How can I convert an old game, which uses DirectMusic to play MIDI internally, to output raw MIDI to the default device instead?

Question

I have an old game which plays MIDI files with the following:

IDirectMusicPerformance8* m_pDMPerformance;
IDirectMusicLoader8* m_pDMLoader;
CoCreateInstance(CLSID_DirectMusicLoader, NULL, CLSCTX_INPROC, IID_IDirectMusicLoader8, (void**)&m_pDMLoader);
CoCreateInstance(CLSID_DirectMusicPerformance, NULL, CLSCTX_INPROC, IID_IDirectMusicPerformance8, (void**)&m_pDMPerformance);
m_pDMPerformance->InitAudio(NULL, NULL, m_hWnd, DMUS_APATH_SHARED_STEREOPLUSREVERB, 128, DMUS_AUDIOF_ALL, NULL);

This results in MS GS Wavetable Synth + reverb, no matter what the user's configuration. I need to be able to output proper raw MIDI to the default MIDI device, which, in the case of some savvy users, is a softsynth like VirtualMidiSynth or FluidSynth, an MT-32 emulator, an OPL3 emulator, or even a hardware device with its own onboard samples such as a real MT-32. Choosing device within the application is not necessary--I'd rather just have it select the default/#0 MIDI device and send raw MIDI to it. The .mid files themselves are standard and play wonderfully in other media players which output raw MIDI to either the device of the user's choice, or the default/#0 device.

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 19 '19 at 13:19

You have two options:

The traditional Win32 MIDI API
The new UWP MIDI API

The UWP API allows to use all MIDI devices supported by the Win32 API, and also MIDI over Bluetooth LE on Windows 10.

By the way: VirtualMIDISynth creates a MIDI device, emulating a hardware MIDI device like the MS GS Wavetable Synth. But FluidSynth does not, so you will need a virtual MIDI cable driver to output MIDI to it from another application in Windows.

How can I convert an old game, which uses DirectMusic to play MIDI internally, to output raw MIDI to the default device instead?

1 Answers1