Documentation

There are two main classes for use within RtMidi-c#: RtMidiIn and RtMidiOut. As the names suggest, RtMidiIn is for receiving Midi events while RtMidiOut is for sending Midi events. To use RtMidi-c#, download and include the RtMidi-CLI project and RtMidi-Core project in your solution. 

RtMidiIn:

Constructor:

RtMidiIn YourObjectName = new RtMidiIn();

Methods:

void OpenPort(UInt32 PortNumber, String PortName);

-> Opens the desired MIDI port on the local machine. If no port is available at the given PortNumber and/or PortName, an exception will be thrown. *The PortNumber is of type UInt32. To pass an int into this method, use method System.Convert.ToUInt32().

void OpenVirtualPort(String PortName);

-> Opens a virtual MIDI port on the local machine, if possible. *It is not possible to open a virtual port on a Windows machine using RtMidi-c#. If a virtual port cannot be opened given the PortName or given the System environment, an exception will be thrown.

void ClosePort();

-> Closes the associated MIDI port. This method works for both virtual and real MIDI ports.

bool IsPortOpen();

-> Returns a bool denoting whether a MIDI port is open with the current RtMidiIn object.

UInt32 GetPortCount();

-> Returns the total number of available real MIDI ports on the local machine. *The return type is a UInt32. Therefore, to get the return as an int, use method System.Convert.ToInt32().

String GetPortName(UInt32 PortNumber);

-> Returns the name of a MIDI port on the local machine at the associated PortNumber. If no port exists at that PortNumber, an exception will be thrown.

void SetBufferSize(UInt32 Size, UInt32 Count);

-> Sets the buffer size and count for a given MIDI port. The defaults buffer size is 1024 with a count of 4 buffers.It is principally intended for users of the Windows MM backend who must support receiving especially large messages. *Currently, this function has no effect if called after OpenPort(). 

RtMidiOut:

Constructor:

RtMidiIn YourObjectName = new RtMidiIn();

Methods:

void OpenPort(UInt32 PortNumber, String PortName);

-> Opens the desired MIDI port on the local machine. If no port is available at the given PortNumber and/or PortName, an exception will be thrown. *The PortNumber is of type UInt32. To pass an int into this method, use method System.Convert.ToUInt32().

void OpenVirtualPort(String PortName);

-> Opens a virtual MIDI port on the local machine, if possible. *It is not possible to open a virtual port on a Windows machine using RtMidi-c#. If a virtual port cannot be opened given the PortName or given the System environment, an exception will be thrown.

void ClosePort();

-> Closes the associated MIDI port. This method works for both virtual and real MIDI ports.

bool IsPortOpen();

-> Returns a bool denoting whether a MIDI port is open with the current RtMidiIn object.

UInt32 GetPortCount();

-> Returns the total number of available real MIDI ports on the local machine. *The return type is a UInt32. Therefore, to get the return as an int, use method System.Convert.ToInt32().

String GetPortName(UInt32 PortNumber);

-> Returns the name of a MIDI port on the local machine at the associated PortNumber. If no port exists at that PortNumber, an exception will be thrown.

void SendMessage(byte[] Message);

-> Sends an immediate array of bytes as a message through an open MIDI output port. If the Message is not valid, an exception will be thrown. 

System Requirements:

In order to use RtMidi-c#, the appropriate Preprocessor Definitions must be set for the RtMidi-Core Project. The definition specified is dependent on the local operating system and the desired MIDI API.

Linux: 

MIDI API: Alsa Definition: __LINUX_ALSA__

Linux or Mac: 

MIDI API: Jack Definition: __UNIX_JACK__

Mac Os:

MIDI API: CoreMIDI Definition: __MACOSX_CORE__

Windows:

MIDI API: Multimedia Library Definition: __WINDOWS_MM__

For Windows, these definitions are trivial to set if using Visual Studio. 

Right-click on the RtMidi-Core project, and select "Properties". 

Click on "Processor Definitions", select the arrow on the right, and select "Edit" from the dropdown menu. In the "definitions" box, type the specified definition. (If using Windows, type "__WINDOWS_MM__"). Click Ok. 

The Preprocessor Definition should now be set. *If the definition is not properly set, then the console should specifiy that a Dummy class is being used. There is no functionality of RtMidi in the Dummy class.

Communication with DAWs:

As of right now, on a Windows machine, it is not possible to use RtMidi-c# to communicate with DAWs without the use of a third-party application. Tobias Erichsen's "loopMIDI" will allow you to create a virtual MIDI port on Windows that can be recognized by both RtMidi-c# and DAWs such as Ableton. However, it is important to note that loopMIDI is not open source and does not fall under the same license as RtMidi-c# and RtMidi. 

Use and License:

RtMidi-c#: realtime MIDI i/o c# classes

Copyright (c) 2023 Oschmied

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: 

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. Any person wishing to distribute modifications to the Software is asked to send the modifications to the original developer so that they can be incorporated into the canonical version.  This is, however, not a binding provision of this license.

RtMidi: realtime MIDI i/o C++ classes<BR>

Copyright (c) 2003-2019 Gary P. Scavone

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: 

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. Any person wishing to distribute modifications to the Software is asked to send the modifications to the original developer so that they can be incorporated into the canonical version.  This is, however, not a binding provision of this license.

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