Is MPE the same as MIDI HD?

MPE – or Multidimensional Polyphonic Expression – goes beyond what’s offered by the standard MIDI protocol by enabling you to control multiple parameters for every note in MPE-compatible software. It’s come about because of the availability of controllers such as ROLI’s Seaboard and Roger Linn’s Linnstrument, but bear in mind that MPE is still based on ‘standard’ MIDI, and isn’t a replacement for it.

MIDI HD, on the other hand, is a potential successor to MIDI that’s

been talked about for several years. Presumably, it would incorporate some of the per-note control that’s been introduced with MPE and offer higher data resolution. Coming up with a final standard isn’t going to be easy as it’ll need to be something all hardware and software companies are willing to sign up to and support, and you would assume that it’ll need to be backwards compatible with the original MIDI spec as well.