MIDI driver for xorg?
Crypto
crptdngl71 at gmx.net
Mon Jan 25 02:03:40 PST 2010
Hi,
I'm new to this list and I would like to know if there is a MIDI driver for
the xorg xserver.
Before you think "my, that's a silly question for a starter..." let me
describe why I think that there could actually be very good reasons for that.
1.) MIDI interfaces connect to PCs typically via USB or joystick port. The USB
connectivity is similar to that standard USB computer keyboards. From that
interface-based point of view they do not differ much from ordinary keyboards.
2.) MIDI devices transmit data at rather low speed in short commands in a
byte-wise "language" which includes not only commands (e.g. NOTE ON/OFF) but
also "stream data" for some musical events. This again is similar to ordinary
keyboards.
3.) If a GUI of an application was able to understand incoming MIDI events it
could be remotely controlled via MIDI interface, aside with mouse and
keyboard. This is actually my main reason for writing this - I have found
that there are really few applications out there that have a) a GUI, b) can be
fully MIDI controlled. In most cases it would be a question of selecting a
menu entry using MIDI commands instead of an F-key or mouse button, so it
looks like it could be done by making MIDI commands known to the shortcut
tools of applications, thus by implementing a MIDI xorg driver.
Maybe it is mainly a question of real-time capabilities of the underlying
hardware driver it could not be done yet, but maybe there are/have been other
good reasons for not having a MIDI xorg-driver?
Thanks for shading some light on this and kind regards,
Crypto.
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