JSFoo: round the year submissions

MIDI is a niche protocol designed for musical instruments to talk to each other. It’s event-oriented approach to messages feels at home in the async world of JavaScript & Node. More excitingly, Chrome and Firefox now “speak” MIDI natively thanks to the WebMIDI API and W3C specification.

This unlikely tech stack — microcontrollers + JavaScript + MIDI — can lend itself to creative programming well beyond music. In this workshop will explore MIDI hardware interaction through JavaScript and how it can be used in conjunction with other browser APIs to build fun, interactive experiences.

Outline #

• Introduction to MIDI
• Introduction to WebMIDI and basic hello world examples
• Exploration of provided micro-controllers and how to send-receive MIDI signals to them
• How to leverage with other browser APIs to creative interactive experiences
• Building several examples together as a group
• Where to go and what to explore from here

Requirements #

Participants must bring a laptop with a USB-A port and have Chrome installed. Microcontrollers will be provided.

Speaker bio #

George Mandis is a freelance web developer, consultant, frequent traveler and occasional educator based primarily out of Portland, Oregon. He’s worked with startups, professional sports teams, small businesses and individuals but excels at helping people find elegant solutions for their projects. He spent a year living as a digital nomad, inadvertently cheated at a marathon in North Korea and writes frequently on technology and travel on his website.

Links #

• This workshop is based on a talk I’ve given previously, including at JSFoo 2017 which you can watch here:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0-XLrr8icY