MIDI Does Not Actually Carry Audio

Surprisingly, a MIDI cable does not transmit any sound at all. Instead, it sends digital instructions like pressing a key or shifting a pitch, telling your instruments exactly what to play.

Think of MIDI as a digital sheet music language rather than an audio signal. When you press a key on a controller, the device simply sends a message containing the note pitch and timing to a sound module. Because it only carries data, a tiny file can represent an entire symphonic arrangement. This invention revolutionized music production by letting computers and synthesizers communicate seamlessly since 1983.