This bothers angers me:
>To implement MIDI-CI and MIDI 2.0, you need a manufacturers SysEx ID. A SysEx ID by itself is $250 a year<p>That would be a re-hash of the hobbyist USB VID/PID fiasco. MIDI synthesizers are one of the main non-activities which non-professional people have been doing. So many amateurs and educators whip up MIDI synthesizers in a few hours in a workshop or after work. And that is thanks to MIDI being a dirt-simple, unlicensed standard.<p>>You will also have access to the MMA Github which has code for MIDI 2.0 to MIDI 1.0 translation (and vis versa)
I feel MIDI is severely underutilized outside music. It's a simple, standard protocol that relays switches being turned on/off, and knobs being turned high or low. The only standard alternative that I know about is would be USB HID interface which has its limitations.<p>What are some cool uses of MIDI you have seen outside music-making?
I have just started to play around in the world of electronic music and have had my first real exposure to MIDI. I just want to say ... wow. Something like this is so rare. I have pieces of equipment from different decades that can talk to each other using a $2 cable and no computer in between.<p>As a programmer I'm used to walled gardens and competing standards. MIDI is a breath of fresh air. I hope whatever 2.0 brings can keep this spirit alive.
I once had a dream that every new synth, sampler or drum machine I brought into my studio would automatically recognize the local MIDI network, joined it and would pop up as a new device in my Cubase sequencer.<p>All wireless of course. Like Bluetooth but actually working. A man can dream.<p>PS: it would also stream multitrack audio over ASIO wireless and expose its inputs and outputs.
I for one expect that MIDI 2.0 helps to boost the RTP MIDI protocol adoption (over ethernet). It has much more speed, longer distances, less latency, proper packet loss recovery (which is not a problem on local networks) and overall much better hardware ecosystem.<p>Even on WiFi it is useful although latency is very jittery.<p>Disclaimer: I'm working on a RTP MIDI implementation for linux (<a href="https://github.com/davidmoreno/rtpmidid" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/davidmoreno/rtpmidid</a>)
As I read it, in brief, it adds much more resolution, and a introspection protocol using bidirectional communication which allows property exchange and profiles.<p>Both very welcome additions! Finally no stepping on CC and note velocity, and the DAW can really know about the synth / controller capabilities, as it knows already with VSTs.<p>And keeps MIDI 1.0 compatibility.
Midi 2 adds some much-needed features (per-note pitch bend, for instance), but what I expect to happen is that the major manufacturers are going to only implement the parts they care about.<p>I'd kind of like to see MIDI replaced outright with something built on a somewhat different (less piano-centric) abstraction; something more voice-oriented rather than note-oriented. Instead of having some number of fixed pitch notes that you turn on and off and settings that apply to all notes, you have voices that you can control independently (set volume, filter cutoff, control the envelope, disable and enable, and so on). You can do that now with the one-note-per-channel trick or MPE if it's supported, but it's kind of kludgy and only works with synths that are multitimbral to begin with.
> Property Exchange uses JSON inside of the System Exclusive messages.<p>For some reason this made me lol. The idea of cramming some JSON inside a SysEx seems crazy.<p>Hopefully the timing is actually improved in 2.0. Once you are past “hello world” getting midi gear to sync up has always been a nightmare.
I'm trying to understand the 'bi-directional' part. There used to be a idea of midi out & midi in. So does this mean you only need one cable connected now?
MIDI 2.0 looks like garbage and it barely features what Open Sound Control has been doing forever. I'm interested, but the demos here were made by people that don't make music and suck at hardware, software, blogging, and video presentation.<p>Whatever this is, I'm hard pressed to care.
> 16bit note velocity<p>For electronic drums I would of much prefered at least 24bit. Volume is by far and away a drum's most expressive dimension, so it will be limited by a 16bit velocity range. Adding velocity curves just masks the problem<p>Though of course 16bit is orders of magintude better than the current 8bit range
Not as fun to read, outside the music industry. Lack of consistent samples has been MIDI's major issues, and even in games these days, nobody uses it, sadly.