Decoding MIDI with discrete logic

[Fraser, Colin J]

A UART will always be a superior method for converting MIDI to parallel
data.
UARTs typically run at a multiple of the incoming baud rate, and will sample
each bit of the signal multiple times.
This allows for better error detection, better recovery of the signal if it
suffers noise problems, and a wider tolerance for input baud rate
deviation.
A discrete logic shift register converter will be much more susceptible to
framing and noise induced errors than a UART.

Discrete logic is a nice idea for a design exercise, but not for a bit of
gear you want to rely on.
There are so many small cheap microcontrollers with built-in UARTs too. It
really is worth the effort for midi based projects.
You can program many small flash and eprom based micros with an inexpensive
adapter that plugs into a PC parallel port, and many support in-system
programming, so you just build the device with the processor in place, then
connect the PC interface to the board to download the code.
There is plenty of sample code around on the net, it just takes a bit of
searching.

Colin f