A critical overview

Abstract

The talk will attempt to characterize the standardized Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) from several directions: (1) what it is physically; (2) the control paradigm it implements; (3) the implications of this paradigm for two specific categories of control: (a) performance capture, and (b) synthesizer control; (4) conclusions regarding its usefulness for the variety of different tasks for which it could find application. A description of ways MIDI has been incorporated in the computer music workstation project of the Computer Audio Research Laboratory will be included.