WildMidi 0.2.2

WildMIDI was originally conceived in December 2001 as an experiment to see if MIDI files could be played using the same samples as existing software but with much less overhead. Coming into existsance as a command line player in 2002 the first versions were so successful in reducing the overhead that developers from Quakeforge suggested that WildMIDI could be turned into a library. 2003 saw the first implementations of the WildMIDI library with Quakeforge being used as the test application. The 1st official release of WildMIDI occured in 2004 with a couple of bug fixes following shortly after.

The WildMIDI library uses Gravis Ultrasound patch files to convert MIDI files into audio which is them passed back to the calling application for further processing or output. The API of the library is designed so that it is easy to include WildMIDI into applications that wish to include MIDI file playback. With multiple MIDI file support you can develope applications to mix several midi files together at the same time and with the next release you will be able to use a different patch set for each MIDI file.

Currently there is a small command line player that accompanies the library which gives just one example of the use of the WildMIDI library. The next release will also contain a "self contained" player which will play midi files without the extra overhead the that occurs with the library. This is achieved by having a core source that is shared between the library and "self contained" player.

The future of the of the project will not end with the library, but with the library the door is open to possabilities including a software MIDI device, or a graphical MIDI sequencer.