MIDI Explorer

Yet another MIDI monitor, analyzer, debugger and manipulation tool.

The intent is to be specifications compliant to help debugging, reverse-engineering and developing products based on the MIDI protocol while learning everything there is to know in the process.

The reference specifications used are linked below and comes from the following standards bodies:

• MIDI Association, ex MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA) USA
• Association of Musical Electronics Industry (AMEI) Japan
• MIDI Standards Committee (MSC) Japan

There is two specification supplement types:

• Recommended Practices (RP) 001-054
• Confirmation of Approval for MIDI Standard (CA) 018-035

A nice history list is provided by the MSC [JP].
I have made a translated and slightly updated Google Sheet for easier browsing.

Language is currently Python to help with rapid prototyping and fast iteration. It may change at any time as I see fit.

Table of Contents

• Status
• Installation
• Features & TODO
  • Documentation
  • Quality
  • MIDI protocols
  • Platform support
  • Interactive GUI
  • MIDI implementation charts
• Prior art
• Legal notice
  • License
  • Dependencies & License Acknowledgment
  • Trademarks

Status

Basic features implemented.

First alpha released!

Testers welcome ;)

Installation (Python)

Install Python 3.10

From python.org (recommended) or your favorite package manager.

Install PipX

Follow the instructions for your operating system.

Microsoft Windows

In a terminal

py -m pip install --user pipx
py -m pipx ensurepath

Close and reopen your terminal.

Mac OS X / Linux

python3 -m pip install --user pipx

Install MIDI Explorer

pipx install midiexplorer

Installation (Native)

Nuitka (alpha)

You may also build a compiled, single-file executable from a properly configured venv using:

python -m nuitka --follow-imports --include-package=rtmidi --include-package=mido --include-package=dearpygui --include-package=dearpygui_ext --include-package=midiexplorer --include-package-data=midiexplorer --onefile --disable-console --windows-icon-from-ico=src\midiexplorer\icons\midiexplorer.ico src/midiexplorer

Features & TODO

Documentation

• Developers
  • Comments
  • Docstrings (PEP257)
  • Type Hinting (PEP484)
• Users
  • Sphinx
    • autodoc
    • Read The Docs

Quality

• Linting
  • Code style checks? (PEP8 pycodestyle)
  • Docstrings? (darglint)
  • Typechecking? (mypy)
• Unit tests? (pytest)
  • Coverage
• Packaging
  • PyPi
    • Using Hatch
      • Get version for Git using hatch-vcs
  • PyInstaller
  • WIP Nuitka
    • Microsoft Windows
    • Apple Mac OS X
    • GNU/Linux
  • PyOxidiser?
  • Installers
    • Microsoft Windows
      • NSIS?
      • WiX?
    • Apple Mac OS X
    • GNU/Linux
      • AppImage?
• Continuous Integration? (GitHub Actions workflow)

MIDI protocols

• (WIP) v1.0
  includes RP-001/RP-002/RP-003/RP-004/RP-005/RP-006/RP-007/RP-008/RP-009/RP-010/RP-011/RP-012/RP-013/RP-014
  (1983 - February 1996)
  Using a modified mido
• v2.0
  (Planned long term: after v1.0 and all its extensions are fully stable)

Platform support

• Microsoft Windows
  • WinMM aka Windows Multimedia MME API
    via mido's RtMidi backend
  • WinRt aka UWP Windows Runtime API
    RtMidi related issue
• Apple Mac OS X
  • Core MIDI
    via mido's RtMidi backend
  • JACK MIDI
    (Should work but untested ATM)
• GNU/Linux
  • ALSA
    • Sequencer API
      via mido's RtMidi backend
    • RawMidi API
  • JACK MIDI (Should work but untested ATM)
  • OSS?
    (Legacy API)

Interactive GUI

• Icons
• Fonts
• Custom theme
• About window
• Connections window (Node editor based)
  • Inputs
  • Outputs
  • Modules
• History window (Table)
• Monitor data window (Decoding with live feedback)
• Generator data window
• (WIP) Standard MIDI file window
• Log window
  • Insert comment
  • Save to file
    • Overwrite
    • Append
• Actions (Menus and/or keyboard shortcuts)
  • Toggle connections (F1)
  • Toggle history (F2)
  • Toggle monitor (F3)
  • Toggle generator (F4)
  • Toggle standard MIDI file (F5)
  • Toggle full-screen (F11)
  • Toggle log (F12)
  • Save & restore windows state
    (Buggy at the moment)

I/O management

• List MIDI I/O
  • USB MIDI 1.0
    • OS Level
    • Direct Access?
  • USB MIDI 2.0
    • OS Level?
    • Direct Access?
  • IEEE-1394
    RP-027 (MMA) MIDI Media Adaptation Layer for IEEE-1394 v1.0
    RP-027 (AMEI/MSC) MIDI Media Adaptation Layer for IEEE-1394 v1.0
    • OS Level?
      (Probably works but no hardware to test with)
    • Direct Access?
  • Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE-MIDI)
    RP-052 (MMA) Specification for MIDI over Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE-MIDI) v1.0
    RP-052 (AMEI/MSC) Specification for MIDI over Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE-MIDI) v1.0
    • OS Level
      Requires WinRt MIDI for Microsoft Windows
    • Direct Access?
  • RTP-MIDI
    RTP Payload Format for MIDI (MMA)
    IETF RFC 6295 RTP Payload Format for MIDI
    • (Partial) OS Level
      Requires rtpMIDI for Microsoft Windows
      (Works with Microsoft Windows. Untested on other OS)
    • Direct Access?
  • Virtual
    • OS Level
      Requires loopMIDI for Microsoft Windows
    • Native
      Provided by RtMidi for Linux & Apple Mac OS X
  • Custom Hardware
    (Planned in the near future. Prototyping in progress.)
    • 5-Pin DIN
      CA-033 (MMA) MIDI 1.0 Electrical Specification Update [2014]
      CA-033 (AMEI/MSC) MIDI 1.0 Electrical Specification Update [2014]
    • 2.5mm TRS Jack
      RP-054 (MMA) Specification for use of TRS Connectors with MIDI Devices
      RP-054 (AMEI/MSC) Specification for use of TRS Connectors with MIDI Devices
    • Mobile Musical Interface
      RP-048/amd1 (MMA) Mobile Musical Interface Specification v1.0.6
      RP-048/Amd1 (AMEI/MSC) Mobile Musical Instrument Specification v1.1 / Mobile Musical Interface Specification v1.0.6
      RP-048 (AMEI/MSC) Mobile Musical Interface Specification v1.0.2
• Select mido backend?
  (Only RtMidi suits our needs)
• Input reading modes
  • Polling
  • Callback
• Sort by ID/Name
  (Forced name sorting is enough for now)
• Connections
  • Port to probe
  • Probe to port
  • Port to port
  • Port to any module
  • Any module to port
  • Module to module
• Refresh
  • Manual
  • Auto with reconnect
• Virtual ports
  • Add/Remove
• Save/restore connections status
• Timing
  • System
    (Computed using the highest resolution local clock available)
  • Hardware
    (Retrieved using a modified mido RtMidi backend)

History view (Table decode)

• Input
• Output
• Selection decodes to monitor
• Selection prepares generator
• Color code?
  • Per source
  • Per channel
  • Per message type

Modules

• Plugins based architecture?
  • Using pluggy?
• Instances management?
  (Add/Remove, multiple instances of a module…)
• Virtual Debug Probe
  • Read raw input
  • Thru support
• Activity monitor
  • Settings
    • Colors
      • Live
      • Selected
    • Persistence
    • Note-On with velocity set to 0 is Note-Off (Per specification)
    • Display EOX as either a System Common or a System Exclusive message
    • Notation
      • English Alphabetical
      • Syllabic
      • German Alphabetical
  • Stateless
    • Message type
      • Channel
      • System
    • Channel
    • Controllers
      • Redefinition of CC91 and CC93
        RP-023 (MMA) Renaming of CC91 and CC93
        RP-023 (AMEI/MSC) Redefinition of CC91 and CC93
  • Stateful
    • Notes
      • Keyboard
        • Velocity
      • Staff
    • Controllers
      • Value
      • Data Increment / Decrement
        RP-018 (MMA) Response to Data Inc/Dec Controllers
        RP-018 (AMEI/MSC) Response to Data Increment/Decrement Controller
      • Sound Controller Defaults
        RP-021 (MMA) Sound Controller Defaults (Revised)
        RP-021 (AMEI/MSC) Defaults for Sound Controllers
      • (Partial decoding) High Resolution Velocity Prefix
        CA-031 (MMA) CC #88 High Resolution Velocity Prefix
        CA-031 (AMEI/MSC) CC#88 High Resolution Velocity Prefix
      • Registered Parameter Numbers (RPN)
        • (Partial decoding) 00 Pitch Bend Sensitivity
        • (Partial decoding) 01 Fine Tuning
        • (Partial decoding) 02 Coarse Tuning
          • Redefinition of RPN 01/02
            RP-022 (MMA) Redefinition of RPN 01/02
            RP-022 (AMEI/MSC) Channel Fine/Coarse Tuning
        • (Partial decoding) 03 Tuning Program Select
        • (Partial decoding) 04 Tuning Bank Select
        • (Partial decoding) 05 GM2 Modulation Depth Range
          CA-026 (MMA) Modulation Depth Range RPN
          CA-026 (AMEI/MSC) Modulation Depth Range RPN
        • 06 MIDI Polyphonic Expression v1.1 (MPE)
          RP-053/CA-034/M1-100-UM MIDI Polyphonic Expression v1.1
          CA-034 (AMEI/MSC) MPE Configuration RPN
        • …
        • 61 (0x3D) Three Dimensional Sound Controller
          RP-049 (MMA) Three Dimensional Sound Controllers
          RP-049 (AMEI/MSC) Three Dimensional Sound Controllers
      • Non Registered Parameter Numbers (NRPN)
    • Program Changes, Bank Select & Patches
      • General MIDI System (MMA) (GM)
        • Level 1 (GM1/GM-1) (1991)
          MMA0007/RP-003 General MIDI System Level 1
          RP-015 (AMEI/MSC) Response to Reset All Controllers
        • Level 2 (GM2/GM-2) (1999)
          RP-024/RP-036/RP-037/RP-045 (MMA) General MIDI 2 v1.2a
          RP-024 (AMEI/MSC) General MIDI Level 2 Recommended Practice
          RP-024 General MIDI 2 (AMEI/MSC) v1.2a
          RP-036 (AMEI/MSC) Default Pan Curve
          RP-037 (AMEI/MSC) GM2 MIDI Tuning Amendment
        • Lite (GML) (2001)
          RP-033 (MMA) General MIDI Lite v1.0
          RP-033 (AMEI/MSC) General MIDI Lite v1.0
      • Proprietary
        • Roland
          • Linear Arithmetic (LA) (MT-32…) (1987)
          • General Standard (GS) (Sound Canvas…) (1991)
        • Yamaha
          • EXtended General MIDI (XG)
            • Level 1 (1994)
            • Level 2 (1997)
            • Level 3 (1998)
            • Lite (2002)
    • System Exclusive (SysEx)
      • Basic decoding
        • Manufacturer ID
        • Device ID
        • Raw payload
      • (WIP) Universal System Exclusive (Realtime & Non-Realtime)
        • Sub-IDs 1 & 2 type decoding
        • Payloads decoding
          • MIDI Show Control (MSC)
            RP-002/RP-014 (MMA) MIDI Show Control 1.1.1
          • MIDI Time Code (MTC)
            MMA0001/RP-004/RP-008 (MMA) MIDI Time Code v4.2.1
          • Notation information
            RP-005/RP-006
          • File dump
            RP-009
          • MIDI tuning
            RP-012
          • MIDI Machine Control (MMC)
            MMA-0016/RP-013 (MMA) MIDI Machine Control 1.0
          • File Reference System Exclusive Message
            CA-018 (MMA) File Reference System Exclusive Message
            CA-018 (AMEI/MSC) File Reference System Exclusive Message
          • Sample Dump Size, Rate and Name Extensions
            CA-019 (MMA) Sample Dump Size, Rate and Name Extensions
            CA-019 (AMEI/MSC) Sample Dump Size, Rate and Name Extensions
          • GM2 Midi Tuning Messages
            CA-020/CA-021/RP-020 (MMA) MIDI Tuning Messages
            CA-020 (AMEI/MSC) MIDI Tuning Bank and Dump Extensions
            CA-021 (AMEI/MSC) Scale/Octave Tuning
            CA-021/Amd1 (AMEI/MSC) Amendment to Scale/Octave Tuning
            RP-020 (AMEI/MSC)
          • GM2 Controller Destination Setting
            CA-022 (MMA) Controller Destination Setting
            CA-022 (AMEI/MSC) Controller Destination Setting
          • GM2 Key-Based Instrument Controllers
            CA-023 (MMA) Key-Based Instrument Controllers
            CA-023 (AMEI/MSC) Key-Based Instrument Controllers
          • GM2 Global Parameter Control
            CA-024 (MMA) Global Parameter Control
            CA-024 (AMEI/MSC) Global Parameter Control
          • GM2 Master Fine & Coarse Tuning
            CA-025 (MMA) Master Fine/Coarse Tuning
            [CA-025 (AMEI/MSC)] https://amei.or.jp/midistandardcommittee/Recommended_Practice/e/ca25.pdf) Master Fine/Coarse Tuning
          • GM2 System Level 2 Message
            CA-027 (AMEI/MSC) General MIDI Level 2 Universal System Exclusive Message
          • Extension 00-01 to File Reference SysEx Message
            CA-028 (AMEI/MSC) Extension 00-01 to File Reference Sysex Message
          • GM-Lite Scalable Polyphony MIDI Specification (SP-MIDI)
            [RP-034/RP-035 (MMA)](ç https://www.midi.org/specifications/file-format-specifications/mobile-midi/scalable-polyphony-midi-sp-midi-2) Scalable Polyphony MIDI Specification and Device Profiles v1.0b
            RP-034/RP-035 (AMEI/MSC) Scalable Polyphony MIDI Specification and Device Profiles v1.0a
          • GM-Lite Maximum Instantaneous Polyphony (MIP)
            CA-029 (AMEI/MSC) Maximum Instantaneous Polyphony (MIP)
          • Mobile Phone Control Message
            RP-046 (MMA) Mobile Phone Control Message
            CA-030 (MMA) Mobile Phone Control Universal Real Time System Exclusive Message
          • MIDI Visual Control (MVC)
            CA-032/RP-050 (MMA) MIDI Visual Control Specification v1.0
            CA-032 (AMEI/MSC) MIDI Visual Control Universal Non Realtime System Exclusive Message
            RP-050 (AMEI/MSC) MIDI Visual Control Specification v1.0
          • MIDI Capability Inquiry (MIDI-CI)
            CA-035 (AMEI/MSC) MIDI Capability Inquiry (MIDI-CI) Specification
            CA-035 Spec (AMEI/MSC) MIDI Capability Inquiry (MIDI-CI) v1.0
• Generator
  • Decode raw hex string
  • Generate raw output
  • Buffer/Clipboard any message (raw or decoded) to output
• File formats
  • WIP Standard MIDI File (SMF)
    RP-001 (MMA) Standard MIDI Files 1.0
    • WIP Analyzer
    • Player
    • Recorder
    • Extensions
      • Lyrics Events Definition
        RP-017 (MMA) SMF Lyric Meta Event Definition
        RP-017 (AMEI/MSC) SMF Lyric Meta Event Definition
        RP-026 (AMEI/MSC) SMF Lyric Meta Event
        RP-026 SMF with Lyrics Application Guide (AMEI/MSC)
        RP-026 SMF with Lyrics Data Creation Guideline
      • Device & Program Name
        RP-019 (MMA) SMF Device Name and Program Name Meta Events
        RP-019 (AMEI/MSC) SMF Device Name and Program Name Meta Event
      • International Standard MIDI Code (ISMC)
        RP-051 (AMEI/MSC) International Standard MIDI Code
  • Downloadable Sounds (DLS)
    • Level 1 (DLS1/DLS-1)
      RP-016/MMA-0017 (MMA) Downloadable Sounds Level 1 v1.1b
      RP-016 (AMEI/MSC) Downloadable Sounds Level 1 v1.1a
      MMA-0017 (AMEI/MSC)
      Downloadable Sounds Level 1 v1.1b
    • Level 2 (DLS2/DLS-2)
      RP-025/Amd2 (MMA) Downloadable Sounds Level 2.2 v1.0
      RP-025 (AMEI/MSC) Downloadable Sounds Level 2 v1.0
      RP-025/Amd1 (AMEI/MSC) Downloadable Sounds Level 2.1 v1.0
      RP-025/Amd2 (AMEI/MSC) Downloadable Sounds Level 2.2 v1.0
    • GM-Lite Mobile DLS Specification
      RP-041 (MMA) Mobile DLS (Downloadable Sounds Format for Mobile Applications) v1.0a
      RP-041 (AMEI/MSC) Password: amei2005 Mobile DLS (Downloadable Sounds Format for Mobile Applications) v1.0a
  • RMID
    RP-029 (AMEI/MSC) Bundling SMF and DLS data in an "RMID" File
  • eXtensible Music Format (XMF)
    RP-030/RP-031/RP-032/RP-039/RP-040/RP-042/RP-043/RP-045/RP-047 (MMA) XMF Specification Incorporating all Recommended Practices v1.2
    RP-030 (AMEI/MSC) Specification for XMF Meta File Format v1.00a
    RP-031 (AMEI/MSC) Type 0 and Type 1 XMF Files (SMF + DLS)
    RP-032 (AMEI/MSC) SMF Meta Event for XMF Patch Type Prefix
    RP-039 (AMEI/MSC) XMF Meta File Format Updates 1.01
    RP-040 (AMEI/MSC) XMF Compression Definition for ZLIB
    RP-042 (AMEI/MSC) Mobile XMF Content Format Specification
    RP-043 (AMEI/MSC) XMF Meta File Format 2.00
    RP-045 (AMEI/MSC) Audio Clips for Mobile XMF
    RP-047 (AMEI/MSC) ID3 Metadata for XMF Files
  • Support karaoke formats?
    • .KAR Tune 1000 Corp. [CA] MIDI Karaoke file type 1 (Soft Karaoke)
    • .MID+.TXK KaraDOS
    • .CRT Tune 1000 Corp Soft Concert
    • .ST3 Creative Labs [KR] Star 3 / Real Orche
  • Support proprietary formats?
    • Alesis
      • DataDisk (v1.x)
      • DataDisk SQ (v2.x)
    • Ensoniq
      • ASR series
      • EPS series
      • SQ-80 (.efs)
      • TS series
      • VFX-SD, SD-1
    • Kawai
      • Q-80
    • Korg
      • 01/W series
      • T series
    • PianoDisc
      • PianoDisc Sequence
    • Roland
      • MC-50, MC-500
    • Yamaha
      • E-SEQ (Clavinova, Disklavier, DOM-30, DRC-20)
      • XF
  • Converter
    • SMF between types
    • From/to other formats?
• Splitter
• Merger
• Translator/Filter
• Protocol analyzers/decoders
  • HUI
  • LCU
  • MCU
  • Others?
• Trigger/Response (Protocol emulator)
  • HUI
  • LCU
  • MCU
  • Others?
• Performance analyzer
  • Round trip latency
  • Jitter
  • Bandwidth
  • Correctness
  • Stresser/Fuzzer
• Hardware toolbox

MIDI implementation charts

• reStrucuredText (reST) Templates
  • v1.0 (MIDI 1.0)
  • v2.0
    RP-028 (MMA) MIDI IMPLEMENTATION CHART V2 INSTRUCTIONS
    RP-028 (AMEI/MSC) Version 2 MIDI Implementation Chart
    RP-028 MIDI IMPLEMENTATION CHART V2 INSTRUCTIONS (AMEI/MSC)
• Generator from logged traffic?

Prior art

• MIDI-OX (Win)
• Snoize MIDI Monitor (Mac)
• Midi View (Win/Mac)
• OBD Software Midi Monitor 2002 (Win)
• Morson PocketMIDI (Win/Mac/iOS)
• Drumstick MIDI Monitor aka KMidiMon (Linux)

Legal notice

License

Author: ©2021-2023 Raphaël Doursenaud.

This software is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License, version 3.0 or later (GPL-3.0-or-later).

See LICENSE.

Logo and icons released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International.

Dependencies & License Acknowledgment

• Python v3.10
  Copyright © 2001-2022 Python Software Foundation.
  Used under the terms of the PSF License Agreement.
• RtMidi
  Copyright (c) 2003-2021 Gary P. Scavone.
  Used under the terms of the MIT license.
• via python-rtmidi
  Copyright (c) 2012 - 2021 Christopher Arndt.
  Used under the terms of the MIT license.
• via mido
  Copyright (c) 2013-infinity Ole Martin Bjørndalen.
  Used under the terms of the MIT license.
• Dear ImGui
  Copyright (c) 2014-2022 Omar Cornut.
  Used under the terms of the MIT license.
• via Dear PyGui
  Copyright (c) 2021 Dear PyGui, LLC.
  Used under the terms of the MIT license.

Fonts

• Roboto
  Copyright (c) 2015 The Roboto Project Authors.
  Used under the terms of the Apache License, Version 2.0.
• Roboto Mono
  Copyright (c) 2015 The Roboto Mono Project Authors.
  Used under the terms of the Apache License, Version 2.0.

Logo and icons

Composite work based upon:

• MIDI connector
  Copyright Fred the Oyster
  Used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
• Steering Wheel
  Copyright Spider
  Used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

Trademarks

MIDI is a trademark of the MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA) in the United States of America.

This is not a registered trademark in the European Union and France where I reside.

Other

Other trademarks are property of their respective owners and used fairly for descriptive and nominative purposes only.