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From: nichomax@cattell.psych.upenn.edu (Nicholas Maxwell)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.audio
Subject: Re: Midi
Message-ID: <37309@netnews.upenn.edu>
Date: 11 Feb 91 14:15:47 GMT
References: <89933@unix.cis.pitt.edu>
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I'm no expert, but here goes:
MIDI is a language or code for specifying what musical instruments should do.
All of the communication in MIDI is acheived with numbers from 0 to 128.  A
simple request for the commencement of a note is denoted with three numbers:
one indicates that the set of three is a note-on request, a second determines
which note (i.e. C, C# etc.) should be played, and a third indicates the
initial velocity of the note-on.  The initial velocity is akin to how hard you
hit the keys on a piano.

Clearly some computer-like controller must take the midi information and use
it to actually play the instrument.  Thus the usual midi-receiving instruments
are synthsizers and sample-players.  Some manufacturers have made MIDI player
pianos, and MIDI has been used to control other mechanical events such as
stage lights and moving sculptures.

In your situation, I think you'd find that buying a MIDI interface and a
keyboard such as a Casio CZ101 or Yamaha DX100 (either of which you ought to
be able to buy used for roughly $100) will be most useful.  These keyboards
both send and receive MIDI.  You could use them to enter music into your
sequencer (although different sequencers differ in how easily they allow
this), and you could play your music back both through the keyboard and
through your Amiga.  This will increase the number if kinds of sounds you can
make, and the number of voices which can be playing at one time.

Hope that's helpful.

nichomax@cattell.psych.upenn.edu