# MIDNOTE
Midnote is a terminal application that reads a MIDI file
and displays you its notes bar-by-bar, while playing it.
# Goals
As a blind musician myself, I found it very difficult to learn new songs on my own.
I've "seen" [Lunar Tabs][], and wanted to make something similar but for MIDI files
since good guitarpro5 tabs are not free but you can download many great MIDI files.
# Feature Flags
You can choose a different audio backend using one of the following feature flags:
- `--features=jack`: Use the Jack backend.
- `--features=winrt`: Use the WinRT backend.
# Prerequisites
Midnote works by reading a MIDI file and parsing the messages within.
The display requires no MIDI device (software or hardware) but you need one for the playback.
Windows comes with a default MIDI device, which is pretty lame sounding and laggy.
[OmniMidi][] is highly recommended for Windows users.
On *NIX, you'll need to install your own MIDI synthesizer.
I personally recommend [Fluidsynth][].
On MacOS, [Fluidsynth][] is available and it should work as good as it works on *NIX systems.
# Build Requirements
You need a working [Rust][] installation along with the rust package manager, `cargo` (`cargo` ships with the rust toolchain).
On *nix, you also need alsa development libraries:
```sh
# debian / ubuntu
apt install libasound2-dev
# fedora / sentos
dnf install alsa-lib-devel
```
If you want to use the Jack backend, you also need the jack development libraries:
```sh
# Debian and derivatives
apt install libjack-jackd2-dev
# RHEL and derivatives
dnf install jack-audio-connection-kit-devel
```
# Installation
## Windows: With Scoop
First add [my bucket](https://github.com/insomnimus/scoop-bucket) to scoop:
`scoop bucket add insomnia https://github.com/inssomnimus/scoop-bucket`
Update scoop:
`scoop update`
Install the app:
`scoop install midnote`
## Download a pre-built binary
Pre-built binaries can be found on the [releases](https://github.com/insomnimus/midnote/releases) page.
## BYOB: Build Your Own Binary
```sh
git clone https://github.com/insomnimus/midnote
cd midnote
git checkout main
cargo install --path . --locked
# To use the jack or winrt backends, do the following:
cargo install --path . --locked --features=jack # or winrt
```
# Usage
You start midnote by giving it a midi file as an argument and optionally, specifying a MIDI device.
```sh
# Open megalovania.mid, using the default MIDI device:
midnote ./megalovania.mid
# Specify another MIDI device:
midnote ./megalovania.mid --device 2
# List available MIDI devices:
midnote --list
```
For more options you can set, please run `midnote --help`.
# Configuration
Midnote accepts a config file (*.json) with the `--config` command line argument.
The default configuration is as follows:
```json
{
"colors": true,
"keys": {
"next": "Right",
"prev": "Left",
"replay": {
"Char": "r"
},
"solo": {
"Char": "s"
},
"silence": {
"Char": " "
},
"rewind": {
"Char": "p"
},
"exit": "Esc",
"help": {
"Char": "h"
}
}
}
```
## Possible Keys
- `Backspace`
- `Enter`
- `Left`
- `Right`
- `Up`
- `Down`
- `Home`
- `End`
- `PageUp`
- `PageDown`
- `Tab`
- `BackTab`
- `Delete`
- `Insert`
- `Esc`
Any letter key is also valid but needs to be wrapped in a `Char` object, see the default config above.
Function keys have the form `{"F": 1..=12 }`.
[Lunar Tabs]: https://github.com/ProjPossibility/Lunar-Tabs-Desktop
[OmniMidi]: https://github.com/KeppySoftware/OmniMIDI
[Fluidsynth]: https://github.com/FluidSynth/fluidsynth
[Rust]: https://github.com/rust-lang/rust