What is MIDI and how to use it ??

[J0L0]

Hi there,

I am very interessted in the A/V spectrum... I am new to the hole thing.. (but learning fast).

At this moment I am researching all parts of the A/V spectrum.. things like Software, Hardware and so forth... you know.. the Basic's

At this moment in time I am looking at the numerous way's and usses of MIDI...

But can't find very good (and understandable) information om the subject..

I was wondering if anyone would like to enlighten me and especialy from the VJ's perspective...


Thanks,


Jonathan

[komart663]

long time ago was the analogic ,and one day came the midi with it you can rcord what you play with your midi keyboard ( or synth ) on a sequencer ,retouch it and then the sequencer give the orders to the keyboard,maybe someone could explain better than me but that's the way it works : one machine sends a message to an other and they can communicate ,for the vj's ,the interest is that software becomes hardware ,with some softs ( not all ) ,you can assign the clips loaders ,effects .. to a midi event that you can play on your hardware : midi controller ,sequencer ,keyboard ,sampler ...if you want more info about midi solutions ,check :http://www.synthzone.com you will find lots of infos ,hardware ...
the picture shows a sequencer that will send what you recorder to your soft with a lot of faders and buttons it may be a good machine !

[eXhale]

yep MIDI is a bit like an advanced keyboard, with more buttons and more settings.

Edit: OK that's a simple explaination, actually MIDI is the standard which softwares/hardware use to communicate.

[elbows]

When you start getting deeper into the specifics of midi, this glossary may help:

http://www.fortunecity.com/emachines/e11/86/midiglos.html

As mentioned by others, a typical example of a vj using midi might be to have a midi keyboard hooked up to trigger different video clips & effects by pressing different keys. Another would be to control different parameters of the show using a midi hardware device which has sliders or knobs. For example adjusting the brightness of the image with a knob in realtime or scratching a video back and forth using a slider.

Midi can also be used via software alone - for example you could use a musical sequencer software package to send midi controller data to a vj app to control parameters via a prerecorded sequence, though this will be less relevant to vj's due to the live performance aspect of things.

Most soundcards have some sort of midi capability built in, if there are no specific midi ports then usually the joystick port also duobles as a midi interface when used with the right cable.

Midi is a rather mature technology now, probably older than most of the other specifications which make up our PC's. Its long and rich background in the field of music means theres a lot of software and hardware out there which can easily be matched up with quite a large number of VJ apps which support midi input :)

[0x990000]

MIDI is basically a standard for controlling music-producing devices.
however, it's grown way beyond its original use.
check out http://infusionsystems.com, for example.
how to use it? that depends a lot on what you want to control with it.
you're only limited by your imagination.
one way is to get some kind of MIDI controller and a MIDI-to-USB converter, then plug that into your laptop and have some software receive the MIDI signals for controlling video. an off-the-shelf application like VDMX for instance (http://vidvox.net), accepts MIDI.
see also:
MAX/MSP/Jitter (http://cycling74.com)
pure-data (http://pd.iem.at)
gem (http://GEM.iem.at)
i hope that helps...
-0x990000

[BrainStove]

MIDI = Musical Instruments Digital Interface

Yeah! just take the advice of the previous posts in here and check also this threads:
1.- > http://www.vjforums.com/showthread.php?threadid=403
2.- > http://www.vjforums.com/showthread.php?threadid=394
And of course check the VJC reviews area too.

Now... How interesting could be for those of us best skilled with different musical instruments than keyboards? (i.e. Guitar, Sax, Flute, etc.)
On the hardware department: Do you know this little Yamaha UW500 thing? http://www.yamahasynth.com/pro/uw500/intr1.html
On the software department: http://www.lateralsol.com/index.htm and http://www.digital-ear.com/
I?ve used that tools to control SoftSynths with good results, but dunno how useful could be to control VJ apps. Just test them if you are darefreak enough... even I never used any MIDI gear in my VJ gigs, so it?s up to you.

P.S. I know the best choice some PROs are using as a VJ apps MIDI controller device is; the Peavey StudioMix check VJC review here: http://www.vjcentral.com/show/1081
This is the MIDI device chosen by the Derivative TouchDesigner Team, for example.

[vjpixylight]

I wouldn't say the best, The Derivative guys also use the Peavey 1600, because of it's 16 channel capability...
also the Oxygen 8 midi controller keyboard
http://www.vjcentral.com/hardware/show/817
has USB connections to control midi functions in the VJ apps.