May Is MIDI Month 2020 is the third annual celebration of MIDI, the technology that has powered hit records, live performances, songwriting collaborations, educational initiatives and even Broadway plays. It takes on added significance because of the recent ratification of the ground-breaking MIDI 2.0 specification.
May Is MIDI Month is a unique collaboration of more than 23,000 individuals and companies who work, play, and create with MIDI. This global community involves The MIDI Association (TMA), whose members participate in free online activities at midi.org and the MIDI Manufacturer Association (MMA), the non-profit trade organization that maintains and advances the MIDI specification, and counts big players in the tech and manufacturing world, including Google, Apple, Yamaha, Roland, Art+Logic, and more.
Recognizing the toll that COVID-19 has taken on the creative community, this year’s May Is MIDI Month is soliciting donations from MIDI Association members, with all proceeds going to the Grammy MusicCares COVID-19 Relief Fund. To help meet its goal of $15,000, May Is MIDI Month corporate MMA sponsors Ableton, Art+Logic, Audio Modeling, Bome, IK Multimedia, Moog, Steinberg, Sweetwater, and Yamaha will match donations, turning every individual dollar that’s donated into $10 for the cause.
Each Saturday in May, TMA will present live webinars on new MIDI developments at 1 p.m. Eastern/10 a.m. Pacific time. Every Sunday, a newsletter will cover the technology behind MIDI, as well as the artists who are using MIDI to expand their creative boundaries. Additional articles posted on the TMA’s midi.org site, and discussions on the site’s forums, will further demystify what MIDI 2.0 means to artists. All of these activities are free to TMA members, and membership is also free. There will also be a number of potential stories for outlets to report on throughout the month that focus on the cooperation necessary to develop the new standard, how MIDI 2.0 will affect musicians, and a preview of some of the possible hardware developed in anticipation of the new standard.
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