Standard MIDI files

MIDI (/ˈmɪdi/; short for Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a , digital interface and electrical connectors and allows a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers and other related music and audio devices to connect and communicate with one another. A single MIDI link can carry up to sixteen channels of information, each of which can be routed to a separate device.

MIDI carries event messages that specify notation, pitch and velocity (loudness or softness), control signals for parameters such as volume, vibrato, audio panning from left to right, cues in theatre, and clock signals that set and synchronize tempo between multiple devices. These messages are sent via a MIDI cable to other devices where they control sound generation and other features. A simple example of a MIDI setup is the use of a MIDI controller such as an electronic musical keyboard to trigger sounds created by a sound module, which is in turn plugged into a keyboard amplifier and speaker. This MIDI data can also be recorded into a hardware or software device called a sequencer, which can be used to edit the data and to play it back at a later time.

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