MIDI Turns 30, Gets A Grammy

Written by Dan White on January 9th, 2013 11 Comments

The major tech blogs have been covering this one pretty heavily, but we decided it was absolutely worth a nod from our community as well. The Musical Instrument Digital Interface specification that makes communication between instruments and computers possible is turning 30 years old this month, having debuted at the 1983 Winter NAMM show.

The creators of MIDI are even getting their own major award credit in the industry this year. Dave Smith (then at Sequential Circuits, but now running Dave Smith Instruments) and Ikutaro Kakehashi (founder and engineer at Roland) will each be hosting a Technical Grammy for their contribution towards revolutionizing the musical instrument industry. Congratulations due for both of them!

Finally, Roland has put together this video for MIDI’s birthday summarizing the history and the accomplishments – keep your eyes peeled and you’ll notice that we even made it into the list of MIDI manufacturers!

[via Engadget]

Filed Under | Breaking News, News, News + Culture
Tags | dave smith instruments, grammy, midi, musical instrument digital interface, roland

Anonymous

I like to think of this as the 15th consecutive year that the MIDI Manufacturer’s Group have been unable to agree on the MIDI 2.0 specification.
Anonymous

And here’s the minutes of the investigation group on MIDI-2 from 1998: http://www.projectbarbq.com/bbq98/bbq98r5.htm
http://www.facebook.com/arielsegatto Ariel Segatto

Really??? The 2 other proposed names for the MIDI 2 are SEXPOT and CRAP??? Are they serious?
http://twitter.com/Ez0lv Ez0lv

also BAR-B-Q…
chill2kill

That combination mark (logo) looks… suspect.
http://www.djtechtools.com/2013/01/30/namm-2013-hands-on-with-synthesizers-from-moog-dsi-and-eowave/ DJ TechTools | NAMM 2013: Hands On With Synthesizers From Moog, DSI, and Eowave

[...] has to offer – an appropriate introduction to the market by one of the creators of MIDI on its 30th birthday_kmq.push(["trackClickOnOutboundLink","link_510c4579afece","Article link clicked",{"Title":"its 30th [...]
http://www.djtlmtv.com/2013/03/11/dave-smith-roger-linn-interview/ djTLMtvDave Smith & Roger Linn Interview with Ean Golden – djTLMtv

[...] Read more here Spread the word!More [...]
http://www.djtechtools.com/2013/03/10/interview-a-conversation-with-dave-smith-and-roger-linn/ Interview: A Conversation With Dave Smith and Roger Linn | DJ TechTools

[...] MIDI Turns 30, Wins A Grammy | DJTT [...]
http://www.facebook.com/orvelin.valle Orvelin Valle

LOL… If you turn it 30 degrees clockwise it looks like it swallowed a viagra pill.
http://www.facebook.com/orvelin.valle Orvelin Valle

Hi guys, thanks for using our MIDI video. Are you guys taking any guest writers?
http://stereoklang.se/blog/dave-smith-roger-linn-interview Dave Smith & Roger Linn Interview : Steelberry Clones

[...] Ean Golden sat down with electronic music technology pioneers Dave Smith and Roger Linn for a special in depth interview focused on analog hardware and its uses for making compelling electronic music. This interview was shot in January – Dave Smith has since been awarded with a Grammy, and MIDI turned thirty! Read more here: http://www.djtechtools.com/2013/01/09… [...]