Midi connectivity

[erik-nie]

I'm using Pythonista to display chords and Lyrics on an ipad. When I select songs, I also want to send Midi Program Changes to several of my synths. Now I use UDP to send to another app (Midifire in my case) that converts that UDP to Midi.
This works, but Midifire is getting old and it would be great if I can control everything from one app.

There are several midi options in Apple/Python environment. Via objc_utils:

from objc_util import *
import ctypes

# Load CoreMIDI
CoreMIDI = ObjCClass('CoreMIDI')

# Create a MIDI client
client = c_void_p()
CoreMIDI.MIDIClientCreate(None, None, None, ctypes.byref(client))

# Create an output port
output_port = c_void_p()
CoreMIDI.MIDIOutputPortCreate(client, None, ctypes.byref(output_port))

# Get available MIDI destinations (e.g., AUM, Synth Apps)
dest_count = CoreMIDI.MIDIGetNumberOfDestinations()
if dest_count == 0:
    print("No MIDI destinations available")
    exit()

destination = CoreMIDI.MIDIGetDestination(0)  # Assuming the first available MIDI destination

.... etc

This is code from ChatGPT, but coreMidi is not available or blocked. Is it possible to enable this and let this work?
I assume this is the easiest way.

Other midi-libraries exist, not sure what is the best/easiest to implement.
For me it would be helpful if I can send/receive notes, program changes and CC values.

You effort and help is really appreciated.
Thanks, Erik

[omz]

Unfortunately, this is probably a dead end, as Pythonista doesn't have background audio permissions, and afair that's a requirement for using CoreMIDI.

[erik-nie]

Thanks for the quick respons!

I wrote my own app in swift and was able to use midi using this:
https://github.com/orchetect/MIDIKit

Perhaps this could be a start for integration, without directly accessing core-midi via objc_utils

If midi can be used, this would be a great tool for managing midi, UDP via python and creating new UI to trigger stuff. There are only a few available tools that can do it using cryptic languages. most of those tools are not maintained.

I tried to find more information, but this not that easy. ChatGPT gives:

No, the **"Background Audio"** permission is not required to use **CoreMIDI**. CoreMIDI works 
without that permission as long as your app is active or allowed to run in the background.  

However, if you want to continue receiving and processing MIDI while your app is in the background, 
you may need to enable **"Audio, AirPlay, and Picture in Picture"** (for iOS), especially if you're using 
CoreMIDI alongside audio processing. In that case, you should enable **background modes** in 
Xcode under `Signing & Capabilities` → `Background Modes` → `Audio, AirPlay, and Picture in Picture`.  

In short:  
- **No, background audio is not required just for CoreMIDI.**  
- **Yes, if you want to process MIDI data while the app is in the background, 
- additional configuration may be needed.**

It could be a great option to allow for background audio, (so also for coreMidi). This would add many new opportunities for use. I also playback audio in my app and it cut-off when moving my app to the background. not a big issue for my use-case.

Hope you still can give it a try, but otherwise thanks for you help so far.

Regards, Erik

[omz]

I wouldn't necessarily trust ChatGPT's with details like these, but anyway… I could be wrong, I'm not very familiar with MIDI APIs, and it's been a long time since I've looked at this at all… It would certainly be an interesting use case, but not something I can prioritize integrating right now.