The Development of the MIDI Communications Protocol
Peter Manning · Oxford University Press eBooks · 2004
The development of MIDI as an industry standard communications protocol for the control of synthesizers fundamentally changed the working environment for the commercial sector. MIDI is a serial communications protocol, whereby all information is channeled into a single stream of bits, transmitted between devices via a single data cable. There are some important electrical differences between a MIDI system and the more traditional serial communications systems used extensively by the computing industry from the earliest days. Essentially, the former senses interruptions in current flow, whereas the latter usually detects voltage pulses. Conversion from one mode of operation to the other fortunately requires little more than a simple electronic circuit, and it thus has proved relatively straightforward to design basic MIDI interfaces that will work directly with computers.