The MIDI Association Makes Donation to MusiCares
The “May is MIDI Month” campaign, a month-long celebration of MIDI and its users, has recently concluded. The third-annual event centered around MIDI 2.0 and was presented in cooperation between The MIDI Association (TMA) and the MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA). Events included the presentation of webinars, online materials, and fundraising for COVID-19 relief.
MIDI or the Musical Instrument Digital Interface “is an industry-standard music technology protocol that connects products from many different companies including digital musical instruments, computers, tablets, and smartphones.” The standard was developed in the early 1980s, with seminal roles played by Roland Corporation founder Ikutaro Kakehashi and Sequential Circuits President, Dave Smith.
MIDI was then announced by Dr. Robert Moog, founder of Moog Music, in the October 1982 issue of Keyboard Magazine. MIDI made its NAMM Show debut the following January when Smith connected a Prophet 600 and Roland JP-6 synthesizer.
The MIDI Association’s (TMA) mission is to “nurture an inclusive global community of people who create music and art with MIDI,” which was demonstrated when their members, alongside donations from Art + Logic, Ableton, Audio Modeling, Bome, IK Multimedia, Melodics, Moog, Roland, Steinberg, Sweetwater, and Yamaha made an association record-breaking donation of over $18,000 to MusiCares, an organization dedicated to providing a “safety net of critical assistance for music people in times of need.”
Athan Billias, MMA Treasurer remarked, “Being an all-volunteer, non-profit organization, the revenue from our yearly fundraiser traditionally improves member services for the global MIDI Association community. This year, with COVID-19 affecting so many musicians, we felt it crucial to donate every penny to MusiCares and help further the GRAMMY® Foundation’s COVID-19 relief efforts.” Craig Anderton, TMA president, commented on the donation stating, “Like the original MIDI spec, once again an entire industry and community of users have joined together to advance music technology, as well as assist our fellow musicians through these difficult times.”
Individuals who use MIDI technology are invited to join the association to “learn about MIDI, share their experiences and creative projects on forums, participate in TMA webinars, and broaden their MIDI knowledge.” For more information about The MIDI Association, please visit them at www.MIDI.org and to learn more about the efforts of MusiCares, please visit them at https://www.grammy.com/musicares.