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MIDI 2.0 Specs Now Available for Download


TheSteven

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MIDI 2.0 Specs Now Available for Download

Hi ,

– Complete specifications for the much-anticipated update to MIDI 1.0 are now available to the public –

MIDI 2.0 enhances virtually all aspects of the original MIDI 1.0 spec, which revolutionized the world of technology and the arts when it was introduced in 1983. Unlike the original spec, which consisted of a transmitter talking to a receiver, the new specification now enables two-way communication between MIDI devices. This allows for features like automatic setup, based on one device querying another, obtaining a response, and configuring itself. This also ensures backward compatibility. If a MIDI 2.0 device can’t carry on a two-way conversation, it recognizes that it’s talking to a MIDI 1.0 device, and adjusts its communications accordingly.

Aside from improving ease of use and workflow, MIDI 2.0 delivers more nuanced expressiveness for electronic instruments. It’s now possible to convey the same kind of subtle expression normally associated with acoustic instruments, thanks to higher-resolution dynamics and control data, vastly extended controller options (including per-note controllers for exceptional articulation), and simplified controller assignments.

The complete set of five core MIDI 2.0 specifications, as ratified at the MMA (MIDI Manufacturers Association) meeting during the Winter NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) convention in Anaheim, California, is now available for download to developers and the general public. To obtain the set of specifications, simply join The MIDI Association, the global community of people who work, play, and create with MIDI.

Anyone can sign up for a no-obligation, free membership at https://www.midi.org/midi-signup.

Companies that would like to become MMA members to access the MMA’s software and tools for MIDI 2.0 development can now apply online here.

With over 23,000 members in 113 countries, TMA and its associated website have become the epicenter for everything relating to MIDI, including news, applications, articles and tutorials, downloads of the MIDI specification, discussion forums, and more.

Gene Joly, the MMA’s current President, states "We are happy to provide access to the complete MIDI 2.0 specifications to everyone, and believe MIDI 2.0 will unleash a level of innovation in music and the arts we haven’t seen since MIDI 1.0 changed the world. All of us are excited about what MIDI 2.0 will bring to music and the arts."

The following specifications are now available.

M2-100-U v1.0 MIDI 2.0 Specification Overview
M2-101-UM v1.1 MIDI-CI Specification
M2-102-U v1.0 Common Rules for MIDI-CI Profiles
M2-103-UM v1.0 Common Rules for MIDI-CI PE
M2-104-UM v1.0 UMP and MIDI 2.0 Protocol Specification

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Read About MIDI 2.0

 

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MIDI Manufacturers Association, 6600 Orangethorpe Ave, Buena Park, California 90620, United States
 

 

Edited by TheSteven
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The MIDI 1.0 specification was adapted in 1983.  Initially, the MIDI 1.0 specification was only available to the public for a $60 US fee.  The Midi Manufacturers Association or MMA charged the fee to cover the cost of duplicating, collating and mailing the specification.  In 2016 the MMA began providing the MIDI 1.0 specification as a downloadable pdf file .  The fee was finally dropped.

This time the MIDI 2.0 specification was released in January, 2020 and is available to members as a 4.6 MB zip file download one month later.  Membership is free to anyone with an email address.  That's progress!

To me the interesting information right now is not that the specification is available as a download but that a committee is actively working on the transport specification for MIDI 2.0 data packets over USB.  The USB cable connection is the most common method of carrying MIDI between devices.  Getting that specification finalized and published will open the door for both MIDI 1 and MIDI 2 data messages to be moved between devices.

Edited by Jim Fogle
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