midiplex

Demo
CodeSandbox
Basic Example
Motivation

Midiplex is a realtime MIDI message filtering, routing, and mapping library built on top of WebMidi.js. Here are some example use cases:

• Mapping "controlchange" messages between devices
• Fine-tune the types of messages a controller can send to another device
• Debugging MIDI messages
• Writing custom MIDI filters
• Augmenting or supplementing device behavior
• Creative uses such as note randomizing or "chording" notes

Midiplex can be used in node or in a browser. Note that for the demo you will need a MIDI device or two connected, or if you're hellbent on it you can create a virtual MIDI port using MIDI-OX or similar software.

Basic Example

In this example we build a simple graph, connecting an input device to a message type pass node, which will only allow message types through as you specify, to an output device.

import { WebMidi, Nodes } from 'midiplex';

(async () => {
    try {
        await WebMidi.enable();

        // Use these to get available ports, see WebMidi.js docs for more info 
        WebMidi.inputs;
        WebMidi.outputs;

        // Define our nodes
        let input = new Nodes.InputNode("<input id>");
        let output = new Nodes.OutputNode("<output id>");
        let messagePass = new Nodes.MessageTypeFilterNode("pass", {
            mode: 'pass', //can be 'filter' or 'pass'
            messageTypes: ['noteon', 'noteoff']
        });

        // Each node has a number of "edges" which we use to route messages
        // Many nodes will only have an "in" and "out" edge
        // Input --> Message Type Pass --> Output
        input.connect("out", messagePass.getInputEdge("in"));
        messagePass.connect("out", output.getInputEdge("in"));

    } catch (error){
        // Probably webmidi permissions not granted
    }
})()

This would be useful, for instance, if you wanted to map the keyboard portion of a controller to one device (noteon, noteoff messages), but the controls (switches, knobs, etc.) to a different device (controlchange messages). You could add further nodes, such as the CCMapNode, to map each CC message to it's counterpart on the target device.

Motivation

This project began with a singular purpose - adding a "note latch mode" to the horrible, awful, terrible Behringer FCB1010 foot controller. Really, this controller is intended to be a digital FX or preset switcher, but I had the misguided idea of using it to control a bass synth more akin to an organ-style controller, something I had witnessed both Beach House and Nils Frahm do live. Sadly, the FCB1010 lacks the ability to "latch" onto a note, meaning that as soon as you lift your foot off a switch, your note stops playing (depending on your sustain, etc). This makes it considerably more difficult to work with, especially when standing and holding a guitar and managing an entirely separate FX board.

Latching could also occur on the controlled device, in this case a Korg Volca Bass, but the thing about cheap gear is that it tends to have only enough features to keep it from actually being useful. Anyways, I wrote a small script to bridge this gap and it worked quite well and eventually evolved into a more general solution, this library.

The MonoLatchNode provides the behavior described above. This node, when placed between a controller and a device, creates a sort of "quasi-mono mode" where only a single note can be active at a time. This node caches noteoff messages and only sends them once a new note is sent or the current note is sent again, which is how you exit the latch mode.