My implementation of a MIDI bus to connect multiple synths
Uses udev rules to make ALSA sequencer connections when plugged in, updates the UI when changes are made.
Still uses udev rules, but uses the ALSA RawMidi Interface to listen for
incoming messages and relay them to output devices in a threaded server which
handles SIGHUP when a new device is connected.
- I want to get as close to parsing actual MIDI messages as possible without all the extra metadata attached to each event by ALSA.
- This way I can implement my own filtering and custom macros.
- Relay realtime messages from the Deluge, send all realtime messages from the
Electribe to
/dev/null. - Gracefully handle forwarding system exclusive messages so I can program my JUNO from the computer.
- Relay realtime messages from the Deluge, send all realtime messages from the
Electribe to
The concept of a "main keyboard" has stuck with me, and for this purpose I currently use the Roland JUNO-DS 88. Connected to my Raspberry Pi running this software, I have a Synthstrom Audible Deluge for sequencing and sound design, a Moog Little Phatty Stage II for warm analog synth sounds, a Novation Circuit for synth layering, a Korg Electribe Sampler for effects and drum layering, and finally an iConnectivity mio that acts as a bridge between my synth rig and my DAW computer.
Currently the client is pretty simple; it loads configuration via socket stream. It will change in the future to be more interactive. But hey, at least it looks good, and you can see the current configuration presented visually.
The server has a thread for each input device, and maintains state for each output device in shared memory.