MIDI Explained

Roland Canada Music Ltd.

Did you know that the church has a long history of being a proving ground for new technology? It is true. Let’s take the organ as an example. It faced huge opposition in it’s day, so much so it was dubbed the “devil’s pipes”. As we all know, it has become a veritable icon in many of our churches today.

As our culture changes, we now are faced with similar struggles. We live in an ever changing world where it seems there is always a new way, a new tool or new technology available to help us minister more effectively. So, how do we overcome that fear of the unknown and actually put to use these wonderful new tools?

I want to talk to you today about one specific tool. It has been around since 1981 but only recently has the church caught on to its incredible potential. It is called MIDI. I am sure you have probably heard of it but how does it work and how would we use it? Well in the next few paragraphs, I am going to show you how you can have incredibly competent worship regardless of your church’s size and how you can actually train and disciple your own worship leaders. Let’s find out.

What is MIDI?

MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. I am sure the first half is self- explanatory. Musical information can be stored or transmitted as digital data just like any other form of computer information. This data is stored by using a series of 0’s & 1’s. Finally, if I interface with you I am talking directly to you. Therefore, MIDI is the way musical instruments communicate digitally with one another. That does not sound so difficult does it.

First, I should mention is what MIDI is not. MIDI is not a noun. You cannot possess it. MIDI is an adjective. You would not say I need a MIDI. You would say I need a MIDI keyboard or MIDI software.

So, just how does MIDI work? MIDI transmits all the events of a performance such as what note is played; how hard the note was played; the duration in time the note was played. If the sustain pedal was depressed in the performance that would be an event. Releasing the depressed pedal is another event etc. However, MIDI does not transmit the actual audio of the sound played. You are able to capture this MIDI data by using what is known as a MIDI sequencer. A sequencer allows you to record the performance events in the actual order or sequence that they were performed. When MIDI information is recorded and then played back, the performance is actually being re-performed using all the performance data that was played.

Why is this significant?

Have you ever recorded a song on a tape recorder and were almost finished when you made a mistake? Well what do you have to do then? That’s right. You had to re-record the whole performance. What if you finished recording and then wanted the song in a different key, with a different instrument, or at a different tempo? Yes, in all these cases you would have to record all over again. Not if you were using MIDI. If you missed a note or played a wrong one you could just change the event that was wrong. Remember it is not sound. It is data. Changing the key or the instrument is also one event away. This is not to mention that with the use of the data in MIDI software you can even print out full musical scores of your performance.

Now that we have a general idea of what MIDI is and how much time it could save you, let us look at some very practical applications as it pertains to church worship.

There are three dynamics found in a worship musician. The first is the dynamic of someone who can play competently. The second is the dynamic of someone who can play competently in front of other people. The third is the dynamic of someone who can play competently with other people. The unfortunate thing is that generally, most church musicians experience is only based in dynamic one and to a lesser extent two. They may have taken music lessons to learn how to play technically and may have even performed in a few recitals. It is the third dynamic where the most vital lessons need to be learned and, believe it, or not MIDI holds one the best and most flexible tools we can utilize for worship. The tool is called the Standard MIDI File or SMF.

We talked a little earlier about sequencers and the ability to record and playback performance data. Now is where we see just how powerful this tool can be in your very own hands.

Let’s assume you are a very small church with no musicians. You could create or purchase MIDI files and plug them into a MIDI file player such as the Roland MT-90s. Put the disk in the disk drive, press play and you have wonderful, quality music. Unlike tape or CD music, with MIDI data, you have the ability to speed the song up, slow it down, add instruments, subtract instruments; you are in complete control of the data. If you had a guitar player who wanted to play, you could mute that part from the song and have them play along live. As more musicians become involved, this complete system grows with you.

For churches that are more progressive, or have, many more musicians there are many other opportunities to use this technology. You may not want to be bound to a particular MIDI file arrangement and may want to sing a chorus over and over again or do medleys and other creative things. A number of years ago Roland developed RPS, Realtime Phrase sequencer. A number of Roland’s keyboards like the Fantom use this technology. Now, you can take the intro of a song, from a MIDI file, save it as a pattern and assign it to a key on your keyboard. You can do the same with the verse, chorus, bridge, etc. and assign each of them to different keys. So, if you want to sing the chorus again, just press that key again.

The most effective way to use this technology is in developing and training new musicians. Any aspiring worship musician has the ability to play and interact with the whole band, in whatever key or tempo for whatever style of worship music all by utilizing MIDI technology. Think about how much more difficult it would be to arrange for a whole band to come out to a location and rehearse to give the experience of playing with the whole band.

I have used MIDI for many years to develop my worship teams. Not only is it very effective, but, it creates a new and fresh enthusiasm to the learning process. As you can see, the church continues to be a proving ground for new worship technology.