MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It’s the language spoken by computers and electronic musical instruments. We’ll assume that you’re connecting a MIDI keyboard, although you can use any MIDI instrument. In this manual, “MIDI keyboard” refers to whatever type of MIDI device you are using.
At the very least, you’ll need the following equipment for an operational MIDI system (not including your computer):
The last item, a MIDI interface, is a box that translates the signals arriving from the MIDI keyboard into signals the computer understands, and vice versa. Interfaces can be very simple or very elaborate. The most basic ones require no external power and have ports (jacks) for a single MIDI keyboard; more expensive models have ports for multiple MIDI devices or other features. Most Macs have USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports, a standard that allows users to connect devices to their computers without needing to restart for the devices to become active.
Your MIDI system is now configured. To name a MIDI device or configure additional settings, jump ahead to Configuring MIDI in OS X. If you do not wish to name a MIDI device or make additional settings, you can skip ahead to Starting Finale.
Tip. To playback using General MIDI or a non-General MIDI instrument on your external MIDI keyboard or sound module, see Assigning instruments to MIDI sounds.
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