For the MIDIbox project it is not required to purchase an expensive, “ready-made” programmer in order to get the firmware into the PIC.

Instead you could buy a pre-programmed PIC from SmashTV or Mike, you could ask in the MIDIbox Forum for help, or you could build a PIC programmer by yourself. There are many schematics available on the web. The MBHP_BURNER module is one of such DIY programmers, and it works reliable.

For PIC18F based projects, a PIC programmer is only required to program the MIOS bootloader firmware into the internal flash memory. Once this has been made, you can upload MIOS and applications via MIDI. Details about this process are explained here.

explain the term programming, because it could be confusing for non-technicans