MIDI Association - Specifications & Technical Documentation
by The MIDI Association · MIDI.org
Official hub from the standards body that defines MIDI. Free reference tables list every MIDI 1.0 status byte, control change number and universal SysEx message, alongside MIDI 2.0, transport and Standard MIDI File documentation. The free spec-detail tables are the authoritative answer to 'what does CC11 actually mean' - the exact question producers hit when editing MIDI data.
More resources on Music Production with MIDI
Learning Synths
Interactive browser lessons on the synthesis engine that MIDI notes drive: oscillators, filters, envelopes, LFOs and modulation, each adjustable in a live playground. Explains why velocity and modulation data change a sound rather than just triggering it.
Guy Michelmore (ThinkSpace Education)
A working screen composer demonstrates MIDI mockup technique in real sessions: controller riding for dynamics, articulation choice, note timing and length, and template building so sampled instruments phrase like performers rather than triggered samples.
Acoustic and MIDI Orchestration for the Contemporary Composer (2nd Edition)
Pairs traditional orchestration with sequencing practice, showing how instrument ranges and articulations map onto sampled libraries, keyswitches, velocity layers and controller curves. Chapters cover rhythm, string, wind, brass and vocal writing plus mixed contemporary ensembles.
The MIDI Manual: A Practical Guide to MIDI within Modern Music Production (4th Edition)
The standard single-volume reference on MIDI, covering system interconnection, controllers, sequencing and editing inside the DAW, groove tools, synchronisation and mixing. The fourth edition adds the MIDI 2.0 specification alongside MIDI 1.0 implementation charts.
MIDI Basics (5-part series)
Paul White's five-part primer explaining MIDI as a communications protocol: channels, note on/off, multitimbral modules, program change, continuous controllers, sequencer recording and clock synchronisation. Written for readers who confuse MIDI data with audio.
MIDI for the Technophobe
A plain-language Sound On Sound guide by Paul White explaining how MIDI works in a home studio. Readers learn MIDI channels, messages, sequencing, software instruments and automation well enough to connect gear and record and edit MIDI parts confidently.