Without being connected to something that can receive the MIDI signals and convert the digital language into an audible sound. So the important thing to understand is that the controllers (ignoring some rare exceptions) don’t produce any sounds themselves. Whereas traditional 5 pin MIDI cables can only send the signal in one direction.įor that reason, a midi controller doesn’t have to be a keyboard (although many of them are) it can be a series of pads or even a drum machine. USB has the advantage of being able to send MIDI signals in both directions, too and from the device. But nowadays MIDI can be transferred via USB. The signal was traditionally sent via a 5-pin MIDI cable. Sending digital signals to either a computer or to other musical devices than have MIDI inputs. The device simply acts as just that a ‘remote’. Which I think makes the function clearer.
It is a data language, that in music, can specify anything from the note being played to the volume of the note.Ī word that is sometimes used interchangeably with ‘MIDI controller’ is ‘MIDI remote’. MIDI stands for ‘Musical Instrument Digital Interface’ and was created back in the 1980s so there was a standard way for musical instruments to communicate with each other. What is the difference between a synthesizer and a midi controller?
