Legitimate and fascinating, MIDI music has propelled itself to the front lines of music composition, aiding in the fight against the technical overlords of pop and bridging the gap between the material and intangible.
As music and graphics (or even motion picture) come together, so does the 21st century adopt a new interest in computerized tools to compose and create music art. This time, however, MIDI is refreshed with graphic art entwined with classical composition to form what new tech nerds are calling "Black MIDI."
No, nothing pejorative about this, "Black MIDI" juxtaposes computerized graphic art with MIDI samplings of classical piano tones. The hybrid jams 4.5 million notes--or sometimes more--into a linear piece not suitable for any piano player.
You can't notate it, because that would be sacrilege--and also mathematically and humanly impossible.
"What's fascinating about black MIDI isn't the rather trivial gamesmanship of stacking notes. It's how the art form draws its meaning from fusing graphic, aural, and technical design together into something that's more than the sum of those primitive parts," says John Pavlus at Fast Co. Design.
It's astonishing the technique and sleight of hand required to place all these experimental notes into one recorded song.
"Is [Black MIDI] a graphic pattern set to music, a sequence of notes animated in time and space, or a UI demo as performance art?"
"Yes," says Pavlus.
Don't believe me? Take your own listen (with headphones) and experience something otherworldly revealing about the modern landscape of music and it's ever-changing façade.
