A data protocol that records performance information — which note, how hard it was played, and how long it lasted — rather than sound itself. MIDI triggers a sound source, like a virtual instrument, to actually produce audio.

Music Theory · Chapter 16, Lesson 16.2 — Music Production & Technology

MIDI vs. Audio

Q: Can you do the same with recorded audio?

Not the same way. Audio is editable through tools like comping, fades, and time-stretching, but you can't swap the recorded sound for a different instrument — the original performance is baked into the waveform.

One is a set of instructions for making a sound. The other is the sound itself. Confusing the two is the single most common beginner mix-up in a DAW.

Intermediate ⏱ 5 min read 🎹 Interactive

MIDI: performance data, not sound

MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) doesn't store any sound at all. It records performance information — which note was played, how hard (velocity), and for how long — and sends that information to a sound source, usually a virtual instrument, which is what actually generates the audio you hear. Because MIDI is just data, it's infinitely editable after the fact: you can move notes, fix timing, change velocities, or swap the instrument entirely.

Audio: the recorded waveform itself

Audio is a recording of an actual sound wave — a mic'd guitar amp, a sung vocal, a live drum kit. It's editable in its own ways (trimming, fades, comping, time-stretching, pitch correction), but you can't reroute it to a different instrument the way you can with MIDI. What you recorded is what you've got.

🎹 Same Notes, Different Instrument This is the same 4-note MIDI phrase every time — only the instrument sound changes. Then compare it to a "locked" audio recording.

The MIDI buttons trigger identical note data through three different instrument sounds. The locked button always plays back the exact same fixed recording, no matter what.

💡 Trivia: Because MIDI files store only performance data, they're tiny — a few kilobytes for an entire song — while the equivalent audio recording could be tens of megabytes. That's also why swapping a MIDI track's instrument costs zero re-recording, but changing an audio track's "instrument" means recording it again from scratch.

Common questions

What is MIDI?

A data protocol that records performance information — which note, how hard, how long — rather than sound itself. It triggers a sound source, like a virtual instrument, to produce audio.

What is audio in a DAW?

A recording of an actual sound wave, such as a mic'd guitar amp or a sung vocal — the captured sound itself, not instructions for generating one.

Can you change the instrument of a MIDI part after recording it?

Yes — since MIDI only stores performance data, you can route the same notes to any virtual instrument at any time.

Can you do the same with recorded audio?

Not the same way. Audio is editable through comping, fades, and time-stretching, but you can't swap the recorded sound for a different instrument.

Practice hearing the difference

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MIDI: performance data, not sound

Audio: the recorded waveform itself

Common questions

Practice hearing the difference

Keep learning