python-rtmidi

A Python wrapper for the RtMidi C++ library written with Cython.

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Project description

Overview

RtMidi is a set of C++ classes which provides a concise and simple, cross-platform API (Application Programming Interface) for realtime MIDI input/output across Linux (ALSA & JACK), Macintosh OS X (CoreMIDI & JACK), and Windows (Multimedia Library & Kernel Streaming) operating systems.

python-rtmidi is a Python binding for RtMidi implemented with Cython and provides a thin wrapper around the RtMidi C++ interface. The API is basically the same as the C++ one but with the naming scheme of classes, methods and parameters adapted to the Python PEP-8 conventions and requirements of the Python package naming structure. python-rtmidi supports Python 2 (tested with Python 2.7) and Python 3 (3.2).

Usage example

Here’s a quick example of how to use python-rtmidi to open the first available MIDI output port and send a middle C note on MIDI channel 10:

import time
import rtmidi

midiout = rtmidi.MidiOut()
available_ports = midiout.get_ports()

if available_ports:
    midiout.open_port(0)
else:
    midiout.open_virtual_port("My virtual output")

note_on = [0x99, 60, 112] # channel 10, middle C, velocity 112
note_off = [0x89, 60, 0]
midiout.send_message(note_on)
time.sleep(0.5)
midiout.send_message(note_off)

del midiout

More usage examples can be found in the tests directory of the source distribution. API documentation is available by looking at the docstrings in the Cython source code or using tools like pydoc or IPython and by reading the RtMidi documentation.

Installation

python-rtmidi is a Python C(++)-extension and therefore a C++ compiler and a build environment as well as some system-dependant libraries are needed. See “Requirements” below for details.

Installer (Windows only)

An installer with a pre-compiled version for Windows with Windows MultiMedia API support is available through PyPI for some Python versions. Download it from python-rtmidi’s PyPI page and start the installer by double-clicking.

From PyPI

If you have all the dependencies, you should be able to install the package with pip or easy_install:

$ pip install python-rtmidi

or, if you prefer setuptools:

$ easy_install python-rtmidi

This will download the source distribution, compile the extension and install it in your active Python installation. Unless you want to change the Cython source file _rtmidi.pyx, there is no need to have Cython installed.

python-rtmidi also works well with virtualenv and virtualenvwrapper. If you have both installed, creating an isolated environment for testing and using python-rtmidi is as easy as:

$ mkvirtualenv rtmidi
(rtmidi)$ pip install python-rtmidi

From the Source Distribution

Of course, you can also download the source distribution package as a Zip archive or tarball, extract it and install using the common distutils commands, e.g.:

$ wget http://chrisarndt.de/projects/python-rtmidi/download/python-rtmidi-0.3.1a.tar.gz
$ tar xzf python-rtmidi-0.3.1a.tar.gz
$ cd python-rtmidi-0.3.1a
$ python setup.py install

From Subversion

Lastly, you can check out the python-rtmidi source code from the Subversion repository and then install it from your working copy. Since the repository does not include the C++ module source code pre-compiled from the Cython source, you’ll also need to install Cython from its Git repository. Using virtualenv/virtualenvwrapper is strongly recommended in this scenario:

$ mkvirtualenv rtmidi
(rtmidi)$ cdvirtualenv
(rtmidi)$ git clone https://github.com/cython/cython.git
(rtmidi)$ svn co svn://svn.chrisarndt.de/projects/python-rtmidi/trunk python-rtmidi
(rtmidi)$ cd cython
(rtmidi)$ python setup.py install
(rtmidi)$ cd ../python-rtmidi
(rtmidi)$ python setup.py install

Requirements

Naturally, you’ll need a C++ compiler and a build environment. See the platform-specific hints below.

Only if you want to change the Cython source file _rtmidi.pyx or want to recompile _rtmidi.cpp with a newer Cython version, you’ll need to install Cython >= 0.17. The _rtmidi.cpp file in the source distribution was generated with Cython 0.18pre as of 2013-01-14 and Python 2.7.3.

RtMidi (and therefore python-rtmidi) supports several low-level MIDI libraries on different operating systems. Only one of the available options needs to be present on the target system, but support for more than one can be compiled in. The setup script will try to detect available libraries and should use the appropriate compilations flags automatically.

Linux: ALSA, JACK

OS X: CoreMIDI, JACK

Windows: MultiMedia (MM), Windows Kernel Streaming

Linux

For the C++ compiler and the pthread library install the build-essential package on debian-based systems.

Then you’ll need Python development headers and libraries. On Linux, install the python-dev package. If you use the official installers from python.org you should already have these.

To get ALSA support, you must install development files for the libasound library (debian package: libasound-dev). For JACK support, install the libjack development files (libjack-dev or libjack-jackd2-dev).

OS X

Install the latest Xcode or g++ from MacPorts or homebrew (untested). CoreMIDI support comes with installing Xcode. For JACK support, install JACK for OS X with the full installer.

Windows

On Windows you’ll need Visual Studio 2008 (Express). Visual Studio 2010 (Express) or later editions will not work with current official Python distributions. After you have installed Visual Studio, you probably need to edit the WINLIB_DIR and WININC_DIR variables at the top of the setup.py file to point to the location of WinMM.lib and the Microsoft SDK headers.

Compiling python-rtmidi with Windows Kernel Streaming support currently does not work due to syntax errors in RtMidi.cpp. This is currently being investigated. You can exclude Windows Kernel Streaming Support by providing the --no-winks option to the setup.py invocation.

Compiling with MinGW also does not work out-of-the-box yet. If you have any useful hints, please let the author know.

Copyright & License

python-rtmidi was written by Christopher Arndt, 2012.

The author can be reached at chris@chrisarndt.de.

The software is released unter the MIT License:

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the “Software”), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

Project details

These details have not been verified by PyPI

Project links

Release history Release notifications | RSS feed

1.5.8

Nov 20, 2023

1.5.7

Oct 24, 2023

1.5.6

Sep 12, 2023

1.5.5

Jul 26, 2023

1.5.4

Jun 27, 2023

1.5.3

Jun 23, 2023

1.5.2

Jun 14, 2023

1.5.1

Jun 12, 2023

1.5.0

May 23, 2023

1.4.9

Apr 26, 2021

1.4.8

Apr 26, 2021

1.4.7

Jan 27, 2021

1.4.6

Oct 15, 2020

1.4.5

Aug 26, 2020

1.4.4 yanked

Aug 26, 2020

Reason this release was yanked:

Install error with Python 2 and/or old setuptools versions

1.4.3

Aug 11, 2020

1.4.2

Jul 18, 2020

1.4.1

Apr 16, 2020

1.4.0

Jan 19, 2020

1.3.1

Oct 15, 2019

1.3.0

Apr 15, 2019

1.2.1

Jan 18, 2019

1.2.1rc1 pre-release

Jan 18, 2019

1.2.0

Jan 13, 2019

1.2.0rc2 pre-release

Jan 12, 2019

1.2.0rc1 pre-release

Oct 11, 2018

1.1.2

Oct 10, 2018

1.1.2rc2 pre-release

Oct 9, 2018

1.1.1

Aug 6, 2018

1.1.0

Apr 21, 2017

1.0.0

Nov 7, 2016

1.0.0rc1 pre-release

Oct 9, 2016

0.5b1 pre-release

Jun 11, 2014

0.4.3b1 pre-release

Nov 10, 2013

0.4.2b pre-release

Nov 7, 2013

0.4.1b pre-release

Nov 5, 2013

0.4b pre-release

Nov 5, 2013

This version

0.3.1a pre-release

Jan 23, 2013

0.3a pre-release

Jan 14, 2013

0.2a pre-release

Jul 22, 2012

0.1a pre-release

Jul 13, 2012

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