BERKELEY, California — July 13, 2010 — Keith McMillen Instruments, an innovator of creative technology for string instruments, today announced the formation of the StringPort Developer Program, which will provide software synthesizer developers with documentation and sample source code to easily develop StringPort versions of their software synthesizers.

At the core of the documentation is the release of the Acoustic Instrument Message (AIM™) Specification. Acoustic Instrument Message (AIM) is a spectral descriptor language for any acoustic instrument. It is an open, license free specification, which solves most of the problems associated with the keyboard model for synthesis control. AIM can be sent over MIDI, OSC, UDP, or any transport layer.

AIM, developed by KMI, communicates performance data from acoustic instruments such as guitars and violins to software synthesizers within StringPort applications or running within a plug-in host. AIM provides a level expressiveness never before realized with MIDI.

About Keith McMillen Instruments
Founded in 2005, Keith McMillen Instruments is a privately held company based in Berkeley, California. KMI is known for its expertise in expressive computer-based tools for string players and guitarists and has created a series of groundbreaking musical products, including StringPort, the first computer platform for guitar and K-Bow, a Bluetooth sensor bow, as well as the 2010 NAMM “Best of Show” award-winners, Batt-O-Meter, the first musician’s battery tester, and SoftStep, the first USB foot controller with Sensor Key Technology™. KMI enables musicians familiar with traditional string instruments (violin, viola, cello, double bass, electric bass, or electric guitar) to use the computer as an extension of their current playing ability. KMI is devoted to this endeavor and believes that its products will enable performers to take their music in directions never before possible.