Setting up MIDI in the modern studio
MIDI is still used in today’s studio, and you may even have a device or two with those familiar five-pin DIN connectors. Modern dedicated MIDI controllers such as keyboards and drum pads might be more likely to use USB to shuttle MIDI signals in and out of the computer – perhaps the easiest way to interface MIDI noawadays.
Nevertheless, you might need to go the DIN route. If so, a dedicated MIDI interface may be required. Quite a few options exist, most offering one or more MIDI In and Out ports that are then sent to and from the computer via – you guessed it – USB.
Many audio interfaces provide MIDI ports alongside various audio connectors. It’s a simple matter to patch a cable from either of the above options into the MIDI hardware with which you’d like to interface.
With the advent of iPads and other portable computing devices, wireless connections are now possible. In this case, you might, say, use an iPad as a control surface for your MIDI software and hardware. This will likely require the installation of a dedicated app on your desktop machine that can act as a sort of middle man between the tablet and the target MIDI device.
An example of a common setup might be a USB MIDI controller connected to a desktop computer, which in turn shuttles MIDI signals through MIDI ports on an audio or dedicated MIDI interface to a MIDI-equipped synthesiser or drum machine.