Computer Music

MIDI keyboards are digital music instruments that utilise a piano-style keyboard. Unlike synthesizers, which are similar in appearance, they do not generate any sound themselves and instead create music through external devices. When the keys are pressed, information is sent via the MIDI (musical instrument digital interface protocol) format to an electronic module or another musical device, which produces the sound. MIDI basically works in a similar way to a USB cable, acting as a networking tool between instruments, for example a synthesizer and a drum machine.

Many MIDI keyboards themselves come with USB connections that allow them to be connected directly to a computer for recording and composition purposes. It would typically connect to other instruments via cables between its MIDI out ports and their MIDI in ports, allowing the keyboard player to control a vast array of sounds at just the touch of button. Many MIDI keyboards also allow the users to control note duration, modulation and volume, as well as featuring pitch bending functions.

MIDI keyboards are essentially used to control music software or are used in conjunction with synth modules. They are viewed as appealing for music beginners due to their relative size and portability, the low cost and easy availability of software and the general inexpensiveness of the keyboards themselves, as well as their simplicity.