDI Karaoke File (.KAR) Format
MIDI-Karaoke (which uses the ".kar" file extension) files are an "unofficial" extension of MIDI files, used to add synchronized lyrics to standard MIDI files. SMF players play the music as they would a .mid file but do not display these lyrics unless they have specific support for .kar messages. These often display the lyrics synchronized with the music in "follow-the-bouncing-ball" fashion, essentially turning any PC into a karaoke machine. None of the MIDI-Karaoke file formats are maintained by any standardization body.
[edit] XMF File Formats
The MMA has also defined (and AMEI has approved) a new family of file formats, XMF (eXtensible Music File), some of which package SMF chunks with instrument data in DLS format (Downloadable Sounds, also an MMA/AMEI specification), to much the same effect as the MOD file format. The XMF container is a binary format (not XML-based, although the file extensions are similar). See the main article Extensible Music Format (XMF).
[edit] RIFF-RMID File Format
On Microsoft Windows, the system itself uses proprietary RIFF-based MIDI files with the ".rmi" extension. Note, Standard MIDI Files are not RIFF-compliant. A RIFF-RMID file, however, is simply a Standard MIDI File wrapped in a RIFF chunk. For compatibility reasons many digital musicians overlook this format. One solution to this incompatibility is to extract the data part of the RIFF-RMID chunk, the result will be a regular Standard MIDI File. RIFF-RMID is not an official MMA/AMEI MIDI standard.
[edit] Extended RMID File Format
In recommended practice RP-29 ([1]), the MMA defined a method for bundling one Standard MIDI file (SMF) image with one Downloadable Sounds (DLS) image using the RIFF container technology. However, this method was deprecated when the MMA introduced the Extensible Music Format (XMF), which because of its many additional features is generally preferred for MIDI-related resource bundling purposes going forwards.
[edit] Extended MIDI File (.XMI) Format
The XMI format is a proprietary extension of the SMF format introduced by the Miles Sound System, a middleware driver library targeted at PC games. XMI is not an official MMA/AMEI MIDI standard.
[edit] Usage and applications
Main article: MIDI usage and applications
[edit] Extensions of the MIDI standard
Many extensions of the original official MIDI 1.0 spec have been standardized by MMA/JMSC. Only a few of them are described here; for more comprehensive information, see the MMA web site.
[edit] General MIDI
The General MIDI Level 1 ("GM") specification defines feature set important for MIDI content interoperability across multiple players. It addresses the indeterminacy of the basic MIDI 1.0 protocol standard regarding the meaning and behaviour of Program Change and Control Change messages. Without GM, different synthesizers can, and actually do, sound completely different in response to the same MIDI messages.
The GM standard mandates:
An assignment of specific instruments to each Program Number in Program Change messages (for example, Program Number 3 is "Electric Grand Piano")
The mapping of several controller numbers to important effects
Use of channel 10 for percussion only (a specific unpitched percussion sound in place of each note)
Various minimum specifications such as number of simultaneous voices/notes and channels/parts
General MIDI 1 was introduced in 1991.
[edit] GM Common Misconceptions
Although the GM and GM2 specifications are dependent on the basic MIDI 1.0 protocol specification, they are separate standards from MIDI 1.0. As a result, MIDI products may legitimately implement MIDI 1.0 but not GM and/or GM2. Although GM is an important feature for MIDI content interoperability across multiple players, many important MIDI applications do not require such interoperability. For example, MIDI and the SMF format are used in professional music recording production where the MIDI file content will never be distributed and custom or specialized synthesizers are used much more commonly than GM or GM2. As a direct consequence, not all SMF content is authored for GM or GM2 synthesizers. Because playing any SMF or MIDI message stream on a different synthesizer(s) than originally intended risks the generation of unintended and incorrect sounds, it is not generally safe to merely assume that any given MIDI message stream or MIDI file is intended for GM or GM2 synthesizers. In particular it is frequently assumed, incorrectly, that all or nearly all SMF content necessarily relies on the player using a GM or GM2 synthesizer, however because there is no such dependency in the actual MMA/AMEI specifications and it is also quite legitimate for SMF content to be written for non-GM synthesizers, this assumption is not reliable.
Unfortunately, there is currently no technical standard for indicating in advance what kind of synthesizer(s) a given SMF or MIDI message stream is intended to drive (with the exception of RTP MIDI and the audio/sp-midi MIME type definition).
[edit] GS and XG
To improve upon the General MIDI Standard and take advantage of the advancements in newer synthesizers, both Roland (GS) and Yamaha (XG) introduced proprietary specifications and numerous products with stricter requirements, new features, and backward compatibility with the GM specification. GS and XG are not compatible with each other, are not official MMA/AMEI MIDI standards, and adoption of each has been generally limited to the respective manufacturer.
[edit] General MIDI Level 2
Later after the success of General MIDI was firmly established, companies in Japan's Association of Musical Electronics Industry (sic) (AMEI) developed General MIDI Level 2 (GM2), incorporating and harmonizing aspects of the Yamaha XG and Roland GS formats, further extending the instrument palette, specifying more message responses in detail, and defining new messages for custom tuning scales and other new functionality, thus improving the sound editing features and the quality. For these new enhancements to be possible new messages had to be integrated into the MIDI specification, these enhancements consist of Controllers, RPNS, MIDI tuning and Universal system exclusive messages. The GM2 specs are maintained and published by the MMA and AMEI. General MIDI 2 was introduced in 1999 and is commonly implemented in some newer synthesizers.
[edit] SP-MIDI
Later still, GM2 became the basis of the instrument selection mechanism in Scalable Polyphony MIDI (SP-MIDI), a MIDI variant for mobile applications where different players may have different numbers of musical voices. SP-MIDI is a component of the 3GPP mobile phone terminal multimedia architecture, starting from release 5.
GM, GM2, and SP-MIDI are also the basis for selecting player-provided instruments in several of the MMA/AMEI XMF file formats (XMF Type 0, Type 1, and Mobile XMF), which allow extending the instrument palette with custom instruments in the Downloadable Sound (DLS) formats, addressing another major GM shortcoming.
[edit] Alternative Tunings
By convention, most MIDI synthesizers generally default to the conventional Western 12-pitch-per-octave, equal temperament tuning system. Unfortunately, this tuning system makes many types of music inaccessible, because they depend on different intonation systems. To address this issue in a standardized manner, in 1992 the MMA ratified the MIDI Tuning Standard, or MTS. Instruments that support the MTS standard can be tuned to any desired tuning system by sending the MTS System Exclusive message (a Non-Real Time Sys Ex).
The MTS SysEx message uses a three-byte number format to specify a pitch in logarithmic form. This pitch number can be thought of as a three-digit number in base 128. To find the value of the pitch number p that encodes a given frequency f, use the following formula:

For a note in A440 equal temperament, this formula delivers the standard MIDI note number as used in the Note On and Note Off messages. Any other frequencies fill the space evenly. While support for MTS is at present not particularly widespread in commercial hardware instruments, it is nonetheless supported by some instruments and software, for example the free software programs TiMidity and Scala, as well as other microtuners.
[edit] MIDI Show Control
Main article: MIDI Show Control
The MIDI Show Control (MSC) protocol (in the Real Time System Exclusive subset) is an industry standard ratified by the MIDI Manufacturers Association in 1991 which allows all types of media control devices to talk with each other and with computers to perform show control functions in live and canned entertainment applications. Just like musical MIDI (above), MSC does not transmit the actual show media — it simply transmits digital data providing information such as the type, timing and numbering of technical cues called during a multimedia or live theatre performance.
[edit] Console Automation
Audio mixers can be controlled with MIDI during console automation.
[edit] Alternate hardware transports
In addition to the original 31.25 kbits/sec (baud is the signalling rate and is the reciprocal of the shortest signalling element; bits/sec is the data rate) current-loop transported on 5-pin DIN, other connectors have been used for the same electrical data, and transmission of MIDI streams in different forms over USB, IEEE 1394 a.k.a FireWire, and Ethernet is now common (see below).
[edit] XLR3
Some early MIDI implementations used XLR3 connectors in place of the 5-pin DIN. The use of XLR3 connectors allowed the use of standard low-impedance microphone cables as MIDI cables. As the 31.25 Kbits/sec current-loop requires only three conductors, there was no problem with the loss of two pins. An example of this use is the Octave-Plateau Voyetra-8 synthesizer.
[edit] Over a computer network
Compared to USB or FireWire, the computer network implementation of MIDI provides network routing capabilities, which are extremely useful in studio or stage environments (USB and FireWire are more restrictive in the connections between computers and devices). Ethernet is moreover capable of providing the high-bandwidth channel that earlier alternatives to MIDI (such as ZIPI) were intended to bring.
After the initial fight between different protocols (IEEE-P1639, MIDI-LAN, IETF RTP-MIDI), it appears that IETF's RTP MIDI specification for transport of MIDI streams over computer networks is now spreading faster and faster since more and more manufacturers are integrating RTP-MIDI in their products (Apple, CME, Kiss-Box, etc.). Mac OS X, Windows and Linux drivers are also available to make RTP MIDI devices appear as standard MIDI devices within these operating systems. IEEE-P1639 is now a dead project. The other proprietary MIDI/IP protocols are slowly disappearing one after the other, since most of them require expensive licensing to be implemented (while RTP MIDI is completely opened), or the MIDI implementation does not bring any real advantage (apart from speed) over original MIDI protocol.
[edit] RTP-MIDI transport protocol
The RTP-MIDI protocol has been officially released in public domain by IETF in December 2006 (IETF RFC4695).[2] RTP-MIDI relies on the well-known RTP (Real Time Protocol) layer (most often running over UDP, but compatible with TCP also), widely used for real-time audio and video streaming over networks. The RTP layer is easy to implement and requires very little power from the microprocessor, while providing very useful information to the receiver (network latency, dropped packet detection, reordered packets, etc.). RTP-MIDI defines a specific payload type, that allows the receiver to identify MIDI streams.
RTP-MIDI does not alter the MIDI messages in any way (all messages defined in the MIDI norm are transported transparently over the network), but it adds additional features such as timestamping and sysex fragmentation. RTP-MIDI also adds a powerful 'journalling' mechanism that allows the receiver to detect and correct dropped MIDI messages.The first part of RTP-MIDI specification is mandatory for implementors and describes how MIDI messages are encapsulated within the RTP telegram. It also describes how the journalling system works. The journalling system is not mandatory (journalling is not very useful for LAN applications, but it is very important for WAN applications).
The second part of RTP-MIDI specification describes the session control mechanisms that allow multiple stations to synchronize across the network to exchange RTP-MIDI telegrams. This part is informational only, and it is not required.
RTP-MIDI is included in Apple's Mac OS X, as standard MIDI ports (the RTP-MIDI ports appear in Macintosh applications as any other USB or FireWire port. Thus, any MIDI application running on Mac OS X is able to use the RTP-MIDI capabilities in a transparent way). However, Apple's developers considered the session control protocol described in IETF's specification to be too complex, and they created their own session control protocol. Since the session protocol uses a UDP port different from the main RTP-MIDI stream port, the two protocols do not interfere (so the RTP-MIDI implementation in Mac OS X fully complies to the IETF specification).
Apple's implementation has been used as reference by other MIDI manufacturers. A Windows XP RTP-MIDI driver[3] for their own products only has been released by the Dutch company Kiss-Box and a Linux implementation is currently under development by the Grame association.[4] So it seems probable that the Apple's implementation will become the "de-facto" standard (and could even become the MMA reference implementation).
[edit] Converting instruments to MIDI
Some older instruments, for example electronic organs built in the 1970s and 1980s, are becoming beyond repair, due to lack of spares and/or of technicians trained on such equipment. The best candidates for upgrade are what are referred to as "Console" sized, or have at least 2x keyboards of 61 notes, and at least a 25 note (preferably 32 note concave) pedal board. Smaller "Spinet" sized organs are probably not worth the effort to convert. In some cases, they can be modified to become to MIDI instruments. Terms coined from MIDI + modification are often used, such as midification or to midify.
An old electronic organ could have almost all of its discrete component electronics replaced by modern circuitry which will cause the instrument to output MIDI signals. The instrument would then become a specialised MIDI keyboard. Its MIDI output would need to be fed to a MIDI engine of some sort.
See for example: Midification of an Organ
In modern times new keyboards have MIDI functions as standard and can be connected to the computers with a PC-to-MIDI interface. Other forms of MIDI controllers include wind controllers, drums, guitars, accordion and many others.
[edit] Other applications
MIDI 1.0 is also used as a control protocol in applications other than music, including:
show control
theatre lighting
special effects
sound design
VJ-ing
recording system synchronization
audio processor control
Digital DJing otherwise known as Controllerism
computer networking, as demonstrated by the early first-person shooter game MIDI Maze, 1987
animatronic figure control
animation parameter control, as demonstrated by Apple Motion v2
MIDI's lighting controller feature is mainly used with performances on stage. It provides a synchronised lighting show that responds to the created MIDI track being played. Such non-musical applications of the MIDI 1.0 protocol (sometimes over MIDI-DIN, sometimes using other transports) are possible because of its general-purpose nature. Any device built with a standard MIDI Out connector should in theory be able to control any other device with a MIDI In port, just as long as the developers of both devices have the same understanding about the semantic meaning of all the MIDI messages the sending device emits. This agreement can come either because both follow the official MIDI standard specifications, or else in the case of any non-standard functionality, because the message meanings are directly agreed upon by the two manufacturers.
[edit] Beyond MIDI 1.0
Although traditional MIDI connections work well for most purposes, a number of newer message protocols and hardware transports have been proposed over the years to try to take the idea to the next level. Some of the more notable efforts include:
[edit] OSC
The Open Sound Control (OSC) protocol was developed at CNMAT. OSC has been implemented in the well-known software synthesizer Reaktor and in other innovative projects including SuperCollider, Pure Data, Isadora, Max/MSP, Csound, vvvv and ChucK. The Lemur Input Device, a customizable touch panel with MIDI controller-type functions, also uses OSC. OSC differs from MIDI 1.0 over traditional 5-pin DIN in that it can run at broadband speeds when sent over Ethernet connections, however the differences are smaller compared to MIDI when run at broadband speeds over Ethernet connections. Few mainstream musical applications and no standalone instruments support the protocol so far, making whole-studio interoperability problematic. OSC is not owned by any private company, however it is also not maintained by any standards organization. Since September 2007, there is a proposal for a common namespace within OSC[5] for communication between and controllers, synthesizers and hosts, however this too would not be maintained by any standards organization.
[edit] mLAN
Yamaha has its mLAN protocol, which is based on the IEEE 1394 transport (also known as FireWire) and carries multiple MIDI 1.0 message channels and multiple audio channels. mLAN is not maintained by a standards organization as it is a proprietary protocol. mLAN is open for licensing, although covered by patents owned by Yamaha.
[edit] HD Protocol
Development of a version of MIDI for new products which is fully backward compatible is now under discussion in the MMA. First announced as "HD-MIDI" in 2005 and tentatively called "HD Protocol" since 2008, this new standard would support modern high-speed transports, provide greater range and/or resolution in data values, increase the number of Channels, and support the future introduction of entirely new kinds of messages. Representatives from all sizes and types of companies are involved, from the smallest speciality show control operations to the largest musical equipment manufacturers. No technical details or projected completion dates have been announced.[6][7] Various transports have been proposed for use for the HD-Protocol physical layer, including a call for ACN to be used as the sole or primary transport in show control environments.
[edit] MIDI software
There is a wide range of MIDI software available such as auto accompaniment applications, notation programs, music teaching software, music producing, games, DJ/remix environments, etc...
Further information: List of MIDI editors and sequencers
Further information: MIDI Show Control#MIDI Show Control software
[edit] Sample Standard MIDI files
Drum sample #1
Drum sample #2
Bass sample #1
Bass sample #2
A combination of the above four files, with piano, jazz guitar, a hi-hat and four extra measures added to complete the short song. A minor.
[edit] See also
List of MIDI editors and sequencers
Comparison of MIDI standards
Commons Portal about MIDI (under construction).
Karaoke and midi *.kar files.
LRC (file format)
The MIDI 1.0 Protocol
MIDI Machine Control
MIDI Show Control
MIDI timecode
MIDI controller
MIDI mockup
MIDI usage and applications
Midiboard
Module file
Multitrack recording
Music sequencer
Sound design
Show control
Tracker
Soundfonts
[edit] References
^ "midi-standards-a-brief-history-and-explanation". http://mustech.net/2006/09/15/midi-standards-a-brief-history-and-explanation.
^ IETF RTP-MIDI specification
^ Windows XP RTP-MIDI driver download
^ Grame's website
^ common namespace within OSC
^ MMA Hosts HD-MIDI Discussion, MIDI Manufacturers Association.
^ Finally: MIDI 2.0, O'Reilly Digital Media Blog.
[edit] External links
[edit] Official MIDI Standards Organizations
MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA) – Source for English-language MIDI specs
Association of Musical Electronics Industry (AMEI) – Source for Japanese-language MIDI specs
[edit] Unofficial Sources
The original MIDI portal for the web - unfortunately hijacked. Last original content according to archive.org: Oct, 4th 2006
A guide for composers using MIDI software, technical information about MIDI
Hinton Instruments' MIDI Protocol Guide
Hinton Instruments' Professional MIDI Guide
The MIDI Show Control (MSC) standard
TWEAKHEADZ Labs Introduction to Midi
How MIDI Works
MIDI Cable Length limitations
Scheme of PC MIDI cable
MIDI controllers come in all shapes and sizes. Music Tech author Keith Gemmell explains how they work.
Songstuff Midi - Midi Message Format
Crash Course in MIDI format
Sync'ing MIDI devices tutorial
[edit] Other resources
MIDI to MP3 Converter for Mac Advanced MIDI to MP3 Converter for Mac, uses SoundFonts to ensure high quality.
Midkar Technical Talk about the stuff that makes our music!
Midkar Midkar presents "clean" MIDI and Karaoke in all genres. Features many creators of MIDI sequences.
Disklavier World Public Domain MIDI-music in FIL (e-SEQ format) for YAMAHA Disklavier pianos ~ live performances!
Virtual MIDI Machine - VMM is a c-like multithreading language that allows a composer to write low-level MIDI algorithms
MIDI keyboard, frequencies, note names, numbers and Note systems
midi troubleshooting
MIDI Tutorials, Guides, Tunings, Examples, MIDI Samples and Latest News
MIDI Electronic Circuits
MIDI archive