From a church in Debre Zeit to the first Red Book–compliant CD manufactured in Ethiopia, this is the documented history of how Paulos Regassa, Yacob Regassa, Christian Girma, and their circle built the country's digital music infrastructure — milestone by milestone.
Musical Instrument Digital Interface — a protocol allowing instruments, computers, and devices to communicate. Transmits note and velocity data, not audio signals.
Recording, editing, and playing back MIDI data using hardware or software — allowing a single musician to layer and program multiple instruments digitally.
The 1980 Philips/Sony standard for Audio CDs: 44.1 kHz sampling rate, 16-bit depth. Compliance was required for any disc to be pressed and distributed commercially.
At the Debre Zeit Mekane Yesus Church, Paulos Regassa began arranging gospel music on an advanced German-imported Technics keyboard. While it supported sequencing, its hardware interface was severely restrictive.
Yacob Regassa, an electrical engineer who deeply understood the emerging technology, began working on a solution to connect the keyboard to a computer. The primary obstacle was the absolute scarcity of MIDI cables (MIDI In/Out) in Ethiopia at the time. The parts had to be specially imported from Germany to establish the very first functional computer-to-instrument MIDI interface in the country. The initial software used to manage this fragile connection and handle basic data synchronization was a lightweight DOS-era program called MIDI Time PC.
Yonas Gorfe arrived in Ethiopia from Canada, bringing an extra copy of Cubase version 3.1. Once installed on their basic computer setup, the software performed perfectly — enabling far more sophisticated digital sequencing than any standalone hardware keyboard could offer.
Because organizing a full live band was extremely difficult, the team used Cubase to program complete digital arrangements for church singers and hymns.
The Debre Zeit Mekane Yesus Church hosted a landmark gospel concert where the computer was physically brought onto the stage to play back the arranged tracks live while vocalists sang over them. At this stage the computer processed only MIDI data — full digital audio playback remained beyond the hardware of the era.
Paulos Regassa consolidated the MIDI arrangements from the concert, mixed them, and brought the tracks to Solnet Studio — then being established by Captain Solomon Gizaw and Christian Girma, who had recently arrived from Kenya.
Using Solnet's advanced equipment, the MIDI tracks were printed to analog tape, resulting in the 1990 EC release of Paulos Regassa's instrumental album — the first commercial cassette in Ethiopia featuring computer-sequenced arrangements.
During this period, popular gospel albums were recorded at Solnet Studio — including Lily's "Chelemayehen Geta Eyabera." Though often attributed to computer production, arranger Christian Girma actually used a Dedicated Sequencer Machine without a computer.
Shortly after, a collaborative project featuring the Shibsheba Choirs, Lily's "Kibir Bicha," Ewawo, and Bethlehem Wolde was produced — Christian Girma arranging half the tracks on his hardware sequencer, Paulos Regassa arranging the other half digitally.
Christian Girma established CMM Studio (Christian Multimedia). Yacob Regassa designed and constructed the entire technical and computer infrastructure.
For the first time in Ethiopia, live vocals were digitally recorded directly into a computer alongside sequenced music tracks. To distribute on CD, audio had to comply with the strict Red Book Standard. Yacob adapted the digital files to the required specification, and working alongside Christian and Paulos, produced the very first compliant audio CD from an Ethiopian studio — preserving original fidelity without the generation loss of tape-to-tape copying.
Following these breakthroughs, CMM and other faith-based studios transitioned completely to computer-based Cubase workflows. Secular musicians and producers observed these efficient digital methods within the church studios, learned the techniques, and began adopting Cubase and computer-based sequencing — revolutionizing the mainstream Ethiopian music industry.
Historical Context: These foundational milestones were achieved during a period of severe cultural resistance to computing technology. In late-1990s Ethiopia, computers were frequently viewed with deep suspicion — widespread rumors linked them to eschatological symbols. The breakthroughs required significant risk-taking from the leadership of the Debre Zeit Mekane Yesus Church, who provided the physical space and funding for these early technological experiments.