Peavey DPM V3 Owner's Manual page 80

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Chapter 7 — MIDI Supplement

(This chapter is adapted with permission from Power Sequencing with Master Tracks

and 1989 respectively by AMSCO Publications.)

7.1 MIDI BASICS

Most current electronic instruments, including the DPM V3, contain an internal com-

puter. Computers and music have been working together for decades, which is not

surprising considering music's mathematical basis (consider frequencies, harmonics,

vibrato rates, tunings, etc.). In the mid-70s, microcomputers became inexpensive

enough to be built into consumer-priced musical instruments. They were used for

everything from sound generation to storing parameters in memory for later recall.

In 1983, the MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) specification was introduced to

better exploit the computers inside these new musical instruments, primarily to ensure

compatibility with equipment from other manufacturers. MID! expresses musical events

(notes played, vibrato, dynamics, tempo, etc.) as a common "language" consisting of

standardized digital data. This data can be understood by MIDI-compatible computers

and computer-based musical instruments.

Before electronics, music was expressed exclusively as written symbols. By translating

musical parameters into digital data, MIDI can express not only the types of musical

events written into sheet music, but other parameters as well (such as amount of pitch

bend or degree of vibrato).

7.2 MIDI HARDWARE

MIDI-compatible devices usually include both MIDI in and MIDI out jacks, which ter-

minate in 5-pin "DIN" connectors. The MIDI out jack transmits MIDI data to another

MIDI device. As you play a MIDI controller such as a keyboard, data corresponding to

what you play exits the MIDI out jack. Example:

If you play middle C, the MIDI out

transmits a piece of data that says "middle C is down." If you release that key, the

MIDI out transmits another piece of data that says "middle C has been released." If

the keyboard responds to the dynamics of your playing, the note data will include

dynamics information, too. Moving the modulation wheels and pedals attached to

many synthesizers will also generate data associated with the wheel or pedal being

used.

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