MIDI-CI and Kemper?

  • I see that Access is part of the MMA (Midi Manufacturers Association) and I’m wondering if there is development happening for MIDI-CI and the Kemper? I could see this having a positive impact on a potential editor and perhaps easier plug-and-play with different controllers, software, and DAWs...

  • Unless a bunch of the big boys jump on board (doubtful at this point) I don't see MIDI-CI getting a lot of traction. It's about 30 years too late.


    Mackie Control became the de facto standard for YEARS simply because MIDI-CI didn't exist. Once you get beyond the capabilities of the basic MIDI protocol a manufacturer is better off just using SysEx (like Kemper does now), supporting OSC (which works over ethernet, which is now ubiquitous), or using proprietary USB communication.


    It looks like MIDI-CI is just standard set of calls & responses for capability negotiation over SysEx. I suppose if it's simple enough for a manufacturer to expose that information (e.g. a standard way of getting the patch names), then I could see it happening, but probably not in the next 10 years. Heck, most can't seem to do MIDI correctly half the time now.

  • I’m thinking there will be potentially be improvements to things like Auto Mapping and potentially preset management (Kemper has said they’re working on new preset management currently). I know a guy on the MIDI-CI development team and while he can’t share anything specific, from what I gather it sounds like some of the big boys might be on board already. Next-gen MIDI sounds like it is well underway and it seems like a high priority is getting more pieces of gear and software to talk to each other in a more automated fashion which would certainly be welcome.