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MIDIPLAY(1)                 General Commands Manual                MIDIPLAY(1)

NAME
     midiplay - play MIDI and RMID files

SYNOPSIS
     midiplay [-lmqsvx] [-d devno] [-f file] [-p pgm] [-t tempo] [file ...]

DESCRIPTION
     The midiplay command plays MIDI and RMID files using the sequencer
     device.  If no file name is given it will play from standard input,
     otherwise it will play the named files.

     RMID files are Standard MIDI Files embedded in a RIFF container and can
     usually be found with the `rmi' extension.  They contain some additional
     information in other chunks which are not parsed by midiplay yet.

     The program accepts the following options:

     -d devno    specifies the number of the MIDI device used for output (as
                 listed by the -l flag).  There is no way at present to have
                 midiplay map playback to more than one device.  The default
                 is device is given by environment variable MIDIUNIT.

     -f file     specifies the name of the sequencer device.

     -l          list the possible devices without playing anything.

     -m          show MIDI file meta events (copyright, lyrics, etc).

     -p pgm      force all channels to play with the single specified program
                 (or instrument patch, range 1-128).  Program change events in
                 the file will be suppressed.  There is no way at present to
                 have midiplay selectively map channels or instruments.

     -q          specifies that the MIDI file should not be played, just
                 parsed.

     -s          send an "ALL SOUNDS OFF" MIDI event.  Useful if an
                 interrupted MIDI file left notes playing.

     -t tempo-adjust
                 specifies an adjustment (in percent) to the tempi recorded in
                 the file.  The default of 100 plays as specified in the file,
                 50 halves every tempo, and so on.

     -v          be verbose.  If the flag is repeated the verbosity increases.

     -x          play a small sample sound instead of a file.

     A file containing no tempo indication will be played as if it specified
     150 beats per minute.  You have been warned.

ENVIRONMENT
     MIDIUNIT  the default number of the MIDI device used for output.  The
               default is 0.

FILES
     /dev/music  MIDI sequencer device

SEE ALSO
     midi(4)

HISTORY
     The midiplay command first appeared in NetBSD 1.4.

BUGS
     It may take a long while before playing stops when midiplay is
     interrupted, as the data already buffered in the sequencer will contain
     timing events.  Use midiplay with the -s option to silence any sounds
     left after an interrupted call.

NetBSD 10.99                      May 2, 2018                     NetBSD 10.99