| Namespace | Windows.Devices.Midi2.Utilities.Sequencing |
|---|---|
| Type Name | MidiSequenceTimingMode |
| Type | WinRT Enumeration (a 32-bit unsigned or signed integer) |
| IDL | MidiSequenceTimingModeEnum.idl |
MidiSequenceTimingMode says how to read the ticks in a sequence. Set it on a MidiSequenceBuilder before you add anything.
| Value | Numeric Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
Musical |
0 |
Ticks are musical and follow the tempo map. Every Standard MIDI File uses this |
Absolute |
1 |
A tick is one microsecond, and tempo doesn’t apply |
Use Musical for anything that should speed up and slow down with the music. A file read from disk is always musical, and changing the tempo changes when its notes play.
Use Absolute when a gap has to be a real gap. Two cases come up often. The first is a step list where you want to wait a set number of milliseconds before the next thing happens, and you don’t want that wait to change if the tempo does. The second is a long System Exclusive dump, where a device needs its packets spaced out in real time to keep up.
In Absolute mode, a tick is a microsecond, so 250000 means a quarter of a second. Ticks are 32 bits, so a sequence with absolute timing can run for about 71 minutes. That’s far longer than the step lists this mode is for, but it’s worth knowing before you use it for a whole show.
The mode applies to the whole sequence. A sequence can’t be musical in one place and absolute in another, because then the position displays and seeking would have no single answer for where a moment is.
Windows MIDI Services is an open source project with all source available on GitHub. We have a great community on Discord as well. Between GitHub and Discord, you should find the information you are looking for.
