RtMidi - a set of C++ classes that provides a common API for realtime MIDI input/output across Linux (ALSA), SGI, Macintosh OS X (CoreMidi), and Windows (Multimedia) operating systems.

By Gary P. Scavone, 2003-2006.

This distribution of RtMidi contains the following:

doc:      RtMidi documentation (see doc/html/index.html)
tests:    example RtMidi programs

On unix systems, type "./configure" in the top level directory, then "make" in the tests/ directory to compile the test programs.  In Windows, open the Visual C++ workspace file located in the tests/ directory.

OVERVIEW:

RtMidi is a set of C++ classes (RtMidiIn and RtMidiOut) which provide a common API (Application Programming Interface) for realtime MIDI input/output across Linux (ALSA), Macintosh OS X, SGI, and Windows (Multimedia Library) operating systems.  RtMidi significantly simplifies the process of interacting with computer MIDI hardware and software.  It was designed with the following goals:

  - object oriented C++ design
  - simple, common API across all supported platforms
  - only two header files and one source file for easy inclusion in programming projects
  - MIDI device enumeration

MIDI input and output functionality are separated into two classes, RtMidiIn and RtMidiOut.  Each class instance supports only a single MIDI connection.  RtMidi does not provide timing functionality (i.e., output messages are sent immediately).  Input messages are timestamped with delta times in seconds (via a double floating point type).  MIDI data is passed to the user as raw bytes using an std::vector<unsigned char>.

FURTHER READING:

For complete documentation on RtMidi, see the doc directory of the distribution or surf to http://music.mcgill.ca/~gary/rtmidi/.


LEGAL AND ETHICAL:

The RtMidi license is similar to the the MIT License, with the added "feature" that modifications be sent to the developer.

    RtMidi: realtime MIDI i/o C++ classes
    Copyright (c) 2003-2006 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
    requested to send the modifications to the original developer so that
    they can be incorporated into the canonical version.

    THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
    EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
    MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.
    IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR
    ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF
    CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION
    WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.