MIDI and Electronic Music Technology
CHAPTER 9 MIDI and Electronic Music Technology Today, professional and nonprofessional musicians are using the language of the Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) to perform an expanding range of music and automation tasks within audio production, audio for video, film post, stage production, etc. This industry-wide acceptance can, in large part, be attributed to the cost effectiveness, power and general speed of MIDI production. Once a MIDI instrument or device comes into the production picture, there’s often less need (if any at all) to hire outside musicians for a project. This alluring factor allows a musician to compose, edit and arrange a piece in an electronic music environment that’s extremely flexible. By this, I’m not saying that MIDI replaces—or should replace—the need for acoustic instruments, microphones and the traditional performance setting. In fact, it’s a powerful production tool that assists countless musicians in creating music and audio productions in ways that are innovative and highly personal. In short, MIDI is all about control, repeatability, flexibility, cost-effective production power and fun. The affordable potential for future expansion and increased control over an integrated production system has spawned the growth of a production industry that allows an individual to cost effectively realize a full-scale sound production, not only in his or her own lifetime … but in a relatively short time. For example, much of modern-day film music owes its very existence to MIDI. Before this technology, composers were forced to create without the benefits of hearing their composition or by creating a reduction score that could only be played on a piano or small ensemble (due to the cost and politics of hiring an orchestra).
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