[sdiy] MIDI isn't musical : Flame bait?

[Grant Richter]

I am afraid I have to agree with Don Tillman.

I spent 10 years in industrial fieldbus networks (Bitbus). Viewed from the
perspective of the 7 layer ISO network model, MIDI is a very rudimentary
protocol.

The lack of support for multiple network masters, current loop topology
(requiring repeaters) and only 7 bits for controllers gets frustrating
quickly. That and the low baud rate and the tendency for the early keyboard
input parsers to choke and crash because MIDI was added as an
afterthought...

Aside from running a cable from a keyboard to a sound module, I do not know
of anyone who still uses MIDI for large sequences. The most used feature now
is sysex transfers for backing up internal sound module data to the
computer.

One practical improvement is to use the now incredibly cheap 16 bit DSP's as
dedicated MIDI I/O processors. The extra calculating power would allow "on
the fly" interpolation of 7 bit CC data to something more useful.
Essentially, use the DSP to "uncompress" the CC data in real time by
interpolating direction and time to generate slopes with 14-16 bit
resolution and update intervals. The DSP would have to "guess" the next CC
number based on history and generate a high resolution line segment between
the two points.

I proposed this idea to Bob Moog for the Voyager (that is, if he even read
the e-mail), but I can understand a concern that if there was ANY DSP in an
analog synth, even just as a MIDI I/O processor, it could confuse people and
hurt sales.

> 
> Don Tillman <don at till.com> wrote :
> 
>> Because MIDI is unmusical.
>> 
>> Think of all the truly great keyboard solos or riffs, the ones you
>> personally find memorable and inspirational.  Were any of them
>> performed over a MIDI stream?  None of my favorites were.
>> 
>> MIDI also hides the touch and personality of the player.  If you
>> listen to, say, Miles Davis, you can tell it's him with one note.
>> Stevie Wonder playing harmonica?  One note.  Keith Emerson playing
>> Hammond?  Maybe two notes.  Can you spot *anybody* playing a over MIDI
>> stream?  I sure can't.
>