[SDL] ALSA midi support in SDL_mixer?

[Stephen Anthony]

On December 9, 2007 9:08:02 am Ryan C. Gordon wrote:
> > Since ALSA seems to be the way forward for sound in Linux, has
> > anyone ever attempted this?  Is it worth my time to investigate
> > this, or will SDL_mixer be replaced soon by SDL 1.3??
>
> SDL 1.3 won't add midi support in the base library. It's really a
> dying standard in a post-mp3 world, and mostly it's needed for legacy
> titles anyhow.
>
> SDL_mixer could certainly add ALSA-specific midi support, though, in
> the same way that we have win32-specific midi support too, if someone
> were to step up and submit a patch.
>
> Timidity is generally "good enough" for most cases--and there aren't
> many cases in the first place--so there's not a great deal of urgency
> on the issue, I guess.

Yes, that's what I figured.  I guess I'd really be targeting a small 
subset of an already small userbase (*hardware* midi users from midi 
users in general), since I believe only SB Live and Audigy and AWE32/64 
cards support it.

However, for those that do have it, it's a real letdown to use Timidity.  
ScummVM is one such application that can use hardware midi, and they 
even recommend it if you have the hardware.  Another is eDuke32, which 
is why I asked the question in the first place; it's my current pet 
project (converting it to 64-bit mode).

Anyway, if I find time I will develop an ALSA patch and submit it to 
you.  Thanks for the info.

Steve