What is MIDI? What is CC?

What Is MIDI?

The term MIDI is an acronym that stands for Music Instrument Digital Interface. 

MIDI is a communication protocol—a way for different computers, devices, and software and hardware instruments to communicate information with each other. 

Since MIDI signals don’t contain any audio recording, it’s possible to pass the same MIDI sequence to different instruments, making it very convenient in music production. Another advantage of MIDI is that notes can easily be edited without the need to play the sequence on a real instrument.

MIDI signals by themselves are just a series of messages. These MIDI messages contain information about how a note should be played. There are several types of messages—for example, “note on” or “note off”, and CC messages, which we’ll discuss in a second. 

These messages can then be passed on to any digital instrument and translated into a sound.

What Is CC?

CC stands for Control Change or sometimes, Continuous Control. 

CC is one of the types of messages included in the MIDI protocol and is used to extend the range of functionality of a MIDI message. 

For example, a keyboard pedal will be assigned a specific CC number to record and control a specific music parameter, like the level of Expression. If you’re using some of our SWAM instruments, you’ll have noticed this parameter is especially important.

There’s a total of 128 CC numbers that can be mapped to different parameters, from CC0 to CC127. For example, the Expression parameter—which could be controlled by a pedal, a knob, a wheel, or by the breath on a breath controller—is usually mapped by default to CC11. The sustain parameter, controlled by a sustain pedal on a keyboard, for example, is usually mapped to CC64 by default. 

If you’re using SWAM instruments, you have the possibility to change all the default CC mappings within the plug-in’s interface.