CoreMIDI is the standard MIDI framework to comunicate with MIDI -hardware on OSX systems. It provides drivers and libraries needed by -MIDI clients. These ports do not show up in qjackctl
- -+ MIDI + 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. +
+
+ Ardour does not include a synthesis engine 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.
+ Please see the section on working with plug-ins for more information on
+ turning MIDI data into audio output.
ALSA MIDI is the standard MIDI framework to comunicate with MIDI -hardware on Linux systems. It provides drivers and libraries needed by -MIDI clients. These ports show up under the "ALSA" tab in qjackctl
++ 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 systems of the operating system to receive and send + data which are: +
-+ CoreMIDI is the standard MIDI framework on OSX systems. + It provides drivers for MIDI hardware and libraries needed by MIDI + software clients. +
-JACK MIDI is a framework used to comunicate between JACK MIDI -software clients. It provides zero jitter and a fixed latency of 1 -"period" (the same latency that exists for audio). These ports show up -under the "MIDI" tab in qjackctl. +
+ ALSA MIDI + is the standard MIDI framework on Linux systems. It provides drivers + for MIDI hardware and libraries needed by MIDI software clients. +
++ The QJackCtl 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 MIDI tab in QJackCtl.
- + +-Various ways of "bridging" between the native MIDI framework +By default, JACK will not automatically detect and use existing MIDI +ports on your system. You must choose one of several ways +of bridging between the native MIDI frameworks (e.g. CoreMIDI or ALSA) and JACK MIDI, as described in the sections below.