In both the U.S. and Japan in the early 1980s, audio gear companies like Yamaha, Korg and Roland wanted to make it so their instruments could talk to one another. They soon came up with a new kind of electronic circuitry which enabled their equipment to synchronize with other instruments from different manufacturers.
The first prototypes were released a few years later, and many recognized the radical success and benefits these units could bring, particularly where saving space was concerned. By the end of the 90s, the industry was transformed even more with the introduction of MIDI sequencers, drum machines, and the first MIDI-supported computers. Soon the MIDI revolution was born, and now MIDI is used in everything from home recording, preproduction performances, and in musical education as a whole.