The MIDI protocol took its first steps in the early 1980s, but its immense popularity has allowed it to find a place even among the most modern browsers. With its latest stable version, Google Chrome now incorporates native MIDI support, opening a wide range of possibilities for working with external equipment or developing software-based synthesizers and audio workstations, without the need for additional plugins.
A Brief History
The history mentions Ikutaro Kakehashi (founder of Roland), Dave Smith (president of Sequential Circuits), and Tom Oberheim (founder of Oberheim Electronics) as the "fathers" of MIDI. In less than two years, what began as a simple conversation became one of the most successful interfaces ever created, and its 32 years of validity are proof of that. Over time, MIDI improved in every aspect, to the point that we now find it integrated into a web browser. That Google Chrome is the one adding MIDI support is not a coincidence. The intention of the Mountain View giant is clear: turn its web browser into a "digital Victorinox knife", adding additional functions.
The initial appearance of MIDI support in Chrome took place in the beta channel during April, and in the following weeks, different audio workstations and synthesizers based on HTML5 made their appearance. Needless to say, there are still certain limitations (mainly latency) that need to be corrected, but its current state is enough to verify the potential of this new union between Google Chrome and MIDI. Audiotool offers a technical preview of its Heisenberg synthesizer, which, besides using it with the computer keyboard, also allows you to explore its capabilities with an external MIDI keyboard, without plugins or extensions.
The Web MIDI API
The Web MIDI API is available to everyone, so it wouldn't be bad if other developers follow Google Chrome's steps and add MIDI support to their web browsers. At first glance it may seem like a minor resource for the average user, but there are many music enthusiasts and professionals out there who will surely squeeze every last drop, creating melodies and optimizing configurations.
