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MIDI 2.0 Is Close To Becoming Real!


Jim Fogle

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Thankyou 'TheSteven',

Very informative , uplifting and inspiring information.

You are obviously Midi  passionate.

So am I.

I have been loosely following the Midi evolution.

My wife and I are a duo....and use Midi controlled backing .

Midi Weapon of Choice - 'Roland SD50'.

I am 'Under the Hood'  continually between gigs, with my 'Cakewalk toolbox'..............trying to squeeze out just a little more from

that Trumpet ,that Cow Bell Or that Crash Cymbal.

Isn't this brilliant guys !!

To have a place where you can discuss MIDI , not just from a highly technical development perspective ..BUT...also from an end user /muso/ music production

viewpoint.

This forum & this thread is fair reason as to  why 'Cakewalk'  has , from the early days,  maintained a significant position with Musicians and other Music producers within the  DAW world.

MIDI is so misunderstood in the broader community of aspiring .......shall we say..............'Music Vocationally Interested Parties'.

How I cringe ( and I guess you too ) when I see comments like.......( and we've all seen them )............. eg: "Midi sounds so Fake,False,Futile.....Awful. I think I'd rather get properly recorded backing tracks" !

Well done TheSteven :)

I am now 'Following You' .

Have high expectations.................No pressure LOL

Cheers ....................Baktrak

 

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Will this make Bank/Patch changes easier for old KB's like mine that don't use standard B/P architecture? Sonar's INS files are life savers for this. Studio One has to be confangled a bit for it to work but some DAW's are totally clueless and can't do it.

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27 minutes ago, James Argo said:

I hope they keep using the old 5 din MIDI connector.. I'm sure many of use still use synth / sound modules with that MIDI connector (non USB).

I think this is still the standard, but they've also come out for a standard wiring of 3.5mm TRS jacks for MIDI (maybe 2.5mm too).

But an adapter would be simple enough to get.

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On 1/21/2019 at 2:30 PM, msmcleod said:

Isn't General MIDI 2 nearly 20 years old now? I think the spec came out in 1999.

MIDI 2.0 is a different beast, and looks pretty cool.

I especially like the MIDI CI part, where controllers can actually tell your DAW what their capabilities are.

Ooo this sounds promising!!!   But this would also require a Daw software provider to take advantage of the feature.  Plug for CbB to show controller support some love!

Edited by kzmaier
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I'm interested in MIDI 2. I heard two way communications mentioned, and I wonder how that will work out. I don't have two way communications with my sax, drums, bass, guitar, flute, wind synthesizer, keyboard synth, or voice, and can't help wondering  what benefit 2 way communication will provide me. Will it be fantastic, a usable tool, or meh? Time will tell, and I'll stay tuned for details.

Other than perhaps a new form of synthesis, I have pretty much all I need in MIDI sound modules (notice I said need and not want). I hope MIDI 2 is so exciting that I just have to part with some of my hard earned cash.

And as I said before, I'm very glad backward compatibility was a prime concern.

Insights and incites by Notes

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From Wikipedia

History

Development

 

In the early 1980s, there was no standardized means of synchronizing electronic musical instruments manufactured by different companies.[5] Manufacturers had their own proprietary standards to synchronize instruments, such as CV/gate and Digital Control Bus (DCB).[6]

Roland founder Ikutaro Kakehashi felt the lack of standardization was limiting the growth of the electronic music industry.[6] In June 1981, he proposed developing a standard to Oberheim Electronics founder Tom Oberheim,[5] who had developed his own propriety interface, the Oberheim System.[7] Kakehashi felt the system was too cumbersome, and spoke to Sequential Circuits president Dave Smith about creating a simpler, cheaper alternative.[7] While Smith discussed the concept with American companies, Kakehashi discussed it with Japanese companies Yamaha, Korg and Kawai.[5] Representatives from all companies met to discuss the idea in October.[5]

Using Roland's DCB as a basis,[6] Smith and Sequential Circuits engineer Chet Wood devised a universal synthesizer interface to allow communication between equipment from different manufacturers. Smith proposed this standard at the Audio Engineering Society show in November 1981.[2]:4 The standard was discussed and modified by representatives of Roland, Yamaha, Korg, Kawai, and Sequential Circuits.[5][8]:20 Kakehashi favored the name Universal Musical Interface (UMI), pronounced you-me,[7] but Smith felt this was "a little corny".[9] However, he liked the use of "instrument" instead of "synthesizer", and proposed the name Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI).[9][2]:4

Moog Music founder Robert Moog announced MIDI in the October 1982 issue of Keyboard.[10]:276 At the 1983 Winter NAMM Show, Smith demonstrated a MIDI connection between Prophet 600 and Roland JP-6 synthesizers. The MIDI specification was published in August 1983.[5] The MIDI standard was unveiled by Kakehashi and Smith, who received Technical Grammy Awards in 2013 for their work.[11][12][13]

The first MIDI synthesizers were the Roland Jupiter-6 and the Prophet 600, both released in 1982. 1983 saw the release of the first MIDI drum machine, the Roland TR-909,[14][15] and the first MIDI sequencer, the Roland MSQ-700.[16] The first computers to support MIDI were the NEC PC-88 and PC-98 in 1982,[17] and the MSX (Yamaha CX5M)[18] released in 1983.[19]

 

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And the only mistake they made was that 5 pin DIN connector.

Obviously they were in-house people and not used to rolling a rack to one-nighter gigs, where the non-locking DIN connectors have a habit of falling out of their sockets.

A locking connector with a mechanism like a XLR latch would have been better.

But I'm a big fan of MIDI and the cables don't unplug themselves that often. On the other hand, they decide to be loose when there is no room to take the back off the rack 😀

I run with 4 sound modules in my rack. Two Yamaha VL70m's, One Roland XV-5050 and one Roland Sound Canvas. I am truly thankful for being able to fit a few thousand sounds into 3 rack spaces (actually 2.5).

Insights and incites by Notes

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11 hours ago, Notes_Norton said:

And the only mistake they made was that 5 pin DIN connector.

Obviously they were in-house people and not used to rolling a rack to one-nighter gigs, where the non-locking DIN connectors have a habit of falling out of their sockets.

A locking connector with a mechanism like a XLR latch would have been better.

But I'm a big fan of MIDI and the cables don't unplug themselves that often. On the other hand, they decide to be loose when there is no room to take the back off the rack 😀

I run with 4 sound modules in my rack. Two Yamaha VL70m's, One Roland XV-5050 and one Roland Sound Canvas. I am truly thankful for being able to fit a few thousand sounds into 3 rack spaces (actually 2.5).

Insights and incites by Notes 

They could upgrade it to something smaller and with lock. I know we don’t need 5 pin to transmit a digital signal like MIDI, but you could have 2 just for power.  then it would be a 4-part cable. It is many connectors that has this today. The MIDI plug was not a new plug. I had a Tandberg amp with this as a main audio signal input. Plugs with 4 pinns we  could use:

-Pin-Male-Speaker-Cable-Connector.jpg

s-l1000.jpg

Or just a USB cable that uses this protocol for MIDI? And you use todays MIDI interfaces to older synths?

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I think they chose the 5 pin DIN because it was a common off-the-shelf connector.

I'm glad it hasn't changed though, I have many different ended USB cables and adapters and all I need is one MIDI type cable. Like a guitar cable and unlike XLR I'm glad it doesn't matter which way it plugs in - it's reversible - so they did a lot of things right. I just wish they wouldn't occasionally fall out when moving gear.

For me they don't fall out often enough to be a major PITA, but infrequently enough to be a nit. I do one-nighters for a living.

Whenever I have to open the back of the rack, I habitually push all the MIDI cables in whether they need it or not.

My WX5 Wind MIDI controller has a  small dedicated MIDI plus power cable that locks, which is a good thing because it hangs off the WX5 and could easily get unplugged in the middle of a solo, which would be embarrassing.

I don't need my gear to make mistakes for me, I can do that by myself :)

Insights and incites by Notes

 

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Gotta admit, I don't get the Tinder reference. But I have heard the name.

IMO the reason why MIDI hasn't evolved sooner is that the original specs were very well thought out with room to grow, including some continuous controllers to be used for specific synths and/or manufacturers.

There is a lot of musical expression available with the MIDI 1 specs, that is if the synthesizer can utilize them. Two way communication with the synth seems to be the logical step forward, although I don't know what it will be used for. But thats the limits of my own imagination.

I'm curious to see what applications will use two way communications. A new world of expression might open up.

Insights and incites by Notes

 

Edited by Notes_Norton
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On 1/30/2019 at 9:17 PM, Notes_Norton said:

Gotta admit, I don't get the Tinder reference. But I have heard the name.

IMO the reason why MIDI hasn't evolved sooner is that the original specs were very well thought out with room to grow, including some continuous controllers to be used for specific synths and/or manufacturers.

There is a lot of musical expression available with the MIDI 1 specs, that is if the synthesizer can utilize them. Two way communication with the synth seems to be the logical step forward, although I don't know what it will be used for. But thats the limits of my own imagination.

I'm curious to see what applications will use two way communications. A new world of expression might open up.

Insights and incites by Notes

 

I don’t think the first use for two way communication will be used by synths, but I think it will be MIDI keyboards with screens like the Native Instruments I have and others, with non-analog drawers (motorized or not) and to show what the synth on the other end is doing. And in the same line controllers.

Now you have a standard everyone “must” fallow…

Edited by ØSkald
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