Is MIDI evil?

Is MIDI evil?

Notion, a new notation software package, offers playback capabilities that feature the London Symphony Orchestra.

Written By

Molly Sheridan

The march of technology may be unstoppable, but does it ever feel like it’s veering off in a potentially dangerous direction? I bring this up because we’ve been talking a lot lately about MIDI around the office—its artistic merits and economic impact. Few want to give a breathing musician’s job to a machine just because the theater has been arm wrestled by capitalism into economic subservience, but could the Virtual Orchestra be a legitimate musical instrument that by rights should be available to a composer without the 802 running interference? If we give into the machine, how long before we’ll be forced to accept it as a more permanent replacement for human talent, its economic advantages making it “good enough”?

I was forced to ask myself some of these questions again when word came through about Notion, a new notation software package offering playback capabilities that feature the London Symphony Orchestra. The composition program was developed by the Greensboro (NC) company VirtuosoWorks. There’s a little movie you can watch and some sound samples to listen to on the site. It’s difficult from the quick tour to determine just how far and how hard you can push the software, but even using the talents of the LSO and the engineers at Abbey Road Studios, it’s still a cheap imitation of an orchestra to my ears. But if you’re a composer on the verge of completing a new symphony, perhaps the instant gratification is worth that price.