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VLC and MIDI (SMF) file usage
Authored by: RMo on Nov 19, '10 09:05:09AM

I can't view the links either (timeouts?), but, as I recall, there are a few reasons:

  • As you know, MIDI files do not actually contain any sound information; they are instructions for how to play sounds (a collection of "events," like what type of sound to play, the pitch, length, volume, tempo, etc).
  • VLC needs a synthesizer that can take the MIDI instructions and "play" them.
  • Most good sound cards have a built-in synthesizer, but something about the way VLC is written (probably because it's primarily designed to give the sound card WAV-ish to play) prevents it from easily accessing these capabilities. Some cheap sound cards might not even have one, although I'd imagine the drivers would at least fake a software solution. I really don't know, but this probably isn't the case on a Mac, anyway.
  • FluidSynth is an OSS synthesizer, and it's license is apparently GPL/VLC-compatible. However, it is a software synthesizer and needs "soundfonts" to actually produce sounds.
  • It is questionable whether there are decent soundfonts that are GPL-compatible.

In short, VLC needs a software synthesizer, but the biggest problem seems to be licensing issues for including it pre-bundled.



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