0140 - Demystifying MIDI and Music Composition

Course Description

In recent years, music composition applications have rapidly decreased in price, allowing students to compose solely “in the box” anywhere they want. Such change has been possible in large part due to MIDI, the Musical Instrument Digital Interface—a standard feature in digital audio workstations and notation editors. In this clinic, Oakland University faculty, Dr. Ben Fuhrman, will help demystify MIDI, and guide attendees through its common uses in the music technology and composition worlds that many students are already exploring on their own. In addition, attendees will get hands-on experience with a variety of MIDI controllers, including non-piano layout controllers. Together, we will explore two composition programs, Logic Pro X and the free MuseScore 4, and how MIDI can be used to exchange information between the two programs to produce high-quality scores and recordings independent of musical style or genre.

Learner Outcomes

• Recall and describe the basics of MIDI as a communications protocol and its use in notation and composition software;
• Navigate several MIDI controllers that differ from the standard piano-layout and discuss how they can be used by students; and
• Record and move MIDI files between a digital audio workstation and a notation editor to facilitate student composition styles