With the help of Geoffery Ge from Medeli and Yitian Zhao from CME Pro, Music China arranged for a MIDI Forum with experts from all over the world. The setup was actually quite amazing. There was a very nice AV setup, but most impressive was the simultaneous translation.
When MIDI Association members were speaking English, Chinese people were provided translations into Chinese and when Chinese MIDI Association members spoke Chinese, the English speakers were provided English translations. This was not just for the panel participants, but for the entire audience which consisted of over a 100 people. Even Miura-san from AMEI had translation as Music China had arranged for a brand ambassador from Shanghai Conservatory of Music who spoke fluent Japanese. It was impressive and really underscored that MIDI is the universal digital language of music. People on the panels spoke different languages, but they all spoke MIDI!
Future Music Technology and International MIDI Technology Development Forum. Forum time 14:00-17:00 p.m., October 12, 2024
Organizer China Musical Instrument Association, Shanghai Intex Exhibition and Convention Center Co., Ltd.
Facilitator Future Music Technology Committee of China Musical Instrument Association and Sound and Music Technical Committee of China Electronic Audio Industry Association
Co-Facilitator The MIDI Association
Shanghai Pudong New Area Advanced Audio and Video Technology Association
Forum content:
Panel Discussion: Progress in the Global Application of MIDI 2.0 Technology
Zhao Yitian, The founder and CEO of CME, Member of the Executive Board of the MIDI Association
Guests:
1) Athan Billias- Member of the Executive Board of the MIDI Association.
2) Daisuke Miura-Chairman of the MIDI Standards Committee of the Japan AMEI Association
3) Mike Kent-Chairman, MIDI 2.0 Working Group, Chief Strategy Officer, AmeNote Inc.
4) Joe Zhang-Director of R&D Technology of Medeli Electronics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. and Member of the Technical Standard Board of the MIDI Association
First, Athan Billias, MIDI Association board member explained some basics about The MIDI Association.
Daisuke Miura from AMEI, the Japanese MIDI organization explained about AMEI’s role in the world of MIDI.
Then Mike Kent (Exec Board member and chair of the MIDI 2.0 Working Group) explained the current state of the technical specifications with an emphasis on the new Windows MIDI 2.0 open source driver that his company is developing with the support of AMEI.
After Mike, it was Joe Zhang from Medeli’s turn to explain the state of MIDI 2.0.
Joe is on the Technical Standards Board of The MIDI Association and gets up at 3 am in the morning to attend this meeting every 2 weeks. With members in Europe, the United States, Australia and China, there is no perfect (or even good) time to schedule a meeting for everyone. But Joe has been getting up at 3 am for 6 years now so maybe it is time to shift and pick a time that’s more convenient for him.
2.Keynote Speech: Review and Prospect – The Convergence of Music Technology
Guest: Yu Yang- Dean and Professor, Department of Music Engineering, Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Doctoral supervisor and famous composer
3.Dialogue between two people: Will Artificial Intelligence Destroy Everything?
Guests:
1) TamiX Tang Nan- Buchla modular synthesizer artist, visual artist, and the founder of Midifan.com
2) L+R Wang Lu- Sound artist, electronic music producer, arranger, sound interaction producer, independent radioanchor
4.Keynote Speech: Automatic Music Transcription: A Bridge to the Symbolic Representation of Music in the Future
Guest: Wu Yulun- Ph.D., School of Computer Science and Technology, Fudan University
5.Keynote Speech: Jam with Things: Music Geeks’ Improvisational Instrument Modification
Guest:Robin Zhang
Founder of Digishow – digital performing arts open-source project
We are going to do a separate article on Digishow and Robin because we got a chance to visit him on Sunday night at what was once the Lester Institute and were blown away by the creative things he and his team were doing.
6.Roundtable Discussion: Discussion on the development of future musical instruments and music technology in China
Ge Xinghua- General Manager of Deli Electronics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd
Guests:
1) Zhao Yitian- The founder and CEO of CME
2) Chen Guobin- Deputy General Manager of Ringway Electronics (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd.
3) Huang Jianheng,- Director of Longjoin Group, CTO, Co-founder of MIDIPLUS brand, CEO of MIDIPLUS
4) Zhang Guangzhong- Director of R&D Technology of Medeli Electronics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
5) Cao Qiang- Deputy General Manager and CTO of Changsha Hotone Electronic Technology Co., Ltd
We hope this gives you a bit of feel of how much there is going on in China with MIDI 2.0. There is a tremendous energy there. During the roundtable with the Chinese members, Joe Zhang said that China hadn’t been able to participate in MIDI 1.0’s development because the technical level in China wasn’t ready at the time. But he said that with MIDI 2.0, it was the time for Chinese companies to not just participate, but lead in MIDI 2.0 development.
Looking at the technical level of all our Chinese members and their openness to new ways of using tools like AI, it’s clear that Joe Zhang was right.