#62 Windows MIDI Routing

[Juan Pablo Cuervo]

Hi,
most MIDI synths have Local Mode = On/Off
Basically its a Dual Mirror MIDI Out.

VMPK should have 2 MIDI OUTs,
the reason is to send MIDI Notes to other MIDI program like MIDI-OX that does Not have sound,
or similar MIDI monitor / analyzer.
but able to hear the Sound of VMPK simultaneously.

like a synth with Local Mode = On,

.

[Pedro Lopez-Cabanillas]

You are not using the "MIDI Local Mode" concept correctly.

MIDI Local Mode only applies to MIDI devices having a MIDI controller component (like a piano keyboard) and a MIDI Synthesizer component. Both components are internally connected, with a switch that allows their disconnection, named "MIDI Local Mode". When Local Mode is OFF, the controller component is not connected to the synth (so it doesn't produce sound when triggering MIDI note events at the controller).

VMPK does not have an internal synthesizer component. It is only a MIDI controller, so there is not a Local Mode switch. For several years since its birth the users needed to find, install and connect a MIDI synth on their systems to be able to produce sound from VMPK. Since the release v0.6.0 VMPK is distributed with several synths for each supported platform as Drumstick::RT MIDI outputs. But there is no need for a Local Mode switch, because each MIDI output can be selected as a different MIDI connection in the MIDI connections dialog, and some outputs are not even synthesizers.

VMPK works on Linux and macOS as well as Windows, using each operating system MIDI infrastructure, which does not share the same capabilities. Both macOS and Linux provide internal MIDI routing, which means that virtual MIDI cables are not needed (not like Windows), and one MIDI program can output MIDI events for several receivers at the same time (which is another limitation of some Windows versions and MIDI windows drivers).

Anyway, you may solve these Windows limitations with MIDI-OX quite easily, following these instructions:

• First, you need a Virtual MIDI cable, like loopMIDI. Install and start the program before anything else.
• Then, you also need a MIDI Synth. Windows comes with the preinstalled "Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth", but my advice is to install a better alternative like VirtualMIDISynth
• Then in MIDI-OX Options->MIDI Devices, select "loopMIDI" in MIDI Inputs, and "VirtualMIDISynth" as MIDI Output. In the "MIDI Port Routing" window, connect "loopMIDI" with "VirtualMIDISynth".
• In VMPK, MIDI Connections dialog, select "Windows MM" in MIDI OUT driver, and "LoopMIDI port" as output MIDI connection".

Now, you can trigger notes in VMPK, and you will hear sounds from the synthesizer at the same time you can see the MIDI events in MIDI-OX monitor windows.

[Pedro Lopez-Cabanillas]

Ticket moved from /p/vmpk/feature-requests/73/