MIDI File Reader/Parser

[deraudrl]

Before I start yet another scavenger hunt, is there a MIDI file parser module available? Or maybe an external app that plays MIDI files and looks like a MIDI input device to the MIDI In Devices component?

Seems like there should be such a beast by now, but I'm not having any luck finding it.

[trogluddite]

There's nothing native to FS that I know of, but if you just want to pump a MIDI tune into FS, that's pretty simple to arrange. You'll need two things...

- A MIDI "loopback" driver. This pretends to be a hardware MIDI driver, and is treated as such within any MIDI-able application; but the inputs and outputs transfer the data to each other, so they act as a virtual MIDI cable between applications. I've used the freebie loopMIDI for years with absolutely no problem on any Windows version, and which allows you to define and name multiple ports which are all multi-client (can be shared/merged between applications).

- An application that will play the MIDI files to any hardware (or pretend hardware) port. There are a few, but I use MIDI-OX (again, a freebie), which despite its veteran age, is a MIDI tool that I'd never be without. The player is pretty basic, but it gets the job done, and it has a few other tools which are handy for generating MIDI test signals and for snooping on what messages your devices and apps are sending.

Then you just select one of the virtual MIDI ports as the output of the player, and select the same port as the input in FlowStone. Merging/filtering my hardware MIDI devices via MIDI-OX and a virtual cable is my usual way of working, as it means that I can hot-plug devices and re-route things without having to open/close applications, and I've never noticed any problems with latency etc.

[deraudrl]

Thanks. "loopMidi" sounds familiar, but it's been a decade since I messed with anything host-ish that would have used such a thing.

[billv]

There was a schematic,made by on of those Guru's, I think it was tula or myco,
it was very well made, in which you could load midi files and have fun with.
I remember it clearly, cause it was one of those "groundbreaking" schematics.
Unfortunately, I cant find it on my cpu.. ..
But i did come across this, that might help...
http://www.dsprobotics.com/support/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12391&hilit=midi+file+player#p42828

[kortezzzz]

Attaching anything related to it which has been found on my HDD (works with FS 3.0.6. Dunno about later versions). Hope it helps. By the way, I would love to have a native midi file reader\player primitive on FS4. It has a lot of potential in the nowadays software production \ development scene. Of course, to make it happen, the realtime midi performance on FS should be upgraded as well (and I have no idea if it's doable... )

[deraudrl]

Attaching anything related to it which has been found on my HDD (works with FS 3.0.6. Dunno about later versions). Hope it helps.

Thanks, I'll get a look at it later. (Dealing with a minor medical issue the last 24 hours...getting old sucks. )

[trogluddite]

For completeness, there's a more recent version of the 'MIDI Recorder' in my 'MIDI Helpers' download. It's not as pretty looking, but the end-of-loop point is captured in a more useful way, and the recorded MIDI is stored along with the schematic or when you copy the module to the toolbox - so you can capture little snippets of test recordings for dragging into a schematic when you don't have a MIDI keyboard handy.

@deraudrl
Hope you're fighting fit again soon. I'm getting to the age where I'd give my right arm for a whole-body transplant sometimes (though I doubt anyone would think that a very fair transaction!) As for my memory, I can only be thankful that there are people like kortezzzz around to remind me when one of my old uploads might be pertinent to a thread!

[deraudrl]

@deraudrl Hope you're fighting fit again soon. I'm getting to the age where I'd give my right arm for a whole-body transplant sometimes (though I doubt anyone would think that a very fair transaction!) As for my memory, I can only be thankful that there are people like kortezzzz around to remind me when one of my old uploads might be pertinent to a thread!

Just a touch of positional vertigo...recurs every six months or so, and makes sitting in front of a computer rather uncomfortable, as moving my head back and forth at certain angles makes the room spin.

What I was able to look at today looks pretty useful, maybe a couple of easy mods away from what I had in mind. And yes, I also saw the other stuff in the 'User Examples' forum. ("Easy mods" assumes I dig in and learn Ruby at some level, but so it goes.) Thanks to all who contributed.

[deraudrl]

Attaching anything related to it which has been found on my HDD (works with FS 3.0.6. Dunno about later versions). Hope it helps. By the way, I would love to have a native midi file reader\player primitive on FS4. It has a lot of potential in the nowadays software production \ development scene. Of course, to make it happen, the realtime midi performance on FS should be upgraded as well (and I have no idea if it's doable... )

The 'Midi File File Utility' one blew up in my copy of 3.0.6, claiming to be generated in a newer version. The original from another thread (without the "tested" in the title) seems to work ok some of the time, but throws random Ruby errors depending on the file it's trying to consume.

[kortezzzz]

I can only be thankful that there are people like kortezzzz around to remind me when one of my old uploads might be pertinent to a thread!

Sorry Trog, but I didn't even remembered it was made by you, since I haven't saved the downloaded schematic with an additional name tag (which I lately do. something like "trog's_midi recorder" for instance instead of just "midi recorder") Thanks for sharing this lovely gadget!

The 'Midi File File Utility' one blew up in my copy of 3.0.6, claiming to be generated in a newer version. The original from another thread (without the "tested" in the title) seems to work ok some of the time, but throws random Ruby errors depending on the file it's trying to consume.

Oh, sorry. Maybe I've messed with it in the Alfa and re-saved it there. I don't remember (aging do sucks! ). It's a good idea to replace the icon of any schematic that has been saved as an alfa project. That would prevent accidents and let us know which file is old version and which is newer.