The Juilliard School in New York, Berklee School of Music in Boston, UCLA and London Royal School of Music are just some of the finest music schools in the world; and they are all offering courses in Music Technology or had made it as part of their curriculum for several years now.
MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface, IPA: /ˈmɪdi/) is an industry-standard protocol that enables electronic musical instruments, computers, and other equipment to communicate, control, and synchronize with each other. MIDI allows computers, synthesizers, MIDI controllers, sound cards, samplers and drum machines to control one another, and to exchange system data. (from Wikipedia)
Truly, MIDI files are great help in teaching choirs and singers but it must not be confined to that. Behind the small files with mid extensions is a far bigger world of knowledge. Most notation softwares are created based on the MIDI devices used by computers. They just change extension names when they associate the saving of files with their programs, thus having the mus, orc, cw, enc and others out there.
But even if you're using MIDIs, you must also have an understanding of acoustic instruments and voices.
The art and craft of music has taken on new dimensions in the last several years, largely due to MIDI. There is now an infinite (and affordable) choice of sounds and textures available.
While technology has changed rapidly, the principles of music remain unchanged. MIDI is a powerful tool but not a replacement for solid musical thought. It gives us control over our music in ways never before available, but the music still should have substance on its own. MIDIs and technology can challenge, stimulate, and gives us ways of hearing and manipulating music we may never have considered. MIDI - it's an amazing and powerful tool and YES, it helps.
