timidity

Software MIDI synthesizer and converter

TLDR

Play a MIDI file

$ timidity [path/to/file.mid]

Play with ncurses interface

$ timidity -in [path/to/file.mid]

Convert MIDI to WAV

$ timidity -Ow -o [output.wav] [input.mid]

Convert MIDI to WAV on stdout for piping

$ timidity -Ow -o - [input.mid]

Play with increased volume

$ timidity -A [150] [path/to/file.mid]

Run as ALSA sequencer client

$ timidity -iA

Play multiple files unloading instruments between each

$ timidity -U [file1.mid] [file2.mid]

SYNOPSIS

timidity [options] file [file...]

TiMidity++ is a software MIDI synthesizer that converts MIDI files to audio using SoundFont or GUS patch instruments. It can play MIDI files in real time through an audio device or convert them to audio formats like WAV, AIFF, or raw PCM.The program supports Standard MIDI files (.mid), Recomposer files (.rcp, .r36, .g18, .g36), and module files (.mod). It uses Gravis Ultrasound-compatible patch files or SoundFonts (.sf2) to synthesize audio from MIDI data.TiMidity++ offers multiple interfaces including a dumb terminal interface, ncurses-based interface, GTK+ GUI, and can run as an ALSA sequencer client or MIDI server. This flexibility makes it useful for both playback and as a system-wide MIDI synthesizer.

PARAMETERS

-A n

Set master volume amplification to n%. Default is 70%, range is 0-800.

-a

Enable anti-aliasing. Runs samples through a lowpass filter to reduce aliasing noise.

-B n,m

Set buffer fragments to n and fragment size to 2^m bytes for audio driver.

-i mode

Interface mode: d (dumb), n (ncurses), g (GTK+), r (MIDI server), A (ALSA sequencer).

-o file

Output to file. Use - for stdout.

-O mode

Output mode: d (audio device), w (RIFF WAVE), a (AIFF), r (raw), u (Sun audio), v (Ogg Vorbis), F (FLAC), l (list MIDI events), M (MOD to MIDI conversion).

-s freq

Set sampling frequency in Hz. Default is 44100.

-F

Enable fast panning, allowing panning adjustments to affect notes already playing.

-f

Enable fast envelopes, improving performance at the cost of shorter note release times.

-p voices

Set maximum number of simultaneous voices (polyphony). Default is system-dependent.

-U

Unload instruments from memory between files to reduce memory usage.

-c file

Read additional configuration file.

-L path

Add path to search for patch files.

-E mode

Set TiMidity++ extension modes for effects and reverb.

-Q channels

Ignore MIDI channels. Comma-separated list of channel numbers (1-16) to mute.

-T n

Adjust tempo by n%. Default is 100.

-h

Display help message and list of available output modes and interfaces.

CONFIGURATION

/etc/timidity/timidity.cfg

System-wide configuration specifying SoundFont and patch file paths, default output mode, and audio settings.

~/.timidity.cfg

Per-user configuration overrides.

-c file

Load an additional configuration file at runtime.

CAVEATS

TiMidity++ requires SoundFont or patch files to produce sound. Without properly configured instrument files in /etc/timidity/timidity.cfg (or similar), no audio will be generated. Quality and CPU usage depend significantly on the SoundFont files used.

HISTORY

TiMidity was originally written by Tuukka Toivonen in 1995. The enhanced version TiMidity++ was developed by Masanao Izumo starting in 1999, adding significant features including multiple output modes, real-time MIDI synthesis, and various user interfaces. It became a popular solution for MIDI playback on Linux systems without hardware synthesizers.