I have a question regarding the use of MIDI on Windows and I can't find a 
useful answer anywhere yet, so I hope someone here would know, or at least 
have some idea where to look.

I'm using a poorly written application, which is ear-training software that 
comes with "Music for Ear Training" (the book). This software allows one to 
select a midi output. However, the only midi output that can be used is the 
(very bad-sounding) Windows Wavetable Synth. This is because

(1) the software implements some kind of midi-through function that cannot 
be disabled, and

(2) I want to direct its output to a virtual midi pipe like "midi yoke" in 
order to connect it to a software synth, and

(3) the poorly-written application always seems to grab the input side of 
the same pipe I choose for its output, and starts doing "midi through" on 
that input, thereby

setting up a feedback loop.

The only way I got this to work was using physical cables to connect the 
midi output of a card to its midi input, AND this only worked with one 
brand of card. As far I as can tell, this is because the drivers with this 
one brand of card are set up so that when an application grabs a midi 
input, it has exclusive access to it. So when I run a software synth and 
grab that input before I run the poor ear-training software, then I block 
the ear-training software from grabbing the same input.

With another type of midi interface, this didn't work, apparently because 
its driver allows multiple programs to read its input.

The ear-training program gives me no way to disable midi-through, and even 
no way to choose which input it uses. It does allow me to choose the midi 
output, and it always seems to choose the input that is associated with 
that output. There are exceptions to that rule, but even then it ALWAYS 
seems to choose whatever input will set up the feedback loop. Darned thing.

To solve this, I need to do something like forcibly disable this 
ear-training program from being able to read any midi input, or find some 
kind of virtual midi pipe that lets me configure it so only one program at 
a time can read from it.

Any ideas?

Mike





Send bugs reports to the Sourceforge bug tracker
            https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=81968&atid=564599
Discussions of bugs and features can be posted here
To unsubscribe, send email sympa@lists.bath.ac.uk with body "unsubscribe csound"