Making Connections
MIDI is yet another digital technology still in its teen years. It was created, and continues to undergo changes, as a means of solving the shortcomings of technology. MIDI was originally born out of problems associated with musical synthesizer technology of the 60's and 70's. Musicians were searching for some means to create more intricate sounds by linking various musical keyboards together in a process called layering. At the time there were scores of synthesizer manufacturers with more incompatibility problems than today's PC's. It wasn't until 1981 that a proposal was made for a universal synthesizer interface (Rubin, 1995). Just two years later, after five of the more influential synthesizer companies put their heads together, MIDI 1.0 specifications were born.

More Solutions
Problems of compatibility still existed even though keyboards could now "talk" to each other. In 1988, in response to file format difficulties, the Standard Midi File (SMF) format was created. Another problem involved instrument settings. The command to select a piano sound on one instrument might give you a tuba sound on another. The solution for this was the creation of General MIDI (Heckroth, 1995). General MIDI, or GM, created common groupings of instruments and families of instruments (patch maps) along with common performance messages. MIDI must be pretty flexible to knock down problems as they arise. Well, that's not entirely the case.

But What is MIDI?
MIDI is not sound. It is a playerpiano roll for your sound card or keyboard. It is merely a list of commands that tell your sound source what notes to play and how (Audiohost, 1997). What makes it good? What makes it bad? And where do we go from here?

The Good
No space, no time, no problem. MIDI files are small. How small? A typical MIDI file is 500 times smaller than its equivalent CD quality sound file counterpart! That's small. Because of this they have an extremely fast load time. MIDI files are cut-down, streamlined versions of audio files which contain just the most essential information needed to recreate the sound. Sending someone an orchestral piece for example is more like sending them just the conductor's score. Five minutes of MIDI data can take up less than 100 K! And MIDI isn't just a series of notes. MIDI files can contain important effects like reverb, chorus, sostenuto, volume, and pitch. Why are they important? Because they are essential elements that add realism when the performance is recreated. And realism is an important aspect of interactivity (see Mediated Invisibility).

The Bad
This just sounds too good to be true. It almost is. On the receiving end MIDI is limited to sounds that can be generated or "built at the end of the line" with a sound card or keyboard (Alexander, 1997). No human voices or natural instruments can be reproduced (it can't reproduce recordings, merely an event list). This results in performance variations. Since hardware and software can vary in quality, a piano sound on one system may not sound the same on another system (Rush, 1997). MIDI also requires a high learning curve to create the original performance. You need equipment and some type of musical ability. Since the performance events have to be built, it is not as easy as merely bringing together a song, a microphone, and a tape recorder. You need to create the performance which allows MIDI to record the "finger action" events (Audiohost, 1997). And if this wasn't bad enough, there are still a few compatibility issues lurking out there, like conflicts between Base Multitimbral and Extended Multitimbral Synthesizer formats (Heckroth, 1995).

The Ugly
Around the time General Midi was being developed, Microsoft was working on a standard for multimedia PC's called MPC (Multimedia PC specifications). Now under control of the Multimedia PC Marketing Council, the MPC specifications are the minimum requirements needed to ensure multimedia compatibility on Windows based personal computers (Heckroth, 1995). These specifications include MIDI authoring standards and have paved the way for an almost seamless implementation of MIDI on today's PC's. Add the small file size and fast load time, and there's nothing really ugly about it.

MIDI Interactivity
MIDI can help to set the mood, to steal the silence away from online interactions. To check out an example of how MIDI can create an atmosphere online, click on the ghost.  If you have MIDI capability you shouldn't have to wait long to enjoy the show (and the load time will be in seconds, not in minutes like the interinactive experience on the Sounding Off page). There are also other unique applications of MIDI which involve creativity and interaction (Rubin, 1995). Laurie Spiegel's "Music Mouse" creates original music based on how the mouse is moved. Soundtrek's "The Jammer", is another example of a spontaneous song generator. These programs touch upon the power and interactive creativity still yet to be tapped using MIDI. In fact, one musician has pushed MIDI over the edge (and possibly into the future) with a development called RMF, or the Rich Music Format. More on that later.

Still Hungry?
Explore the melodious, musical, mediated land of bytes and nibbles at the following sites:
Find - Locate songs with this MIDI Explorer search engine. Quick, easy, and free!
Guide - The Mining Company's guide to MIDI and link to MIDI file collections.
Ring - Access point to hundreds of collections of MIDI files on the Web.
Tools - Harmony Central's guide to putting MIDI on the web, tools and resources.
Tutorial - Everything you always wanted to know about MIDI (but were afraid to ask).