MIDI
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Musical Instrument Digital Interface is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of ele
Using MIDI, a single controller (often a musical keyboard, as pictured here) can play multiple electronic instruments, which increases the portability and flexibility of stage setups. This system fits into a single rack case, but before MIDI, it would have required four separate full-size keyboard instruments, plus outboard mixing and effects units.
Dave Smith (right), one of the creators of MIDI
5-pin DIN MIDI cable plugged in a socket
Smaller MIDI controllers are popular due to their portability. This two-octave unit provides a variety of controls for manipulating various sound design parameters of computer-based or standalone hardware instruments, effects, mixers and recording devices.
Sound module
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A sound module is an electronic musical instrument without a human-playable interface such as a piano-style musical keyboard. Sound modules have to be operated using an externally connected device, wh
Korg Triton rack-mountable sound module
A Studio Electronics Omega 2 rackmount module
A WERSI OX7 micro, a clonewheel organ module
The Access Virus A module