[comp.sys.mac] Summary of Mac MIDI responses

rothberg@rocky.STANFORD.EDU (Edward Rothberg) (07/18/87)

A number of people have asked me to summarize what I learned about Mac MIDI
drivers.  From various sources I learned:

1) Opcode Systems will sell you their MIDI driver (written in C) for $20.
   Presumably it works well.  It has been used in a number of commercial
   products.

2) A number of MIDI language systems are available, including MIDILisp,
   MIDIBASIC, and MIDIPascal.  These allow access to MIDI data through calls
   in the base language.  While this is the sort of thing I might be
   interested in, I don't find them to be worth the price.

3) The July issue of MacTutor has a set of MIDI routines in assembly which
   use the Pascal calling conventions.  They can be easily used with a
   Pascal system.  I typed these in (7 pages of assembly code, not a
   pleasant task at all), and they almost work.  I don't have any trouble
   sending and receiving low-volume stuff, like note-ons and note-offs.  The
   problem comes in when I try to receive patch dumps.  If I as much as move
   the mouse while a dump is being received, the data gets spoiled.  Often the
   mouse will freeze up after this.  If anyone can give me a hint as to how to
   fix this, I'd definitely appreciate it.


Ed Rothberg
rothberg@rocky.stanford.edu