>It's one of many reasons straight up MIDI sounds so weird
PSA for anyone who needs to hear it: MIDI doesn't have a sound any more than sheet music does.
General MIDI-compatible software tone generator in Windows 95 is no more "MIDI" than an untuned piano in an abandoned house is "classical music".
MIDI to music is what TCP/IP is for communication (incidentally, these protocols are of the same age). If you want to "hear" MIDI, turn on the radio. You will "hear" MIDI in the same way you are "seeing" TCP/IP now, reading this page.
The limitations of this protocol do have an effect on sound, but in a subtle way. For instance, implementation of polyphonic pitch bend / slide was not standardized in the 80s. As a result, it was pretty much absent from electronic instruments until recently. A new MIDI-based standard, MPE, addresses that.
PSA for anyone who needs to hear it: MIDI doesn't have a sound any more than sheet music does.
General MIDI-compatible software tone generator in Windows 95 is no more "MIDI" than an untuned piano in an abandoned house is "classical music".
MIDI to music is what TCP/IP is for communication (incidentally, these protocols are of the same age). If you want to "hear" MIDI, turn on the radio. You will "hear" MIDI in the same way you are "seeing" TCP/IP now, reading this page.
The limitations of this protocol do have an effect on sound, but in a subtle way. For instance, implementation of polyphonic pitch bend / slide was not standardized in the 80s. As a result, it was pretty much absent from electronic instruments until recently. A new MIDI-based standard, MPE, addresses that.