Would it possible to have BLE MIDI support in Gig Performer in the near future?
Thanks.
Chris
As far as I understand it, there’s nothing for us to do. If you have MIDI over Bluetooth enabled on your system, then Gig Performer should just detect it just like any other MIDI devices.
See for example MIDI Enhancements in Windows 10 - Windows Developer Blog
I read the article before but I couldn’t quite understand. I thought an app has to support the new Windows MIDI API. It seems that Windows has a little more work to do in order to fully support BLE MIDI. In the meantime, I can use the WIDIBud dongle to receive BLE MIDI.
I’ll look into it more closely when we have time but normally, and this is something many people forget, the main role of the operating system (somethings in conjunction with the hardware developer of a particular device) is to isolate the differences between one kind of device and another in the same class such that applications see the same API. That is why, for example, you can plug a USB MIDI device or a MOTU MIDI interface or various wireless MIDI devices into your computer and applications will just see “MIDI”, they won’t care how the MIDI data arrives. That SHOULD be the same for bluetooth MIDI.
Just received a newsletter from KVR concerning MIDI over Bluetooth LE in Windows. I hope that Gig Performer is one of the first PC app to adopt the new Windows API besides Sonar.
Bluetooth MIDI Controller Support
As the first Windows DAW to support wireless Bluetooth MIDI controllers natively, Cakewalk CTO Noel Borthwick explains “To deliver seamless connectivity to the next generation of MIDI devices, we’ve adopted Microsoft’s new API standard for using MIDI on Windows as part of the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) architecture—which provides a modern, extensible way to communicate with MIDI.”
The new BLE MIDI built-in support works only on Windows 10, Anniversary update and it enables you to attempt to use your bluetooth MIDI controllers without drivers. E.g. - should just work like on OS X.
We will be looking at this and at some point - we will be including it in GP, but please understand that this has nothing to do with overall support for Bluetooth on Windows. Most manufacturers that offer Bluetooth MIDI devices will have a driver for them.
For example “KORG microKEY Air” is a bluetooth enabled MIDI controller and has its own drivers which will work with Windows 8.1 and up.
This will work just fine with GP (we didn’t test this particular keyboard, but it should show up just like any other MIDI device would).
Forgot to send the link to KORG microKEY Air - here it is
http://www.korg.com/caen/products/computergear/microkey2_air/
I am glad to hear that you will implement this feature in GP. Currently, I use the Widibud - a USB Bluetooth MIDI receiver by CME Audio. It allows only one MIDI device, though. The Yamaha Bluetooth MIDI transmitter nor the Quicco Sound mi.1 has a Windows driver. As you mentioned, only Korg seems to have a Windows driver for their Bluetooth MIDI devices. I use the Korg NanoKontrol Studio which is also a Bluetooth device. It connects to my Windows 10 machine through the same driver.
Someone in Japan wrote a Windows bridge program which enables my mi.1 to be connected to my Windows 10, but it is unstable and too much latency.
Nebojsa, would you take a look at this? https://github.com/Microsoft/Windows-universal-samples/tree/master/Samples/MIDI
I don’t know how much work it involves to implement this feature, I was told at the MIDI Association booth at 2017 Winter NAMM that writing the needed wrapper or app is not a big job. I know that Sonar now has this feature. I’d love to see this in GP.
Thank you Chris,
we are working hard improving GP by adding some great new features. Windows BLE MIDI support is on our list, but I can’t promise when it will be implemented. Our list simply grows almost daily and some issues and features take priority.
Thank you for the link - definitely useful!