<h2>What Can Ardour Do With MIDI?</h2>
<p>
- <dfn><abbr title="Musical Instrument Digital Interface">MIDI</abbr></dfn>
- is a way to describe music data and to control music hardware and
- software. Ardour can import and record MIDI data, and perform a
- variety of editing operations on it. Furthermore, MIDI can be used to
- control various functions of Ardour.
+ <dfn><abbr title="Musical Instrument Digital
+ Interface">MIDI</abbr></dfn> is a way to describe musical
+ performances and to control music hardware and software.
+</p>
+<p>Ardour can import and record MIDI data, and perform a variety of
+ editing operations on it. Furthermore, MIDI can be used to control
+ various functions of Ardour.
</p>
-<p class="note">
- Ardour does not include a <dfn>synthesis engine</dfn> to produce audio
- from MIDI data, but relies on plugins or external hard- and software
- for the task. This can be a stumbling block for first time users who
- expect MIDI input to result in audio output by default.<br />
- Please see the section on working with plug-ins for more information on
- turning MIDI data into audio output.</p>
<h2>MIDI Handling Frameworks</h2>
<p>
- Ardour supports various ways of sending and receiving MIDI data:
-</p>
-
-<h3>CoreMIDI</h3>
-<p>
- <dfn>CoreMIDI</dfn> is the standard MIDI framework on OSX systems.
- It provides drivers for MIDI hardware and libraries needed by MIDI
- software clients.
+ MIDI input and output for Ardour are handled by the same "engine"
+ that handles audio input and output. Up to release 3.5, that means
+ that all MIDI I/O takes place via JACK. JACK itself uses the
+ native MIDI support of the operating system to receive and send
+ MIDI data. The native MIDI support provides device drivers for MIDI
+ hardware and libraries needed by software applications that want to
+ work with MIDI.
</p>
-<h4>ALSA MIDI</h4>
-<p>
+<dl>
+<dt>OS X</dt>
+<dd> <dfn>CoreMIDI</dfn> is the standard MIDI framework on OSX systems.
+</dd>
+<dt>Linux</dt>
+<dd>
<dfn><abbr title="Advanced Linux Sound API">ALSA</abbr> MIDI</dfn>
- is the standard MIDI framework on Linux systems. It provides drivers
- for MIDI hardware and libraries needed by MIDI software clients.
-</p>
-<p>
- The <dfn>QJackCtl</dfn> control software displays ALSA MIDI ports
- under its "ALSA" tab (it does not currently display CoreMIDI ports).
-</p>
-
-<h4>JACK MIDI</h4>
+ is the standard MIDI framework on Linux systems.
+</dd>
+</dl>
-<p>
- <dfn><abbr title="JACK Audio Connection Kit">JACK</abbr> MIDI</dfn>
- is a framework used to comunicate between JACK MIDI software clients.
- It provides zero jitter and a fixed latency of one <dfn>period</dfn>,
- the same latency as for JACK audio.
-</p>
-<p>
- JACK MIDI ports show up under the <kbd class="menu">MIDI</kbd> tab in
- QJackCtl.
+<p class="note">
+ On Linux systems, <dfn>QJackCtl</dfn> control software displays ALSA MIDI
+ ports under its "ALSA" tab (it does not currently display CoreMIDI
+ ports). By contrast, JACK MIDI ports show up under
+ the <kbd class="menu">MIDI</kbd> tab in QJackCtl.
</p>
-
+
+<h2>JACK MIDI Configuration</h2>
<p>
- There are several ways of <dfn>bridging</dfn> between the native MIDI frameworks
- (e.g. CoreMIDI or ALSA) and JACK MIDI, as described in the sections
- below.
+By default, JACK will <strong>not</strong> automatically detect and use existing MIDI
+ports on your system. You must choose one of several ways
+of <dfn>bridging</dfn> between the native MIDI frameworks
+(e.g. CoreMIDI or ALSA) and JACK MIDI, as described in the sections
+below.
</p>
{% children %}