Datasheet

15
Sound in Linux
desired quality with the parameter -q. The parameter -b determines the average
bit rate. -m and -M can be used to specify the minimum and maximum bit rate.
ogg123 is a command-line Ogg player. The program requires the specification of
a playback device. Start it with a command like ogg123 -d alsa09 mysong.
ogg.
15.9 ALSA and MIDI
Apart from the possibility to play PCM data, many sound cards also offer MIDI
functionality. The ALSA MIDI sequencer implements an efficient architecture for
routing MIDI data. You need the packages pmidi, aseqview, vkeybd, awesfx,
snd_sf2, and kalsatools.
Many sound cards have an external MIDI port for connecting MIDI devices, such
as synthesizers, keyboards, and sound modules. If the MIDI port of the card is
supported by ALSA, use a sequencer application, such as jazz, to record and play
MIDI files. An overview of the MIDI devices provided by your card is available
in the KDE Control Center under ‘Sound & Multimedia’ ➝ ‘Sound System’ ➝
‘MIDI’. Here, also determine the devices to use for playing MIDI files. On the
command line, list the available MIDI devices and their internal ALSA port num-
bers with the command pmidi -l. For a Soundblaster Live! card, the listing
would appear as in Example 15.1.
Example 15.1: MIDI Devices of a Soundblaster Live! Card
Port Client name Port name
72:0 External MIDI 0 MIDI 0-0
73:0 Emu10k1 WaveTable Emu10k1 Port 0
73:1 Emu10k1 WaveTable Emu10k1 Port 1
73:2 Emu10k1 WaveTable Emu10k1 Port 2
73:3 Emu10k1 WaveTable Emu10k1 Port 3
The first column lists the internal port numbers by which the device is addressed
by the ALSA driver. The other columns show the designation and port name of
the device. Apart from the external MIDI port, several WaveTable ports are listed.
Use a command like pmidi -p 73:0 mysong.mid to play a MIDI file over one
of the listed ports.
193SUSE LINUX