The MIDI Tracer is similar to the MIDI List Editor, in the way that it displays MIDI information as a tabular text view, and has a vertical flow, i.e. the events follow a top to bottom time order.
Its use is different though, as it is not bound to a specific region or track: the MIDI that is monitored is any global input or output Ardour presents to the system. It is hence a very useful option to monitor a MIDI port, be it an external controller/device or the in/output of any track.
It is accessed by selecting the Window > MIDI Tracer menu.
The window is made of:
| Port | a list of all the MIDI ports Ardour presents to the system. They are both internal and external and are the same ports Ardour presents to JACK, if enabled. |
|---|---|
| the events list | where all the events for this port are listed, see below |
| Line history | how many lines should be kept in the events list |
| Delta times | if checked, shows the times as the duration since the last event, instead of the absolute time |
| Decimal | if checked, shows the MIDI data as decimal values instead of the original hexadecimal values |
| Enabled | if checked, the events are displayed in the events list, otherwise stops the logging |
| Auto-Scroll | if checked, the events list scrolls as new events are logged, allowing to keep the newest events on screen |
The events list displays the events as columns:
| time of the event | either absolute or relative, based on the Delta times checkbox |
|---|---|
| MIDI status (event type) | what midi events happened (e.g. Note On, Note Off, Pitch Bend, …) |
| MIDI channel | in which MIDI channel did the event happen |
| MIDI data bytes (event parameters) | parameters of the event, e.g. for a Note On: what note was it, and which was the note's velocity |
Note: The MIDI Tracer can lists all kind of MIDI events, "audio" ones, but also scene automation or timecodes ones.