MIDI.org

French Artist Delaurentis NAMM 2024
2024-03-07 17:00 - 17:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | The MIDI Association Youtube Channel
MIDI Association member Embodme presents a performance by DeLaurentis, one of the few rare electronic music producers and artists who manage to convey pure emotion by using machines to manipulate the voice.
Her electro-cinematic music is both soft and powerful, clear and obscure: relentlessly effective and bewitching.
Join us for the YouTube Premier of DeLaurentis’ performance at Winter NAMM 2024.

Microsoft MIDI 2.0 Driver and API NAMM 2024
2024-03-08 10:30 - 11:15 (America/Los_Angeles) | The MIDI Association Youtube Channel
Pete Brown from Microsoft gave a talk at Winter NAMM 2024.
This Microsoft project is the next-generation MIDI API for Windows, including MIDI 1.0, MIDI CI, and MIDI 2.0. It includes enhancements, a new USB class driver, new transports, and a suite of essential tools. The project adds many enhancements and bug fixes to our MIDI 1.0 support, and importantly adds support for the latest revisions to MIDI CI and MIDI 2.0 as approved by The MIDI Association.

The open source USB MIDI 2.0 driver has been generously donated by AMEI, the Association of Musical Electronics Industry, and developed by AmeNote ™️ in partnership with Microsoft. Please see the file headers for any additional copyright notices. A huge thank you to AMEI and its member companies for making this happen!

This is an official Microsoft project. Although Microsoft is an active member of the MIDI Association, and Pete Brown is the chair of the MIDI Association Executive Board, and other contributors are on standards boards, this project is not affiliated with the MIDI Association other than as a consumer of and contributor to the standards. Affiliation with AMEI is disclosed above.

Apple MIDI 2.0 Driver and API NAMM 2024
2024-03-08 11:30 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | The MIDI Association Youtube Channel
Torrey Walker from Apple will give an in depth look at the new Apple updates for MIDI.
Join us on YouTube for Torrey Walker’s presentation at Winter NAMM 2024.

Open Source Code for MIDI 2.0 NAMM 2024
2024-03-08 14:00 - 14:40 (America/Los_Angeles) | Anaheim Convention Center | Front of Hall A | The MIDI Association Booth 10302, 800 W Katella Ave, Anaheim, CA, 92802, United States
MIDI 2.0 Workbench
The MIDI 2.0 Workbench is a free tool to help developers develop, debug (and deploy) MIDI 2.0 Applications and Devices. It runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. The Workbench connects to your device or software, to test various MIDI 2.0 implementation features against official specifications. The MIDI 2.0 Workbench is the only automated tool that generates the MIDI 2.0 Compliance Checklist required to license the MIDI 2.0 Logo from the MIDI Association. The MIDI 2.0 Workbench is currently available as source code for you to compile. We will release binaries shortly.
AmeNote ProtoZOA and USB MIDI 2.0 Device
The AmeNote ProtoZOA hardware platform is a flexible prototyping tool for MIDI 2.0 and is the standard testing device chosen by and funded in part by the MIDI Association. Open source firmware provides MIDI 2.0 interfaces and functions for developers to use in their own hardware and software products. ProtoZOA provides a USB MIDI 2.0 Class Compliant Device on a Raspberry Pico, designed specifically to jump-start prototyping and validation of Universal MIDI Packet (UMP) functions and fuel the MIDI 2.0 revolution. ProtoZOA integrates closely with the MIDI 2.0 Workbench.
Tiny USB MIDI 2.0 Device
This is a Tiny USB Device driver for USB MIDI 1.0 and USB MIDI 2.0 as a unified device. Allows implementor to create hardware MIDI devices which are fully compliant with USB Device Class specifications. Includes the fallback mechanism from 2.0 to 1.0 as defined in USB MIDI 2.0.
USB MIDI 2.0 Descriptor Builder
This is tool for easily creating valid descriptors for USB MIDI 2.0 Devices, which are so easy to get wrong. Fill in properties in a form to generate an output of the necessary descriptors. Supports the tusb_ump library, a USB Device used in the ProtoZOA, and the Linux MIDI2 Gadget Driver.
ni-midi2
The library provides the basic functionality of UMP 1.1 and MIDI-CI 1.2 by providing base classes for all UMP 1.1 packet types, (Universal) System Exclusive messages and MIDI-CI messages. There are concrete types for controllers, velocity and pitch, plus type aliases for common message field types. Mathematical operators allow to do integer / fixed point math on pitches and controllers, type constructors allow initialization with values of different resolution. Conrete instances of packets or messages are created using factory functions. Incoming packets and messages are inspected using data views. The library is completed by a number of helper functionalities dealing with conversion from / to MIDI 1 byte stream data format, collecting sysex messages and more.
AM_MIDI2.0Lib
This is a general purposes Library for building MIDI 2.0 Devices and Applications. This library is targeted to work on everything from Arduinos through to large scale applications. It provides foundational building blocks, processing, and translations needed for most MIDI 2.0 Devices and Applications.
*Note: This MIDI2 Developer Collaboration is not a project of the The MIDI Association, but was founded by key participants in the development of MIDI 2.0, working as members of the MIDI Association. The MIDI 2.0 Logo is a registered trademark of the MIDI Association, used under license. The M2 Logo is a trademark of the MIDI2 Developer Collaboration at MIDI2.dev.
Join us on Youtube for the Open Source Code for MIDI 2.0 At Winter NAMM 2024 panel discussion.

The Music Accessibility Standard NAMM 2024
2024-03-09 10:00 - 11:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | The MIDI Association Youtube Channel
MIDI Association members from Audio Modeling and Sound Without Sight present the Music Accessibility Standard Special Interest Group and their work to make music accessible to everyone. Adapted from the ‘Future of Music Accessibility’ session at the NAMM Show 2024.
Link to sign up for the MASSIG: https://midi.activehosted.com/f/37
Link to Sound Without Sight: https://soundwithoutsight.org/
Video chapters:
00:00 Introduction by Athan Billias and Jay Pocknell.
03:03 Useful definitions.
04:14 Why is accessibility important?
05:37 Why design inclusively?
07:12 Inclusion in music-making: the current situation.
09:05 Breaking the loop: what we can do together.
09:48 Practical inclusive design tips from Tim Yates (Drake Music).
16:32 Which companies are already supporting accessibility?
17:37 What needs to happen next?
19:09 The MIDI Association’s Music Accessibility Standard.
25:13 Q&A with Emanuele Parravicini (Co-Founder, Audio Modeling).
43:26 Connect and sign up to MASSIG.

Piano Profile Demo NAMM 2024
2024-03-09 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | The MIDI Association Youtube Channel
Join us on Youtube for the Piano Profile Demo at NAMM 2024 featuring Roland Artist Scott Tibbs.

At the April 2023 NAMM show, Synthogy and Roland collaborated to showcase the first public demonstration MIDI 2.0 technology.
At the 2024 NAMM show they raised the bar again and showcased a demonstration of the new Piano Profile.
This Profile will make creating performances on one piano and playing them back on another more accurate.
Roland Product Specialist Scott Tibbs performed.
Scott has amassed a large body of music with numerous recording artists such as Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, Howard Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Nelly, Lil’ Wayne, Jamie Fox, Robin Thicke, Bette Midler, Destiny’s Child, Jazmine Sullivan, Amerie, Jamie Foxx, Teddy Riley, Omar Hakim, Billy Cobham, and more.
Background
The piano is arguably the most important musical instrument in Western music traditions. It is essential to all styles of music from classical to jazz to pop, so when the MIDI Association started to develop Profiles, a Piano Profile was at the top of the list.
This piano Profile is focused on Acoustic Pianos with mechanical key mechanisms driven by MIDI, Digital Acoustic Piano Tone Generators (both hardware and software), and physical MIDI keyboards that send MIDI messages and the most common of all – Digital Pianos which incorporate both Digital Acoustic Piano Tone Generators and physical MIDI keyboard. The Profile does not address electro-mechanical pianos or the extended features of digital ensemble pianos.
Goals
The goal is a Piano Profile that defines the MIDI Messages and bi-directional MIDI-CI communication necessary to allow the performance of an acoustic piano piece on one device that supports the Piano Profile to be accurately rendered on any other device which also supports the Profile.
The Piano Profile defines the MIDI Messages and bi-directional MIDI-CI communication necessary to allow the performance of an acoustic piano piece on one device that supports the Piano Profile to be accurately rendered on any other device which also supports the Profile.
The Profile provides support for remote (over the internet) performance.
The Piano Profile details what information needs to be included in a Standard MIDI File (SMF2) and the mechanisms needed to accurately reproduce a piano performance from a file.
The Piano Profile addresses the following use cases:

Piano + tone generator (the most typical MIDI 1.0 use case)
Online live broadcasting of piano performances
Online lessons with a teacher and student
MIDI Streaming of recorded piano performances
Music production (use of the Piano Profile with DAWs)
SMF Online sales

The MIDI Innovation Awards NAMM 2024
2024-03-09 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | The MIDI Association Youtube Channel
Jean Baptiste Thibeaut from MusicHackspace and Laura Escude (whose career highlights include designing shows for Kanye West and Jay Z) will introduce the winners of the 2023 MIDI Innovation Awards including:

Intutitive Instrument-Exquis
Audio Modeling- Camelot Pro
Hitar- augmented guitar for percussive fingerstyle
Netz-an immersive mixed reality musical instrument
Sound Sculpture-an interactive musical instrument comprised of 25 location-aware cubes

They will also announce the schedule and plans for The MIDI Innovation Awards 2024.
Join us on Youtube for The MIDI Innovation Awards at Winter NAMM 2024.

Orchestral Articulation Profile NAMM 2024
2024-03-09 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | The MIDI Association Youtube Channel
There are many orchestral sample libraries in the market, and they are essential for film scoring, game audio, studio, and live MIDI applications. These orchestral libraries have many kinds of articulations.
For example, a string library might have a different set of samples for every articulation including marcato, staccato, pizzicato, etc.
However, there is no industry standard method-the method for selecting these different articulations has been different for each developer. Many developers use notes at the lower end of the MIDI note range for “key switching”, but the actual keys used are different between different developers. Some developers use CC messages to switch between articulations, but again there is no industry wide consistency. Some plugin formats now have the ability for per note selection of articulations, but again the method for inputting that data is different for different applications.
It is the goal of the MIDI-CI Profile for Note On Orchestral Articulation to provide a consistent way to encode articulation information directly in the MIDI 2.0 Note On message, using the Attribute Type and Attribute Data fields.
In arriving at this Profile, a study was made of orchestral instrument families, choir, big band instruments, guitar, keyboard instruments, and various non-western instruments to evaluate the degree to which they share common performance attributes and sound production techniques. Notation symbols and performance indications were also considered to determine, for example, how successfully a violin note marked with a trill might result in a musically meaningful or analogous articulation when the part is copied to an instrument as far afield as timpani—all without the composer having to re-articulate the timpani part, at least initially.
The Profile provides a comprehensive yet concise system of articulation mapping that includes a wide palette of articulation types and supports articulation equivalence across eight instrument categories.
The Profile was designed to offer articulation equivalence — a system of articulation mapping that allows a passage articulated for one instrument to be copied to another track and playedplay back with an equivalent or analogous articulation, regardless of the target instrument type.
When implemented by sample library developers, the Profile will greatly aid composers in highly significant ways.
First, it will simplify the process of substituting or layering sounds from the same or different sample libraries; Second, it will allow composers to quickly audition and orchestrate unison passages by copying an articulated part to other tracks and hear them to play back with equivalent or analogous articulations.
Join us on Youtube for The Orchestral Articulation Profile at NAMM 2024.

Jordan Rudess Interview NAMM 2024
2024-03-09 15:00 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | The MIDI Association Youtube Channel
At the MIDI@40 concert last April, Jordan performed a piece he had composed specifically to celebrate MIDI.
Jordan played a Korg Kronos and was accompanied by players from India who recorded their parts on video.
Those players included MAHESH RAGHVAN on Geoshred, MOHINI DEY on Bass, ELIJAH WOOD on Drums and B.C. MANJUNATH on Vocals and mridangam.
This performance really captured our vision for the MIDI@40 show.
The musicians, composers and performance artists selected as MIDI brand ambassadors represent the beautiful diversity of cultures and people from all over the world and music from different genres and generations brought together by music and MIDI.
This year, we interviewed Jordan and he performed a new composition specifically written for the 2024 NAMM show.
Join us on YouTube for Jordan’s appearance at The MIDI Association booth at the 2024 Winter NAMM show.

Music Tectonics Innovation Meet Up NAMM 2024
2024-03-10 11:30 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | The MIDI Association Youtube Channel
The Guthman Musical Instrument competition, The MIDI Innovation Awards and Music Tectonics joined forces to host an Innovation Meetup at Winter NAMM 2024. If you are interested in the latest music technology innovation, it’s an event you won’t want to miss!
Join us on Youtube for the Music Tectonics Innovation Meet Up at NAMM 2024.

SMF2 NAMM 2024
2024-03-10 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | The MIDI Association Youtube Channel
Members of the SMF2 Working Group discussed their progress at the Winter NAMM Show 2024. The MIDI Clip file has already been adopted. Many messages things that used to be meta events now have been put into the UMP protocol so chords, lyrics, song and copyright information can now be sent “over the wire”.

The MIDI Clip File Specification defines a file format for MIDI sequences using the Universal MIDI Packet data format. MIDI 2.0 introduced the Universal MIDI Packet, a data format which supports all the original MIDI 1.0 Protocol messages as well as all MIDI 2.0 Protocol messages. The MIDI Clip File serves a role which is similar to the version 1 Standard MIDI File Type 0, with all data in a single sequence of Universal MIDI Packet messages.
This MIDI Clip File Specification will have a complementary specification, the MIDI Container File specification which will be similar to the version 1 Standard MIDI File Type 1.
The MIDI Container File will support the Universal MIDI Packet data format by containing one or more MIDI Clip Files, arranged in one or more tracks. It may also include notation, audio and video data.
This specification could impact any company that publishes digital data.
Join us on Youtube for the SMF2 Discussions at Winter NAMM 2024

MIDI Accordion with Cory Pesaturo NAMM 2024
2024-03-10 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | The MIDI Association Youtube Channel
Cory Pesaturo (“C Pez”) is revolutionizing the Accordion. The only person to ever win the trio of World Championships on Acoustic, Digital & Jazz Accordion
Join us on YouTube for Cory’s performance at Winter NAMM 2024.

Game Developers Conference
2024-03-18 08:00 - 2024-03-22 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Game Developers Conference, 747 Howard St, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
The 38th annual Game Developers Conference (GDC), taking place March 18-22 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, delivers the game industry’s greatest source of content and connections—with innovative exhibitors, awe-inspiring technology, and powerful talks led by game developers who live and breathe this industry.
Game devs and industry experts who attend GDC 2024 can expect the return of many activities and events that make the Game Developers Conference the place to be for game developers. Attendees can attend a comprehensive selection of lectures, panels, and roundtable discussions, tour the GDC Expo to check out companies’ latest products and solutions, and head to the GDC Play area to try the newest indie sensations before they come out.
In addition, the Independent Games Festival and the Game Developers Choice Awards will take place live on Wednesday, March 20—with a simultaneous broadcast in the event app and on the GDC Twitch channel.

Collective Creativity in Game Design & Music
2024-03-20 17:00 - 18:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Game Developers Conference, 747 Howard St, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
Games and sound go together like macaroni and cheese. Sound is a large part of what makes games fun. So, what are some of the hot button issues that game designers need to know about the process of creating game sound — and what do audio folks need to know about game design and production? Good questions!
This roundtable brings together composers, sound designers, game designers, animators, programmers, producers, and anyone else involved in the production process. Organizers open up the floor and discuss the latest and greatest trends in games, as well as the most common production roadblocks. Let’s come together to develop a deeper understanding of process and pipeline.

Cooperative Design Roundtable: Collective Creativity in Game Design & Music (Presented by the IGDA)
Steve Horowitz (Audio Director, IASIG/GAI)
Location: Room 211, South Hall
Date: Wednesday, March 20
Time: 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm

30th Annual IASIG Town Hall
2024-03-21 12:45 - 13:45 (America/Los_Angeles) | Game Developers Conference, 747 Howard St, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
Since its inception in 1994, the IASIG has been driven by a selection of audio-focused volunteers with the goal of uniting the audio hardware and software industries with creators, researchers, and educators in order to push for the state-of-the-art for the industry.
Want to improve game audio workflow or the professional audio tools available to you?
Join fellow game audio educators, sound designers, composers, audio programmers, and other audio professionals at the Interactive Audio Special Interest Group (IASIG) Town Hall.
The IASIG works as a Special Interest Group in both The MIDI Association and the International Game Developers Association representing Game Audio Developers in those organizations.
Steve Horowitz (Audio Director, IASIG/Game Audio Institute)
Tom Poole (Director, JUCE / Audio Developers Conference)
Dave Berol (Audio / Voice Director, Surfaceink Product Design & Development)
Austin Smith (Content Manager, Sound Designer & Composer, Game Audio Institute/Blackwater Soundworks)
Pat Scandalis (CEO/CTO , moForte Inc, MIDI Association MPE WG Chair)
Location: Room 3002, West Hall
Date: Thursday, March 21
Time: 12:45 pm – 1:45 pm
Pass Type: All Access Pass, Core Pass, Summits Pass, Expo Pass, Audio Pass, Indie Games Summit Pass – Get your pass now!

Innovation meets Education
2024-05-04 10:00 - 10:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | The MIDI Association Youtube Channel
Our goal is ensuring that every professional or aspiring musician, producer, artist and manufacturer has free access to our comprehensive suite of educational MIDI content.
This curriculum, designed to bridge cultures and languages, will be accessible in both English and Spanish. It’s tailored not just for an academic audience across secondary schools, colleges, universities, and professional institutes, but also for the dedicated staff of manufacturers and resellers, marking a significant stride towards a global standard in music technology and digital arts education.

MIDI Innovation Award Webinar
2024-05-11 10:00 - 10:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | The MIDI Association Youtube Channel
This Saturday, May 11 at 10 am Pacific, 1 pm Eastern and 5 pm GMT, The MIDI Association will host a MIDI Innovation Award webinar at https://midiable.com/MIA, (the MIDI Innovation Award’s webinar channel URL) where Jean Baptiste Thiebaut from Music Hackspace and the winners of the 2023 MIDI Innovation Awards (Audio Modeling, Intuitive Instrument. Hitar, Next and Sound Sculpture) will discuss a variety of topics.

How did participating in Music China 2023 and NAMM 2024 help their business grow.
What their favorite experiences at Music China and NAMM were.
How insights did they gain from participating in The MIDI Innovation awards
Why they would recommend that people and companies enter the 2024 MIDI Innovation Awards

Participants who join the webinar will be able to interact directly with the panelists and ask questions.We are also announcing that we are extending the deadline for submissions to the 2024 MIDI Innovation Awards from May 18 to June 18.
Registration for the MIDI Innovation Awards 2024 will close on 18th June 2024, and a public vote will begin on June, 30 2024.

Super Booth 2024 webinar
2024-05-18 10:00 - 10:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | The MIDI Association Youtube Channel
Week 3 of May is MIDI Month, we will be in Berlin at the Native Instruments offices having meetings of the DAW working group which is looking the details of how DAWs will handle MIDI 2.0 and then do a live webinar from Super Booth on Saturday, May 18 at 10 am Pacific, 1 pm Eastern and 5 pm GMT also on https://midiable.com/MIA.

Music Accessibility Webinar
2024-05-25 10:00 - 10:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | The MIDI Association Youtube Channel
The Music Accessibility webinar will be Saturday, May 25 at 10 am Pacific, 1 pm Eastern and 5 pm GMT here –https://midiable.com/MIA
We will have members of the Music Accessibility Special Interest Group including Jay Pocknell from SoundwithoutSight.org along with many others.

MIDI Innovation Award Show 2024
2024-09-21 10:00 - 11:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | The MIDI Association Youtube Channel
Join us as our esteemed panel of judges review and discuss the three finalists in each of the five categories of the MIDI Innovation Awards and selects a winner for:
Artistic/Visual Project or Installation
Software Prototypes/Non-Commercial Products
Commercial Software Products
Hardware Prototypes/Non-Commercial products
Commercial Hardware Products

Synthfest UK
2024-10-05 10:30 - 18:30 (Europe/London) | CA
SynthFest UK 2024 takes place in Sheffield on Saturday 5th of October 2024 (10:30am – 6:30pm) and has been created by Sound On Sound magazine to give companies of all sizes an opportunity to showcase their synth products in front of the public in what promises to be a great day out for all musicians, whether a pro, semi-pro or hobbyist.
The Octagon Centre, Clarkson Street, Sheffield, S10 2TQ(Next to the University of Sheffield Student Union building)

AES 2024
2024-10-08 08:00 - 2024-10-10 17:00 (America/New_York) | Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, 429 11th Avenue, New York\, New York City, NY, 10001, United States
Lee Whitmore, Chair of the MIDI In Music Education initiative will be there in his role a VP of Education for Focusrite and Steve Horowitz, Chair of the Interactive Audio Special Interest Group will be giving several talks on Game Audio.
There are a number of MIDI Association companies who have booths at AES.
Avid, Eternal Research (makers of MIDI Innovation Award contestant Demon Box), Icon Pro Audio and Juce’s parent company Pace will be at the show.

Music China 2024
2024-10-10 09:30 - 2024-10-13 17:00 (Asia/Shanghai) | Music China, Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC) 丨2345 Long Yang Road,, Shanghai, China
The following MIDI Association companies will have booths at Music China (some in the Music X Area and some in the other halls at Music China).

Music X area

Artiphon
Amenote/Azotech
Audio Modeling
CME
Donner
MIDIPlus
Synido
Novation
ASM-Ashun Sound Machines
Avid

Medeli: W4B42
Ringway: W4E42
Amason: W1D20, N1C55
Donner: W5C52
Hotone: W5E32
Mooer: W5C44

GameSound Con
2024-10-29 09:00 - 2024-10-30 21:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | GameSoundCon, Burbank Convention Center, Burbank, CA, United States
GameSoundCon 2024 is hybrid!

You can attend in person in Burbank, CA, or remotely with our online only ticket! Online access gives you real-time access to GameSoundCon sessions, live text chat and more. Both in-person and online attendees can watch sessions they missed for up to 6 months after GameSoundCon.

Casual to AAA, big studio to indie — For composers, sound designers, dialogue specialists, researchers, educators and others who want to keep up with the cutting edge in video game sound, music, dialogue and technology.

CES 2025
2025-01-07 09:00 - 2025-01-10 18:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Las Vegas Convention Center-CES, 3150 Paradise Rd, Las Vegas, NV, 89109, United States
January 7th to 10th 9am-6pm
Booth 8578 in the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, NV
This is where brands get business done, meet new partners and where the industry’s sharpest minds take the stage to unveil their latest releases and boldest breakthroughs.

MIDI Lifetime Achievement Awards 2025
2025-01-23 11:00 - 11:45 (America/Los_Angeles) | Anaheim Convention Center | Front of Hall A | The MIDI Association Booth 10302, 800 W Katella Ave, Anaheim, CA, 92802, United States
The MIDI Association will present John Bowen, Katsuhiko “Karl” Hirano, Tadao Kikumoto, Tetsuo Nishimoto, Chris Meyer, Jeff Rona and Brian Vincik with MIDI Association Lifetime Achievement awards for their contributions to MIDI from 1983 to 1990.
John Bowen- John Bowen was a product specialist and sound designer at Sequential Circuits during the early days of the synthesizer boom of the late 1970s. John worked with Sequential founder Dave Smith and then with Karl Hirano and Dave at the Dave Smith Division of Yamaha and at Korg R&D San Jose. Brian Vincik and John were in charge of the dissemination of the MIDI specification around the world in the early chaotic days of MIDI before The MIDI Association was formed in 1985.
Katsuhiko “Karl” Hirano ( 平野 勝彦 Hirano Katsuhiko)- Karl worked for both Yamaha and Korg. At Yamaha he worked on the DX7 (one of the very first products to implement MIDI) and headed up communications between the Japanese MIDI organization and The MIDI Association in MIDI’s early years. He worked in San Jose with Yamaha’s Dave Smith division and then moved with Dave Smith to Korg when Korg R&D was established. Hirano-san passed away in 2019.
Tadao Kikumoto (菊本忠男, Kikumoto Tadao) was Roland’s senior managing director and head of its R&D center. He designed the TB-303 bass synthesizer and the TR-909 drum machine. He was also the chief engineer of the Roland TR-808 drum machine. He made suggestions for the early MIDI 1.0 spec that included adding Tempo, Start, and Stop messages.
Chris Meyer was the first chair of the MIDI Association’s Technical Standard Board and worked at Sequential Circuits, Digidesign, Marion Systems (Tom Oberheim), and Roland R&D U.S. His work as the first TSB chair led to many important developments in MIDI including MIDI Time Code and the Sample Dump Standard. Today he runs the website, Facebook page, and YouTube channel LEARNING MODULAR, where he teaches others how to master modular synthesis.
Tetsuo Nishimoto (西元 哲夫, Nishimoto, Tetsuo) worked in the LM Design at Nippon Gakki Co. (Yamaha). He drafted the initial responses to the Universal Synthesizer Interface proposal from Dave Smith that eventually became MIDI. He also helped create the very first Yamaha synths including the legendary GS1 and the DX7 taking Yamaha on a path from home organs to synthesizers.
Jeff Rona is an American composer for film. He was a member of Hans Zimmer’s MediaVentures. His credits include Sharkwater, Traffic, God of War III, Phantom and Veeram. Jeff Rona was the founder and past president of MMA, the MIDI Manufacturers Association (DBA The MIDI Association). Jeff has also been a judge in The MIDI Innovation Awards for several years.
Brian Vincik- Brian formed the first MIDI user group called the International MIDI Association (IMA) in 1983 which was the sole source for the MIDI specification 1.0 (outside of Japan) in those early years in MIDI’s development. Brian was an engineer at Hewlett Packard and saw right away the potential that MIDI could have on the computer industry. The IMA was responsible for distributing the MIDI specification for several years during MIDI’s formative years.

Network MIDI 2.0 (UDP) Transport Specification
2025-01-23 13:00 - 13:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Anaheim Convention Center | Front of Hall A | The MIDI Association Booth 10302, 800 W Katella Ave, Anaheim, CA, 92802, United States
The Network MIDI 2.0 (UDP) Transport Specification defines a way to connect home studios or performance venues via Ethernet and wireless LAN on a local area network using MIDI 1.0 and MIDI 2.0 UMP packets.
The advantages of using a network for MIDI are:
Overall advantages:

UDP can be sent over both Ethernet cables and wireless networks.
Logical connection setup (Session Management)

The user has full control over which device is able to send/receive MIDI with which other device (or application)
The connection topology can be changed in software without having to move physical cables.
Many MIDI streams (sessions) can be configured on the same cable
Simple security mechanisms available in Network MIDI 2.0 help prevent unauthorized access

Peer to peer connection is possible without the need to route data through a computer.

Ethernet Advantages

Long distance

Ethernet cables can transmit data up to 100 meters without any signal loss or degradation.

Low latency

Typical latency on Ethernet is below 1ms

High bandwidth

100MBit/s or 1GBit/s bandwidth on Ethernet
One cable is enough for many logical connections

Auto-Discovery

Can select devices to connect by name

Ground isolation

Physical connections are electrically isolated, reducing the chances of electrical grounding noise issues.

Oﬀ-the-shelf parts and infrastructure

Cables, routers, switches, and components are readily available and cost effective
Many transports for audio already use Ethernet. Some of those are open standards (i.e. AES67) and some are proprietary. Being able to run MIDI 2.0 as a control protocol over the same cables that run audio can greatly expand the use of MIDI 2.0.

Panelists:
Florian Bomers – Chair of the Network Working Group / President and founder of Bome Software which has developed and released MIDI and audio software for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Linux. The BomeBox™: a versatile USB, MIDI, and Ethernet connector and processor.
Pete Brown- MIDI Association Executive Board Chair/ Microsoft Software Engineer
Andrew Mee-Chair of the MIDI 2.0 Developer Support working group, Yamaha designated rep and developer of the MIDI Workbench
Mike Kent- Chair of The MIDI 2.0 Working Group/Co-Founder/Chief Strategy Officer of AmeNote Inc.

The Latest Developments in MIDI 2.0
2025-01-23 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | NAMM Tec Tracks Hilton California Ballroom B
Tec Tracks Event
Thursday, January 23, 2025 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM · 1 hr. (America/Los_Angeles)
Hilton California Ballroom B
In-Person Only
The MIDI Association will provide updates on the latest MIDI 2.0 products from Apple Logic, Korg, Native Instruments, Roland, Steinberg and Yamaha, and many more. The session will be moderated by Brian Hardgroove, record producer, bassist, drummer and member of the legendary band Public Enemy and feature a performance by Jordan Rudess, keyboardist and composer for Dream Theater.
With MIDI 2.0 support already beginning to appear in digital audio workstations, plug-in developers are benefitting from the work being done by the MIDI Association member companies that develop those plug-in formats — Apple (Audio Units), Avid (AAX), Bitwig (CLAP) and Steinberg (VST). They’re developing open-source software that will enable plug-in developers to quickly and easily interface with external MIDI gear.
Moderator: Brian Hardgroove- record producer, bassist, drummer and member of the legendary band Public Enemy
Panelists include:
Tim Carroll, Focusrite CEO, current MIDI Association President and Past NAMM Board Member
Pete Brown, Microsoft Software Engineer and MIDI Association Executive Board Chair
Mike Kent, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of AmeNote Inc. and Chair of The MIDI 2.0 Working Group
Paul McCabe, Senior Vice President of Research and Innovation, Roland Future Design Lab
Special Performance by:
Jordan Rudess, the keyboardist and composer for Dream Theater and president of WisdomMusic (makers of MorphWiz, SampleWiz, HarmonyWiz, Jordantron and more).

TamiX Interviews Innovative Chinese MIDI Companies
2025-01-23 15:30 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Anaheim Convention Center | Front of Hall A | The MIDI Association Booth 10302, 800 W Katella Ave, Anaheim, CA, 92802, United States
Nan Tang (artist name tamiX) who runs Midifan, the largest Music Production website in China will interview Hotone, Medeli, MIDI Plus Robkoo and Synido about the latest developments in MIDI technology in China.
Nan Tang (artist name tamiX)- Moderator
Nan Tang (artist name tamiX) is a Buchla modular synthesizer player, visual artist, photo idol, skateboard coach, founder of Midifan, the largest Music Production website in China.
Lancy Cheng – MEDELI – Senior Vice President of MEDELI Brand Development, Product Planning, China Sales
Tom Liu Director of Products at Hotone Audio,
Tom leads the design and development of innovative and interesting solutions for electronic musical instruments. Heading up a new MIDI 2.0 digital effects Profiles working group
Oscar Xie- CEO & Founder of Robkoo, Previously worked at Alibaba and WeChat.
Robkoo was founded by geeks, musicians, technology enthusiasts and designers with an ambitious mission while staying practical. We’re determined to create more futuristic products in digital arts while keeping them easy to use.
Marco Zheng, CEO and Founder of Synido
Marco has spearheaded the brand’s mission to empower content creators with high-quality audio interfaces and MIDI equipment, reflecting the energetic spirit of the younger generation and enhancing their online presence.

The Music Accessibility Special Interest Group
2025-01-23 16:30 - 17:15 (America/Los_Angeles) | Anaheim Convention Center | Front of Hall A | The MIDI Association Booth 10302, 800 W Katella Ave, Anaheim, CA, 92802, United States
The Special Interest Group on Music Accessibility allows artists, researchers, and others in the music production community to interact directly with MIDI Association companies and provides a forum for discussions surrounding music accessibility and MIDI.
We will review the “Inclusive Design within Audio Products: What, Why, How?” workshop from this year’s Audio Developer Conference. Curated by Jay Pocknell, Music Support Officer at RNIB and founder of Sound Without Sight, this covered the principles of music accessibility and shared examples of accessible products already on the market.
Haim Kairy of Arcana Instruments will moderate the panel and talk about his journey in developing the Arcana Strum after being inspired by a young girl with accessibility challenges and how it led him to his work with Bettermaker.
Lele Parravinci and Simone Capitani from Audio Modeling will discuss the UniMIDIhub, the 2024 MIDI Innovation Award winner in the non-commercial software category and their vision for the future of music accessibility.
Jason Barnes and Matt Bankston talk about their work to enable musicians with disabilities to continue to create and perform music via their nonprofit Cybernetic Sound.
Jason Barnes’ journey is one of resilience and inspiration. After losing his right hand and forearm in an accident in 2012, he turned his adversity into an opportunity. With a passion for music that remained undiminished, Jason worked on developing prosthetic devices that enabled him to continue playing drums.
Matt Bankston, a multi-instrument musician and producer, whose journey is marked by overcoming the challenges of severe hemophilia, reflects a deep understanding of the struggles faced by musicians with disabilities.
The Bettermaker, a trailblazer in professional audio technology, proudly announces a groundbreaking accessibility feature designed to empower blind and physically impaired music producers. This innovation enables seamless control of Bettermaker hardware and plugins through voice commands, built with cutting edge open source AI software , complemented by real-time voice feedback for precise parameter adjustments.
The MIDI Association believes that music should be accessible to everyone.
