What is MIDI exactly?

MIDI is short for "Musical Instrument Digital Interface" and has been one of the most useful tools for electronic musicians throughout its 14 years of existence. It became very popular with composers, beginners and experts, and by now it is also used in school for musical education (like in our school, Cäcilienschule, Oldenburg, Germany).

This does not mean that MIDI is some kind of instrument, but it is a communication protocol that allows electronic musical instruments to interact with each other. With this method and a computer plus sound card and a so called "sequencer program", it is possible for just one person to create and lead a complete virtual orchestra, even if he or she never played a real instrument before.

Now composing music is not just for some people, everyone can do it. Midi is supported by most computer with sound card. The quality of the sound might be quite different though.

To get an impression how to compose a song this way, try our MOSAIC-Tool, you can create a song at your computer at home while you are on our webpages.

If your equipment supports midi, it should play this test file: fall.mid.
If this should fail, check your multimedia settings. Because hard- and software configurations differ widely, it might be a good idea to ask other experienced users.

Home