they're calling it the biggest advancement in music technology in
decades. it's MIDI 2.0. so what does it mean for
you? well I don't have the answer to every question but there are a few
things we know. and with innovative companies ready to get their hands on it,
who knows what will come? let's explore what MIDI 2.0 means - what we know so far.
if you're new around here, I'm Sanjay C. if you like to geek out on music gear
like I do. consider subscribing. I have lots of tutorials and gear reviews on my
channel. all right let's talk MIDI 2.0. first. a few interesting facts. MIDI 1.0
was established in 1983 by a few music companies including Sequential Circuits,
Oberheim, and Roland who brought Yamaha Korg, Moog and others to the table to
agree on a standard for digital communications between instruments.
interestingly enough, MIDI originated with a paper by Dave Smith, the founder
of Sequential Circuits, makers of the Prophet 6. MIDI allows electronic
musical instruments and computers to communicate different things like the
pressing of a note, pitch bend, pedal presses, and many other control
changes. while original MIDI traveled through this cable,
more recently instruments are communicating MIDI over USB. the new MIDI
2.0 was agreed upon with those original big companies as well as others like
Native Instruments and Ableton at NAMM just a few weeks ago. so what's coming in
MIDI 2.0? in a nutshell, more expression, easier setup, and intuitive music-making
between device.s first and most exciting to me is two-way MIDI messages. MIDI 2.0
devices can talk to each other to understand each other's capabilities and
then configure themselves automatically to make the best use of
knobs and faders. and who knows what else? Say goodbye MIDI controller setup!
profile configurations means that connecting and mapping your controller
to any DAW will be automatic. I was thinking, what if that could be taken a
step further? giving each plug-in customized controls on your keyboard!
load up Serum. Hey even load up a certain preset and your MIDI controller
configures itself to give you the best control. if all this still sounds
complicated to you, wait for MIDI 2.0 devices to start coming out. I have a
feeling it will make computer music even more accessible to the masses. just
simpler to connect and play. so what else will MIDI 2.0 bring? well everything is
higher resolution. this means that your instrument will understand finer nuances
of your touch with more accuracy. at the moment our keyboards can send values
ranging from 0 to 127. that isn't a lot when you
think of how many types of pressure you can put on a key. MIDI 2.0 allows values
ranging from zero to 65,000! and with 32-bit devices, that'll be a lot more. and
it will contain time data as well. will this solve the latency issue? next up, for
you hardware synth enthusiasts, MIDI 2.0 will bring property exchange. this means
that your hardware synth can talk to your DAW and your DAW will know everything
about your hardware synth. imagine loading up a software interface that
matches your hardware synth. tweaking your sounds and saving your project on
your computer would be so much easier. and then you can load up your song the
next day and your DAW, your computer, tells your hardware synth exactly where
you left off. dream come true! you know some of this sounds like features we
should have had years ago. well at least it's coming soon. but what is soon? well
Roland was the first to introduce a MIDI 2.0 keyboard, the A88 MK2, at
NAMM this year. when I tried it out, it didn't do anything special yet. we may start
seeing some devices that do interesting things by the end of this year. I hope to
visit next year and see it taking off. you'll hear about it first right here on my
channel. I love this stuff! I'll keep you posted on new developments and products
as they come out and I'll try to get my hands on the latest MIDI 2.0 gear as
soon as it's announced. in the meantime, keep making the music you love with the
gear you've already got. and I'll see you guys later.