pw-midi2record

Record MIDI 2 (UMP) events through PipeWire

TLDR

Record MIDI 2 input to a UMP file

$ pw-midi2record [path/to/output.midi2]

Record from a specific source node

$ pw-midi2record --target [node_id] [path/to/output.midi2]

Force the legacy MIDI 1 byte-stream format

$ pw-midi2record --force-midi midi [path/to/output.midi2]

Record with verbose output

$ pw-midi2record -v [path/to/output.midi2]

Pipe MIDI 2 capture to another program

$ pw-midi2record - | [tool]

SYNOPSIS

pw-midi2record [options] [FILE | -]

pw-midi2record captures MIDI 2 events from the PipeWire graph and writes them to a file. It is an alias of pw-cat(1) invoked with the TYPE_MIDI2 data type, encoding events as Universal MIDI Packets (UMP) as defined by the MIDI 2.0 specification.UMP can carry both legacy MIDI 1 messages and MIDI 2 features (per-note controllers, 32-bit values, 16 groups of 16 channels). A MIDI 2 capable source — controller, software instrument, or upstream PipeWire node — must be connected for events to be recorded.When - is given as the file argument, MIDI data is written to standard output.

PARAMETERS

-h, --help

Show help and exit.

--version

Show version information.

-v, --verbose

Enable verbose output.

-R, --remote NAME

Connect to the named PipeWire daemon.

--target VALUE

Source node serial or name. 0 disables linking.

--latency VALUE

Set node latency, e.g. 100ms, 2048 samples.

-P, --properties JSON

Extra stream properties as a JSON object.

-M, --force-midi FORMAT

Force MIDI format, midi (legacy bytes) or ump (Universal MIDI Packets, default).

-C, --monitor

Capture monitor ports of output nodes (when recording).

CAVEATS

Records MIDI events only, not rendered audio; use pw-record(1) to capture the audio output of a synthesiser. Without a connected MIDI source the file will only contain headers. Files produced are UMP, not the legacy SMF (.mid) format.

HISTORY

MIDI 2 support arrived in PipeWire alongside the broader pw-cat MIDI 2 (UMP) work, complementing the older pw-midiplay/pw-midirecord pair. PipeWire was created by Wim Taymans at Red Hat and first released in 2017. The MIDI 2.0 specification was ratified by the MMA in 2020.