“You can actually play something like a digital horn, for example”: Archive BBC footage reveals the wonders of MIDI music making in 1990

It may have been announced in 1983, but it was in the mid-to-late ‘80s that MIDI really started to have an impact in bedroom music production circles. By then, we had the Atari ST, a computer with built-in MIDI ports, and software sequencers that were capable of taking advantage of them.

Plus, multitimbral synths were getting more affordable, so it was possible to buy just one keyboard and use it to create a complete arrangement.