What Does A MIDI Controller Do?

A MIDI controller enables you to perform music on a digital device in an audio language a computer or some other kind of device understands. As the same suggests, MIDI controllers harness something called MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface). This is a universal communication protocol that communicates a musical performance in a digital language, and is used to send commands from a MIDI controller to other devices.

Instead of sound itself, MIDI sends information and instructions about how notes and patterns are performed. MIDI therefore allows digital music equipment to communicate with each other. Sent as binary, MIDI information is translated to what you see or hear - for example, the playing of a note or the change of a device setting.