It was invented in the 1980s and is a protocol that allows computers and electronic musical instruments to communicate with each other.
So, what is MIDI and how you can use these files? Let’s break it down and you’ll see that it’s much easier to understand than you think.įirst of all, MIDI is an abbreviation for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. On the other hand, when recording a MIDI track, you are recording MIDI data. Thus, when recording an audio track, you are recording the sound.
Instead, MIDI contains the information of the MIDI messages that are generated by your electronic musical instrument when you are playing it. The principal difference between audio and MIDI data is that audio consists of information on sound, like frequencies and amplitude, while MIDI data doesn’t. If you are a musician and are going to make recordings, a good starting point is to understand the difference between audio and MIDI formats.