It seems fitting that when we asked Nishimoto-san for some pictures of him for use in this article that he included a photo of him with 2025 MLTA recipient Tadao Kikumoto-san at the presentation given by Hideki Izuchi about the birth of MIDI in 2018 at the Japan National Museum of Science in Ueno Park, Tokyo.
After all it was Kikumoto-san who said this when we first contacted him about receiving a 2025 MIDI Lifetime Achievement award.
At the same time, he strongly recommends to have Mr Tetsuo Nishimoto (西元哲夫) from Yamaha receive this same award.
Nishimoto-san is a brilliant engineer who was the workhorse of creating MIDI from Yamaha’s side. He checked every single detail of the proposals from Roland and others. He also introduced Active Sensing. He designed the photo isolation of the MIDI terminal, which happened to be very much similar with Roland’s idea.
Kikumoto-san very much respects Nishimoto-san as an engineer, a friend, a technological rival, and the most important of all, the true unsung hero of the industry.
If Nishimoto-san is not receiving this Award, then Kikumoto-san cannot bear receiving this Award without him.
Taro Araki
(On Behalf of Tadao Kikumoto)From the very beginning until today, MIDI has always been about companies forgetting about competing and focusing on cooperating.
Nishimoto-san provided us with comments in both Japanese and English about his role in the development of MIDI.
Nishimoto-san’s English comments
The first international conference was held in October 1981 to start the discussion of standardizing a common synthesizer interface.
Five members from the three most interested musical instrument manufacturers started detailed discussion of the standard and the practical work of building the details. The three companies were Roland, Sequential Circuit, and Yamaha, and the members were Tadao Sakai and (2025 MIDI Lifetime Achievement Award recipient) Tadao Kikumoto-san from Roland, (2024 MIDI Lifetime Achievement Award recipient ) Dave Smith (Sequential Circuit), (2025 MIDI Lifetime Achievement Award recipient) Mr. Hirano, and myself (Yamaha).
Editor Note: In The MIDI History Chapter 6 article (https://midi.org/midi-history-chapter-6-midi-begins-1981-1983 ), we detail the ongoing communications in 1981 and 1982 between the Japanese and Sequential Circuits, the numerous meetings of what would become the Japanese MIDI Standards Committee and how much of the actual core MIDI protocol came from the Japanese engineers who are recipients of this year’s Lifetime Achievement awards.
I was fortunate to be selected as a member of this team because I wanted to equip the DX7 I was developing with a digital interface. After more than a year of discussion by this team and coordination with other musical instrument manufacturers, the MIDI standard was finalized in 1983, and the rest of the story is as described in various documents.
It is a great honor to be selected as one of the recipients of the “MIDI Lifetime Achievement Awards 2025.”
Now that Mr. Sakai and Mr. Hirano have passed away, I am one of the few people left (along with 2025 MLTA recipient Tadao Kikumoto) who knows the stories of the struggles that took place before the MIDI standard was finalized, so I would like to pass them on to future generations.
Written by Tetsuo Nishimoto
Nishimoto-san’s Japanese comments
シンセサイザー共通インターフェースの規格化検討をスタートするため第一回目の国際会議が行われたのは1981年10月です。
3つの主要な楽器メーカー（ローランド、シーケンシャル・サーキット、ヤマハ）の5人のメンバーが、標準規格とその具体的な実装について詳細な議論を開始しました。参加メンバーは、ローランドから酒井忠雄氏と（2025年MIDI生涯功労賞受賞者）菊本忠男氏、シーケンシャル・サーキットから（2024年MIDI生涯功労賞受賞者）デイヴ・スミス氏、2025年MIDI生涯功労賞受賞者の平野氏、そしてヤマハを代表して私です。
私が開発していたDX7にもディジタルインターフェースを搭載したいと思っていたため、このチームメンバーに選ばれたのは幸運でした。このチームにより一年以上に及ぶ様々な議論あるいは他の楽器メーカーとの意見の調整を行ったのち、1983年にMIDI規格は決定しましたが、以降の話は様々なドキュメントに書かれている通りです。
今回、”MIDI Lifetime Achievement Awards 2025″ の受賞者の一人にえらばれたことは大変光栄です。また、酒井さんと平野さんが亡くなられてしまった現在、MIDI規格が決定される前の様々な苦労話を知る数少ない人間のひとりとなってしまいましたので、後世に伝えていきたいと思います。
記 西元哲夫
Nishimoto-san honored at Yamaha Synth 50th Anniversary Event on Dec. 12, 2024
The author (Athan Billias) was lucky enough to attend the 50th Anniversary of Yamaha Synth’s on December 12, 2024 where Nishimoto-san (西元哲夫) was being honored for his work on early Yamaha Electones, the GS1, the SY-1 (Yamaha’s first synthesizer) and then his contributions to the legendary DX7 along with Dr. John Chowning, Hiro Kato, and Hideo Yamada.
English Translation of the Yamaha Synth 50th Anniversary Poster
In the 1970s, Dr. John Chowning of Stanford University invented FM synthesis (Frequency Modulation synthesis). Recognizing its potential early on, Yamaha secured an exclusive contract in 1973 and began developing electronic musical instruments equipped with FM synthesis. This effort culminated in the release of the “GS1” in 1981 and the iconic “DX7” in 1983, which revolutionized the music industry.
Former Yamaha engineers involved in FM synthesis development, including Hirokazu Katō, Hideo Yamada, and Tetsuo Nishimoto, overcame numerous challenges and trials to make FM synthesis practical.
Their spirit of innovation continues to influence Yamaha’s philosophy to this day.
The latest synthesizer, the “MONTAGE M,” also features FM synthesis, reaffirming its appeal and uniqueness.
At the OB-Kai (alumni party) that evening , I was able to give a short speech and inform Nishimoto-san that at Kikumoto-san’s insistence, he would be receiving a a MIDI Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2025 NAMM show.
We will soon add to this article with details of some of the seminal products that Nishimoto-san worked on including early Electones with synthesizer features, the SY-1, GS1 and of course, the DX7.