mimo's MidiOut

type: Effect
version: 1, 0, 0, 1 (very beta)
author: mimo@restoel.net
home: restoel.net/mimo

why another MidiOut?

there are already some machines around which do the same better-but they didnt work on my machine. I think this has to do with the fact that the other one's use the m$win midimapper. this machine bypasses the midimapper and it works for me.

usage

MidiOut comes together with MidiGen which is used as the midi generator (yes!). Use MidiGen to generate MidiSignals and route it into MidiOut (=connect it to MidiOut). ook up the device number in MidiOut's Midi-Info (right-button menu) or set it through the buzz-double-click menu. In Midi-Info you will see a list of all midi-devices that m$win found in your system, on the left you'll see the number (for later use in MidiGen) followed by one of these symbols:

\|	the output is in use by some other application-check view\|preferences\|midi output and disable the device if you want to use it in MidiOut
-	the device is free and can be wired to MidiOut
~	the device is wired to MidiOut and may be used by multiple tracks
!	the device is "bogus"-m$win couldnt query its capabilities (haven't had this one yet)

Edit the pattern in MidiGen - you will need to set a device and a channel even if you selected one already in MidiOut - otherwise you want hear anything (the device you set in MidiOut will override all other device selections you make in MidiGen)

hints

if you dont know why a certain device is not available you can check m$win debug output in Midi-Info Midi System Messages. The list updated whenever a problem occurs - realtime error monitoring!
use one device per track. if you change the device within a track the last note on the previous device will be muted-you might as well like this behavior.
use one channel per track. same effect as with devices applies to changing the channel. I do kind of like this behaviour.
playing a different note on the same track will mute (turn off) the last note played. if you want to play chords use multiple tracks and set them to the same device and channel.
if you're a machine developer dont ever try to write documentation for your machine

limitations

dont change the volume on the connection between MidiGen or MidiOut - otherwise you'll see a lot of messages in Midi-Info. Leave it at maximum.
the delay button doesnt work yet (help! please!)
you may use several MidiOut machines at the same time, but you can only access a certain MidiOut device with one of them. I'm hoping to solve this in future versions but couldnt find out how to "communicate" with another loaded instance of MidiOut in buzz. maybe someone can give me a hint in this cause.
timing works for me. I'm using a seperate soundcard which does nothing else but playing midi. if you use directx for waveout on the same card you may get timing problems. there's no special timing mechanism being used by MidiOut. It plays a note whenever a new buzz-tick arrives. I'll probably have to solve this in a future version. On the other hand cpu usage is very low with this technique. It rises when I use the directx driver for waveout on the same soundcard but I prefer using the asio-driver which gives lower latency and less cpu usage.
the number of tracks is limited to 32. If you need more tracks for any reason whatsoever tell me.
the number of midi devices is limited to 32. I couldnt find a way to change the machines parameter after initialisation of the machine. maybe someone around knows a solution to the matter
at the time given, you can only use one MidiGen per MidiOut. Maybe I'll change this in the future but I didnt really see a point in doing all that work...

programming

yes, you can develop your own midi generators sendig data to a MidiOut. Create a header file with the following content:

typedef enum { 
 c0_Nothing,
 c0_FirstDevice = 128, //meaning not more than 120 devices possible
 c0_LastPossibleValue=128+32
}ECommand0;

typedef enum {
 c1_FirstChannel=0,
 c1_LastChannel=15,
 c1_NoChannel,
 c1_OmniChannel,
 c1_OpenDevice = 128,
 c1_CloseDevice,
 c1_LastPossibleValue
}ECommand1;

MidiOut accepts commands with this syntax send to its Work-method (MidiOut is a mono-machine, the float * is converted to an unsigned char * ):

unsigned char ucDevice,ucChannel,ucMidiStatus,ucMidiData1,ucMidiData2;  == 5 Bytes

ucDevice: ECommand0 (see above):128+device number
ucChannel:ECommand1(see above):channel(0-15),or Open/Close Device; rest is not implemented yet
ucMidiStatus: Midi Status Byte: 0x8 for Note Off; 0x9 for Note On, ...
ucMidiData1: Midi Data Byte 1 (eg .Note)
ucMidiData2: Midi Data Byte 2 (eg. Velocity)