What does MIDI stand for?

MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface, a standard that lets electronic musical instruments, computers, and audio equipment exchange performance data.

MIDI does not normally transmit recorded sound. Instead, it sends instructions such as which note was played, how hard it was pressed, how long it lasted, and which instrument or channel should respond. A MIDI keyboard can therefore control a synthesizer, drum machine, sampler, or software instrument.

The standard emerged in the early 1980s, when manufacturers used incompatible systems to connect synthesizers. Roland president Ikutaro Kakehashi and Sequential Circuits president Dave Smith helped promote a universal approach. The name MIDI was proposed in 1982, and compatible instruments were publicly demonstrated at the 1983 Winter NAMM Show.

A common mix-up is confusing MIDI data with audio. A MIDI file can be very small because it stores musical instructions rather than sound waves. The same MIDI performance can consequently trigger a piano, violin, drum kit, or entirely synthetic sound, depending on the receiving device.