MIDI support

Note: This new MIDI support requires FS-UAE 4.0.0 or newer.

You currently need to specify the MIDI device you want to connect to using the serial_port option and the "name" of the sequencer, like this:

serial_port = midi:<name>

Note: The method of configuring MIDI and/or choosing MIDI device might change in future versions of FS-UAE!

Finding the MIDI device name

You can list the midi device names with fs-uae-device-helper:

./fs-uae-device-helper list-portmidi-devices

If you are using FS-UAE Launcher, you can go to Prefs -> MIDI and this will also list the MIDI device names for you!

Using Munt for MT-32 emulation

With mt32emu-qt from Munt on Linux, use option serial_port = midi:Standard to enable MIDI output via emulated serial port and route to the ALSA sequencer set up by mt32emu-qt.

On macOS, the MIDI device is different, so you can use the option serial_port = midi:Mt32EmuPort.

On Windows, yet another name is used: serial_port = midi:Mt-32 Synth Emulator.

But double-check that the device name is correct for yor system. See the section "Finding the MIDI device name".

For FS-UAE 4.0.XXX FIXME:

Alternatively, you can split the option into two:

serial_port = mt32:
mt32_device = Mt-32 Synth Emulator

You can also in many cases drop specifying mt32_device. In this case, FS-UAE will try the following devices depending on platform: "Standard" (Linux), "Mt32EmuPort" (macOS), "Mt-32 Synth Emulator" (Windows).

Linux

You can run acconnect -o to give a listing of ALSA MIDI sequencer names. Example output while having both fluidsynth and munt/mt32 running:

client 14: 'Midi Through' [type=kernel]
    0 'Midi Through Port-0'
client 128: 'FLUID Synth (11883)' [type=user,pid=11883]
    0 'Synth input port (11883:0)'
client 129: 'Munt MT-32' [type=user,pid=11907]
    0 'Standard

The names you need to use with the serial_port option with this exact setup is 'Synth input port (11883:0)' and 'Standard'. You might want to rename the port name of FluidSynth. See the "FluidSynth" section for more information.

Note, you can now also use fs-uae-device-helper list-portmidi-devices to find the device names.

FluidSynth

The default FluidSynth sequencer name on Linux includes the process PID, which will change each time FluidSynth is started. It is a good idea to run FluidSynth with a static name, for example --portname=FluidSynth:

fluidsynth -a alsa -m alsa_seq -l -i -s --portname=FluidSynth \
/usr/share/sounds/sf2/FluidR3_GM.sf2

In this case, the device will always remain the same, and you can then use the option serial_port = midi:FluidSynth and it will work across reboots.

On macOS, a relatively easy way to get fluidsynth installed is to install it via Homebrew:

brew install fluidsynth

You need a soundfount as well. A good choice is FluidR3_GM.sf2. FIXME: Download link for FluidR3_GM.zip on fs-uae.net

fluidsynth -l -i -s --portname=FluidSynth FluidR3_GM.sf2

Suggestions for future improvements

Split midi device name out from the serial port option? serial_port_type ?

serial_port_type = serial|midi|mt32 ?
midi_device = xxx ?
mt32_device = yyy ?

Maybe also allow midi_device = fluidsynth and dynamically try to deduce the port name ("Synth input port" on Linux, etc). Even more, with midi_device missing, perhaps try to default to FluidSynth on Linux (if found), the default software midi sequencer on Windows, and (???) on macOS?

Package FluidSynth as a plugin?

Maybe include as Utilities/FluidSynth? Soundfonts can be included in the FluidSynth package.

Notes

Default device names (process numbers are examples):

Fluidsynth:

Linux: Synth input port (547769:0)
macOS: FluidSynth virtual port (17220)

MT32Emu-qt:

Linux: Standard
macOS: Mt32EmuPort

Credits

MIDI support via the PortMidi library contributed by Christian Vogelgsang.