The MIDI Innovation Awards Articles Page
The 2025 MIDI Innovation Awards are now open
What are the MIDI Innovation Awards?
The MIDI Innovation Awards, established in 2021, celebrate groundbreaking advancements in MIDI technology. Organized collaboratively by The MIDI Association, NAMM, and Music Hackspace, the awards highlight innovative products and projects that utilize MIDI 1.0 and 2.0 in novel ways, emphasizing MIDI’s role in fostering musical creativity.
The awards are open to individuals, artists, and companies working with MIDI to develop innovative products or interactive experiences. Categories include:
- Commercial Hardware Products
- Commercial Software Products
- Prototypes and Non-Commercial Hardware Products
- Prototypes and Non-Commercial Software Products
- Artistic/Visual Projects or Installations
- NEW: Best MIDI 2.0 product (across all categories)
Winners gain opportunities to present their innovations on a global stage, with prizes such as exhibition spaces at major events like the NAMM Show, and Music China. They also receive support from The MIDI Association for developing MIDI 2.0 prototypes.
The MIDI Innovation Awards are also proud to work with partners including Sound On Sound, the world’s leading music technology magazine, contributing prizes and press coverage for the competition.
Timeline
- March 18th: Registrations open
- July 08th, 2025: Registrations close
- July 14th, 2025: Voting starts
- August 04th, 2025: Voting closes, jury deliberation starts
- August 08th, 2025: Finalists announced
- September 20th, 2025: Live show online – winners revealed
MIDI.Org Articles on The MIDI Innovation Awards
Schedule for 2025 MIDI Innovation Awards Updated
Just this week, we updated the schedule for the 2025 MIDI Innovation Awards to give more time to companies and individuals to prepare for this year’s competition. The 2025 MIDI Innovation Awards are now open, inviting creators worldwide to showcase their groundbreaking MIDI-based innovations. Established in 2021, this annual event is a collaboration between The…
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MIDI Innovation Awards Winner Masary Studios Update
On April 11 on the way to the Able Assembly at Berklee College of music, we stopped in to catch up with Co-Founder and Principal Ryan Edwards and Technical Manager Odie Desmith to find out what they were working on since winning the MIDI Innovation Awards with their entry Sound Sculpture. MASARY Studios was founded…
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The MIDI Association NAMM 2025
The MIDI Association and MIDI Showcase at NAMM 2025 continued to grow in both size and attendance at events. Over 30 companies from The MIDI Association had booths at NAMM and most of them were centered around the MIDI Showcase. We were running multiple events every day on our stage with the help of Professor…
Music Tectonics features MIDI Association companies at Creators Fair
PR firm Rock Paper Scissors, Inc. explores the new terrain at the epicenter of music and technology through their PR and marketing services as well as the Music Tectonics Conference, podcast, online events, and in-person meetups. Everything Music Tectonics does explores the seismic shifts that shake up music and technology the way the earth’s tectonic plates cause quakes…
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MIDI Association Presentations on the Music China 2024 X Stage
Music China and the Chinese Musical Instrument Association (CMIA) have really stepped up their support for MIDI and digital music making and right next to The MIDI Association booth was the X Stage where we did a number of presentations over the course of 4 days. Brian Hardgroove and Sennheiser Immersive Audio Presentation Because of…
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The 2024 MIDI Innovation Awards Show
The 2024 MIDI Innovation Award Show aired on Youtube on September 21 at 10 am Pacific, 1 pm Eastern and 7 pm GMT. Watch The 2024 MIDI Innovation Awards Show Hosted by Martin Keary “Tantacrul” As the VP of Product at Muse, Martin plays a crucial role in overseeing and mentoring the teams responsible for…
Synthfest UK
5 OCTOBER 2024 – THE OCTAGON, SHEFFIELDExhibition \\ Retailers \\ Education \\ Modular Meet \\ Seminars & DemosCome and see Keyboards – Desktop Synths – Modular – Software Synths and much more. SynthFest UK 2024 takes place in Sheffield on Saturday 5th of October 2024 (10:30am – 6:30pm) and has been created by Sound On…
The MIDI Association At Music China 2024
The MIDI Association has been actively involved with Music China for many years. You can read about that history in the articles at the bottom of this page. But in this article, we’ll focus on Music China 2024 because there is a lot going on. Statistics About Music China Date: October 10-13, 2024 (Thursday-Sunday) Last year…
Xinghai Conservatory of Music and The MIDI Association
Last year at Music China, Shanghai Intex who runs the Music China show arranged for The MIDI Association to have three brand ambassadors from Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou. They were students who were studying at the school and were proficient in English and music technology. They are an amazing help in communicating with…
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Seven Years After The Passing of Ikutaro Kakehashi
Ikutaro Kakehashi, Founder of Roland Ikutaro Kakehashi’s impact on music production is undeniable. He founded Roland and oversaw some of the most seminal MIDI products in history. When he passed away on April 1, 2017, we created an article about his life and times. You can find that article HERE. Today marks the seventh anniversary…
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MIDI Innovation Awards Livestream Sept, 16, 2023
The 2023 MIDI Innovation Awards live stream event took place on 16 September 2023 at 10 am Pacific, 1 pm Eastern and 5 pm GMT. The live stream was hosted by composer/UX designer Martin Keary (aka Tantacrul) and British musician, synth maker, and author of the YouTube channel Look Mum No Computer, Sam Battle. Now in…
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Announcing the finalists in the 2023 MIDI Innovation Awards
On September 16 at 10 am Pacific, a Youtube livestream will showcase the entries of the 15 finalists of the MIDI Innovation Awards, and select the 5 category winners chosen by the jury.Tune in to discover some of the most exciting music technology products of the moment, and inventors quizzed by an all-star jury composed…
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Celebrating Innovation: Voting Opens for MIDI Innovation Awards 2023
We are excited to announce that voting for the MIDI Innovation Awards 2023 is officially open. In the tradition of our past two successful years, we continue to celebrate innovation, creativity, and the fantastic array of talent in our MIDI community. As MIDI marks its 40th birthday this year, we’re thrilled to see how far…
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The Evolution of MIDI Software and Hardware in 2023
The MIDI association hosted a live roundtable discussion last week, featuring 2022 MIDI Award winners Krishna Chetan (Pitch Innovations), Henrik Langer (Instrument of Things), Markus Ruh (MusiKraken), and John Dingley (Digigurdy). Amongst the winning products you’ll find the Somi-1 MIDI controller, a motion-sensor wearable that converts users’ body movements into MIDI data. MusiKraken’s MIDI controller…
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MIDI Innovation Awards 2022 Winners Webinar
Check out these in depth interviews with the winners of the 2022 MIDI Innovation Awards The MIDI Association invited the winners of the 2022 MIDI Innovation Awards to join this round table on May 20, 20323 to discuss the evolution of their award winning products, discuss how they work with MIDI and share their thoughts on MIDI 2.0. Participants: Krishna…
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2023 MIDI Innovation Awards Now Open for Entries
Are you exploring new ways for musicians to interact with digital musical instruments? Have an idea for an original electronic instrument or controller? Trying to raise investment or attract attention for a new product? If you’re looking to make waves in music technology, you need to know about The MIDI Innovation Awards. In 2023, MIDI…
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Tapis Magique: A Choreomusical Interactive Carpet
Tapis Magique is a pressure-sensitive, knitted electronic textile carpet that generates three-dimensional sensor data based on body postures and gestures and drives an immersive sonic environment in real-time. Demonstrating an organic and expressive relationship between choreography and music has been a never-ending feat in the performance arts, as seen in previous work by Cage and…
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An Interview with GLASYS: Tugging on my Heartchips
GLASYS (Gil Assayas) was a winner of the MIDI Association’s 2022 Innovation Awards for artistic installations. He’s a keyboard player, composer, sound designer, and video content creator who currently performs live with Todd Rundgren’s solo band. The internet largely knows GLASYS for his viral MIDI art and chiptune music.We spoke with Gil to learn more about how…
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The MIDI Innovation Awards Show 2022
On May 28 at 10 am Pacific, 1 PM Eastern and 6 PM in the UK, LJ Rich will host the 2022 MIDI Innovation Awards This year we are incredibly lucky to have LJ Rich hosting the MIDI Innovation Awards (MIA) show which will feature the 15 finalists from the 5 categories interacting with our international panel of…
Promote The Vote in the 2022 MIDI Innovation Awards!
Check out over 100 entrants and then vote for your favorites There are five distinct categories (listed below) for the 2022 MIDI Innovation Awards.From May 1 to May 14, you will be able to select three entrants from each category to be the finalists who will participate in the May 28 MIDI Innovation Awards show on…
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Music Hackspace, NAMM and the MIDI Association Announce Plans for the MIDI Innovation Awards 2022
THE MIDI INNOVATION AWARDS The MIDI Innovation awards give a platform to MIDI innovation. This enables winners to accelerate their product ideas through connections to the industry, as well as increase their visibility among musicians and the NAMM community of trade professionals. The MIDI Innovation Awards rewards products, prototypes, installations or concepts that are thought-provoking…
KnittedKeyboard: A multi-modal, textile-based soft MIDI controller
KnittedKeyboard is a recent project coming out from the Responsive Environments Group at the MIT Media Lab. This instrument provides new interactions and tactile experiences for musical expressions, and it can be easily worn, folded, rolled up, and packed in our luggage like a pair of socks or a scarf. The project was initially motivated by discussions with Lyle Mays, a late composer…
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MIDI Innovation Webinar May 29, 2021
Innovation: AI, AR and Gamification in Music Apps We hosted our final May Is MIDI Month 2021 webinar on May 29 with a focus on Innovation. There were four presenters covering different aspects of innovation around Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Machine Learning and Gamification A3E Deep Dive™: AI & Artificial Creativity Paul Sitar, President- A3E: The Future of Music…
Voice-to-MIDI: A More Intuitive Way to Interact with Music
The Problem-No Real-Time Solutions Three years ago, while on tour with my band, Ritual Howls, I encountered a problem. After five grueling hours of sitting in a van on our way to the next gig, I had an idea for a drum beat but no way to capture it. All my gear was surgically packed…
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Celebrate International Women’s Day with Music Hackspace
Whether you are a beginner or advanced we invite you to explore our unique workshops, which range from live coding sound to creating dynamic drum patterns, plus much more….All sessions will be led by women artists, creators, producers and educators, within a safe and inviting online space.Here, at Music Hackspace we champion and celebrate women…
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First Annual MIDI Innovation Awards Honors The Top 10 Entries: Watch the highlights
The MIDI Association, Music Hackspace, and NAMM held the first MIDI Innovation Awards online. The event showcased the Top 10 entries, as innovators from nine countries competed for a share of $20,000 worth of prizes in a fast-paced, livestreamed show, which also featured live and recorded performances. The show’s climax was announcing the three Grand…
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Music Hackspace, the MIDI Association and NAMM host the first MIDI Innovation Awards
Livestream awards show on January 21 during NAMM’s Believe in Music week SK Shlomo Tim Exile Shawn Wasabi Dan Tepfer It’s time to honor the innovators and DIY enthusiasts who are advancing the state of the art in music technology. by Craig Anderton, President of the MIDI Association
Pitch Innovations Releases Fluid Pitch – A Revolutionary Pitch Bend System
The Creative Pitch Bending Plugin.Fluid pitch is an innovative next-generation Pitch bend system, which is not only free of existing limitations but a Revolutionary Leap Forward in Music expressions for all Musicians Fluid pitch introduces the World’s First Scale-Locked-Pitch-Bend System powered by Midi to MPE upscale engine, which gives the power of MPE to any standard Midi keyboard. Now…
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Vote for the 2021 Guthman Musical Instrument Competition Finalists
We love the Guthman Musical Instrument Competition! Last year the three winners of the Guthman were all MIDI controllers and we interviewed them in one of our our May Is MIDI 2019 webinars. May Is MIDI Month 2019 Webinar: Guthman Musical Instrument Design – Guthman Musical Instrument Design CompetitionMay 11, 2019 at 7PM Pacific Time All…
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Sonoclast: Plastic Pitch Plus – Using MIDI to Experiment with Microtonality
I created the Plastic Pitch Plus (PPP) to experiment with microtonality. My primary design goal was to create a physical interface that gives immediate and independent control of pitches in a scale. One way of doing microtonality involves generating lists of frequencies or ratios. In contrast, I wanted something that would naturally engage my ear…
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Herrmutt Lobby
We got several entrees for suggested content from the December 2017 MIDI Association newsletter. One was for an article on CTRLCap from Edwin Joassart. We did a little more research and decided to do an article not just on CNTRLCap, but on the developers behind it -Herrmutt Lobby. Herrmutt Lobby has created not just music, but hardware and apps to…
The People Who Created the DIY MIDI Revolution
Do It Yourself MIDIWith the boom in open-source electronics platform like Arduino and the growth of 3-D printers, it’s become easier and easier to create your own MIDI controller. We wanted to introduce you to some of the people and companies who helped create the DIY MIDI revolution.Moldover- The Godfather of ControllerismMoldover is the acknowledged godfather of controllerism. He…
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