SYNTH ZONE - MIDI Tech
MIDI & Synth Technical Resources
See the Owners & Service Manuals page if you are searching for links to technical documentation. Music-DSP provide info and resources for music coders.


MIDI & Synth Technical Resources

  • ASM-1 Homepage
  • The ASM-1 Synth is a DIY build your own synth project page.
  • Audio Technical Information
  • A small but unique collection of documents describing some Roland & Ensoniq disk formats and also some Oberheim & Alesis sysex charts.
  • Blacet Research
  • Electronics for music. Blacet provide a number of kits useful to the DIY synth builder including filter, envelope circuits plus more.
  • Bobby Nathan's Keyboard Articles
  • Some selected articles on midi, SMPTE and other related topics.
  • CCRMA - Stanford
  • Center For Computer Research In Music And Acoustics. Provides info on current research. DSP Tutorials are also available in an FTP directory for download.
  • CPS
  • CPS is a realtime interactive programming environment for audio, MIDI and other media & I/O.
  • Dance And Technology
  • Troika Ranch is a dance group using sensors to control MIDI
  • DIY Midi Controllers
  • DIY MIDI controllers using PIC microcontrollers and Basic Stamps.
  • DIY Projects
  • Colin Fraser provides DIY projects to build an analog sequencer and 808/909 clones.
  • DSP Dimension
  • Programming information. Provides explanations and C source for time stretching and pitch shifting. Also explains Fourier Transforms.
  • Eddie's Home
  • Provides a MIDI sysex tutorial.
  • EL-Foil
  • Sell Lightfoils and explains how to replace the foil in your LCD display. Has examples for the Casio FZ-1 and the Akai S-1000.
  • Electrovoce
  • Home of Miditools available as a kit or pre-assembled.
  • E-Music DIY Archive
  • Lots of good info for synth DIY info here.
  • ElectronicPeasant
  • DIY projects and circuits including a vacuum tube synthesizer.
  • EMUSIC-L
  • Midi tech site. Some good Midi info links & resources Include midi messages, timcode, sample dump standards charts. See the Midi SpecPage
  • FLAC
  • FLAC is Free Lossless Audio Codec with builds and source available for most platforms. It provides lossless audio compression and decompression.
  • Frequency Analyzer
  • Freeware Windows software that provides frequency analysis. C++ source code is also available.
  • FM Synthesis Theory
  • The theory behind FM synthesis explained. Also see Music, Synths & TV for more info on FM synthesis.
  • George's Unit Cube
  • Linux midi driver for PC serial ports.
  • GS-XG-GM Visual Basic
  • Some MIDI utilities along with Visual Basic code to help you understand how to control MIDI under VB.
  • Günter Nagler's pub
  • Midi utilies for MSDOS & Unix. Free for non commercial use. Source code included.
  • Harmony Central
  • Highly recommended for all instruments. Some good technical resources & schematics on building MIDI interfaces on the Mac, PC and Amiga, as well as the Midi Resource Page. Also see MIDI Software Development Tools. The Synth Database is a great resource, and can always use input from synth users to build it up further.
  • Guide To Professional Midi
  • Hinton Instruments provides indepth technical midi information.
  • IOTECH
  • Norwegian analog synth repair shop that provides mods with schematics for a numbers of older analog synths including ARP, Sequential Circuits, Korg, Oxford and Roland. Also factory patches available in audio file format.
  • JavaMIDI
  • JavaMIDI is an API for developing Java MIDI applications. Available for both PC and Mac (OMS required).
  • Joe's Modular Synth
  • Joe's modular synthesizer that he designed and built. Also some details of other projects including the MIDI Processor and deluxe Oberheim 4-Voice Interface designed and built for Lyle Mays
  • JMusic
  • Music compositionin Java. A library of classes for generating and manipulating music
  • John S. Allen's Music Page
  • John shares his views on instrument design plus provides Cakewalk info & resources.
  • Jürgen Haible
  • Lots of good synth info and pictures here plus synth mods and schematics are available.
  • KeyKit
  • A MIDI programming language and interface to develop your own MIDI apps. Full source available plus executables for Win95/NT and Linux.
  • Logical Design Tools
  • LDT Inc make Universal Eprom Programmers for those that need to burn their own chips for OS upgrades etc.
  • Linux Midi + Sound Pages
  • Software links, Linux driver & plenty of other info related to midi & sound running on Linux
  • Mac Midi User's Internet Guide
  • A great site that explains how to handle midi files etc. found on the Internet on the Macintosh. How to set file properties, software and much more.
  • Mark Glinsky's Home Page
  • Mark is a collector of manuals & documentation for older & now unsupported synths.
  • Maximum Midi - C++ Toolkit
  • A commercial Win95 C++ midi toolkit for programming midi applications with ease.
  • MIDI Gadgets and Info
  • Phil Rees UK make MIDI accessories including merge, thru boxes, monosynth interfaces & sync units. The site also provides good technical info on SMPTE/EBU Timecode and MIDI
  • MIDI Footswitch Project
  • Project to build your own MIDI footswitch.
  • MIDI Hardware Kits
  • Offer a large number of MIDI controller kits to build.
  • MIDI Microcontroller Kick Pedal
  • Archive of an electronic project to turn a kick drum pedal into a midi controller.
  • MidiShare
  • MidiShare is a musical operating system for Macintosh, Windows 3.1, Windows 95/98, Windows NT/2000, Atari and Linux.
  • MIDI Solutions Inc
  • MIDI solutions make a ton of cool MIDI processing devices and control hardware. Also see John Fast for custom MIDI solutions.
  • Midi Specs
  • A collection of documents detailing MIDI specifications.
  • Midi Technical Fanatic's Pages
  • Midi Technical Fanatic's Brainwashing Center provides lots of good information and resources for those wanting to have more than a basic working understanding of midi.
  • MIDIWerks Page
  • Midi web page
  • MITA International
  • Musical Instrument Technicians Association. Provides useful info on possible parts suppliers ( see the Manufacturers and Suppliers page)
  • MMA Site
  • Midi Manufacturers Association site. Midi information & membership info. Also all MIDI specifications are available.
  • MidiWeb
  • Good technical Midi content in covering both hardware & software. Very good FAQ pages for every midi user. Also the home of the Hardware Web with lot's of schematics including building your own PC midi adapter.
  • Music-DSP.com
  • Source code archive for computer DSP programmers. See TobyBear for links to other DSP related sites.
  • Musicians Tech Central
  • Lots of good DIY related resources.
  • Neil's Webbly World
  • DIY synth module articles and pictures plus some past magazine projects.
  • NoSuch MIDI
  • NoSuch MIDI is a set of Java classes and native methods for doing MIDI on win32 systems. It is capable of MIDI device input, system exclusives, realtime scheduling of output, and reading/writing of Standard MIDI Files.
  • Nuuj's Links
  • A lot of links to interesting DIY and music electronic sites.
  • PAiA Electronics
  • All types of electronic kit projects and components available, including the Fatman analog synth.
  • PC Technical Manual
  • For DIY computer musicians Harmony Central provides an online technical manual showing standard computer port pinouts.
  • Phil Ree's Music Tech Page
  • Phil makes a variety of midi devices including midi thru, midi merge, SMPTE, tape sync and also midi line drivers for transferring midi over long distances.
  • Resonant Frequency
  • Lots of of good DIY material here as well as links to many other resources.
  • Rogus Bogus
  • For Win 95/NT Rogus McBogus is a C++ library that allows fast and easy development of programs that can receive, process, and transmit MIDI data.
  • Super Collider
  • A synthesis programming language for MacOS and is available to download. Source code is available also.
  • Synthesizer Of Schematics
  • Schematics and auto calibration for many brands of synths. Be warned there are popups with this website.
  • Synth Fool
  • Includes patch sheets and schematics for many vintage synths including ARP, Sequential Circuits, Moog, Overheim, Korg and Roland.
  • Synthpage of Geir Kilsti
  • This archived page of Geir Kilsti has diagrams showing the pinouts of the Soundblaster MIDI port and also provides documents with the specs of SDS, SMF, GM/GS and also MIDI controller numbers.
  • Sysex Commands
  • A guide to sysex hex commands, what they mean, how to use them & hex-2-decimal translation charts.
  • Synth.net
  • Hosts a number of synth DIY websites. Very good info for the DIY enthusiast.
  • Synth DIY Page
  • An archive of a past DIY page with some resources, schematics & service manuals for some analog synths.
  • Synthesizer Network
  • Info on various analog synths, related books and midi/CV interfaces.
  • Synthesis Technology
  • A resource site for building, repairing, modifying, and learning about analog music. CEM database and price list. synthesizers.
  • Sysex Commands
  • An archive of a page explaining MIDI sysex communication.
  • SysexDB.com
  • A database of sysex messages for many synths plus it is the home of SyxLibEd a freeware sysex manager for Windows.
  • Technotoys - Midi Tools
  • Technotoys (makers of Seq 303 software 'analog sequencer') also provide some great free Windows midi tools including Musicalc for timing calculations, Midi Hack and Midi Thruway.
  • Tidal Music
  • Provide DIY synth and MIDI projects.
  • Visual Basic Code
  • A collection of MIDI utilities as well as some examples of MIDI code that you can use with Visual Basic 3.0 or above. There is also an included a spreadsheet that accesses MIDI functions as well. EXCEL 5.0 or 95/97 required.
  • Virtual Sampler SDK
  • A soft wavetable synth engine SDK to use in your own applications.
  • Wavetable Synthesis
  • Harmony Central provide an Acrobat document providing the technical details involved with wavetable synthesis.
  • Your First Synth
  • Info on making your own DIY synthesizer.
  • Zel
  • Zel is an interpretive midi programming lanuage for Windows.
  • Zorin
  • Zorin offer basic HC11 microcontroller boards, accessories and add-ons for particular tasks including MIDI data handling.


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