DP-AC7-DSMidiWifi-Bridge

DP-AC7-DSMidiWifi-Bridge

by Kelly Jacklin

First the Disclaimers

I wrote this app as a convenience for me. Since I know others may benefit from it, I made it generally available. As usual, supplied "as is", and "use at your own risk"; if it somehow reformats your hard drive, or chases away your clients, the author is not responsible in any way. If it works for you, great; if it doesn't, remove it from your system, and live long and prosper...

What is the Bridge, and What is it For?

Digital Performer from version 6.02 through 7.1 (the current version, as of this writing) supports software-based control surfaces, but it has very specific requirements as to the naming of the virtual MIDI ports that can be used. DSMidiWifi did not meet those requirements, so AC-7 and AC-7 Pro could not be used with DP.

Furthermore, AC-7 Pro requires the use of an app called MidiPipe, and a special patch file for it, which converts the system exclusive MIDI messages defined by the Mackie Control into messages that can be carried over the DSMidiWifi connection.

This Bridge app is a simple utility that not only allows DP to work with DSMidiWifi, but also does the same conversions that the MidiPipe patch is used for. The result is a tool that can be used to bridge between DP and DSMidiWifi, so that the AC-7 and AC-7 Pro apps can be used with DP.

In addition, the bridge also has support for auto-launching DSMidiWifi, and optionally also DP itself, so that one "dock click" can get you up and running.

Note that the most reliable way to get AC-7 Pro working with DP is to launch the AC-7 Pro app on the iPad after DSMidiWifi has launched on the Mac, and before DP has completely finished launching. For best results, startup the AC-7 right after DSMidiWifi is launched.

How to Use the Bridge

Using DSMidiWifi is easy:

- Launch DP-AC7-DSMidiWifi-Bridge

- Launch Digital Performer

There is some one-time setup involved, though. The first time the bridge is launched, it will ask you to find the DSMidiWifi app (if it is not currently running). Once you have told the bridge where it is located, it will remember where this, and each time the bridge is subsequently launched, it will launch DSMidiWifi for you. Note that if it launches it for you, it will also tell DSMidiWifi to quit when you quit the bridge. If you ever need to change the location of the DSMidiWifi app, you can do so in the Preferences window.

If you wish, you can setup the bridge to automatically launch Digital Performer when the bridge launches, as well. To achieve this, open the Preferences window, and click the "Browse..." button next to the "Launch Digital Performer Automatically" checkbox. Once you have selected where the DP app is (and/or which version of the app you want to run), the checkbox highlights, and the bridge will then launch DP automatically for you the next time you run it.

Note that (if you are running SnowLeopard) you can hold down the shift key while the app starts to disable the auto-launching feature, in case you just want to modify the preferences.

One-time Setup in Digital Performer

To get Digital Performer (versions 6.02 through 7.1) to "see" the DSMidiWifi connection (and thus be able to work with AC-7 or AC-7 Pro), you need to configure the control surface properly in DP so that it routes through the bridge.

To accomplish this:

- Launch Digital Performer

- Open DP's Control Surface setup dialogue ("Setup" > "Control Surface Setup...")

- Click "+" button to add a new control surface

- Choose the following options:

Driver: "Mackie Control"

Unit: "Mackie Control"

MIDI: "DSMIDIWiFi-out-1" (from the "DSMIDIWiFi-out" sub-menu)

That's It!

Enjoy! And thanks to the folks at Saitara Software, for making such a cool tool.

Oh, and a special shout-out to James Steele, who helped me while I was writing the app, provided some cool artwork (I'm hopeless, graphically...), and was patient when I pushed back on feature creep...

Version History

1.1 (907) - 5/8/2010 (click to download):

- allow the DSMidiWifi browser to pick the app even if it has been renamed

- if DSMidiWifi gets renamed or moved, re-present the browser on next launch to let the user find it

1.0 (885) - 4/11/2010:

- turn on the pipe-nuking option by default

- windows retain their position across quit and launch

- forcibly front DP if we launched it (SnowLeopard only)

1.0 (880) - 4/11/2010:

- on first launch, if DSMidiWifi is running, automatically grab its path and set the auto-launch flag

- on first launch, if DSMidiWifi is not running, throw up a browser to find it so we can auto-launch it

- auto-quit DSMidiWifi if we launched it

- if shift key is down, inhibit auto-launch (SnowLeopard only)

- move directions to a Help window (accessible from Help menu)

1.0 (873) - 4/10/2010:

- implement prefs window

- (optionally, by prefs) auto-launch DSMidiWifi on launch (and browse for it)

- (optionally, by prefs) auto-launch DigitalPerformer on launch (and browse for it)

- (optionally, by prefs) convert pipe characters (those annoying "|" characters that appear in track names from DP) to spaces

- move MidiPipe pref to prefs window

- make sure we can safely quit (there were issues before...)

- added app icon (thanks, James!)

- added about box credits (with shout-out to Saitara for the great apps!)

1.0 (868) - 4/10/2010:

So this version (868):

- is a Universal Binary (PowerPC and Intel)

- does the MidiPipe track names gig much better

- but works with MidiPipe instead, if you elect to do so (there's a tooltip on the checkbox that explains the details)

1.0 (864) - 4/9/2010:

- eliminated issue with MIDI events from the DSMIDIWiFi making it to armed MIDI tracks, no need to artificially turn off Multi-Record any more

- the port you select in DP is now called "DSMIDIWiFi-out" (select channel 1 thereof), so re-do the control surface setup if you've set it up previously

- now do the track names functionality that previously required MIDIPipe inside of the app, so no need for MIDIPipe

- the on-screen instructions have been updated accordingly...