[sdiy] MIDI isn't musical : Flame bait?

[Magnus Danielson]

From: Don Tillman <don at till.com>
Subject: Re: [sdiy] MIDI isn't musical : Flame bait?
Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 10:17:04 -0800

>    Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 11:17:36 +0000
>    From: David Hughes <dhughes at globalnet.co.uk>
> 
>    Don Tillman <don at till.com> wrote :
>    > Because MIDI is unmusical.  
> 
>    Oh, this is complete rubbish! This must be flame bait! 
>    Don, are you *really* serious?
> 
> Dead serious.  
> 
> Midi is a very limited protocol and just not capable of representing
> most musical events; say, the intro to Jimi Hendrix' "Voodoo Chile"
> or a John Coltrane sax solo. 
> 
> "That's not fair, MIDI is intended for keyboard-oriented music."
> 
> Same thing with keyboards.  MIDI's limited command set and gross
> timing distortion are not capable of conveying the individuality, the
> personality, the touch or the inspiration of a given keyboard or a
> given player.  If your goal is a musical instrument this stuff is
> important.
> 
> How's that for a flame?

Just to trow carosine on the fire...

I agree that MIDI is a very limited protocol. But I also go along and
say that it is too limited for keyboard oriented music too.

If we look back at the very early MIDI stuff, then it was about
adequate, but since then people poored in more and more stuff into it,
more than it was originally designed for. There is the 7-bit headache,
there is lots of equipment specific interpretation, the slow speed,
the lack of good timing, the lack of good topology support (MIDI works
well with one sender multiple receivers, and when you have
interactivity over MIDI it hurts). There is also no isolation of
traffic, which gives uncertainties in timings.

There are many flaws in MIDI, it's just basic facts. I can't see that
there is a flame-bait in that.

Let me also assure you that I have no confidence that the industry is
able to come up with a working replacement. They have failed up till
now, and I have no confidence in that they will address all the
necessary aspects.

I've looked at the possibility of a MIDI-replacement, and there is
many pot-holes in that road.

Cheers,
Magnus