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Midi-Output sample

Using the midi-output sample bundle

The midi-output example bundle in samples/midi-output demonstrates the ability to send data to a midi device.

Prerequisites

You will need a working nodecg-io installation. If you have non yet take a look at installation guide. You may need to install this bundle, so take a look at the “Try an included sample”-Guide. It will also tell you how to log in and how to use the GUI.

You also need:

  • A midi device that can be connected to your computer

Configure the midi-output sample bundle

  1. In NodeCG, create a new midi-output service instance.

  2. Enter your device information:

    {
    "device": "name"
}

    After entering it, click save.

    Note

    A script is provided to list all inputs and outputs. It can be run from the sample directory samples/midi-input using the command npm run list. The devices should be listed with their device names and some other stuff.

    Under Linux this looks for example like this:

    nanoKONTROL2:nanoKONTROL2 MIDI 1 28:0

  3. Set the sample's (midi-output) dependency to be the newly created service instance (of type midi-output).

  4. Check the NodeCG logs:

    You should see an error or a success message and random midi messages should be sent to the device that is configured. The messages are only Noteon messages and have a random note and velocity value ranging 0-127. The channels they are sent from are either channel 0 or 1, but the midi protocol supports up to 16 channels, so it could technically range from 0-15.

Note

Only sending Noteon messages is sufficient for most midi, because most of them don't really care if you use proper Noteoff messages or simply send a Noteon with a velocity of 0. This is due to the early days of midi, when integrated circuits were expensive. Allowing a velocity of 0 as replacement for Noteoff made instruments featuring midi more affordable.