What is RTP-MIDI?
RTP MIDI is a protocol to transport MIDI messages within RTP (Real-time Protocol) packets over Ethernet and WiFi networks.You computer can talk to RTP-MIDI devices without any hardware MIDI interface connected to it.
So with RTP MIDI:
- you can connect MIDI keyboards and computers from a long distance, you are not limited to MIDI cable length
- use your existing Ethernet network and cables to connect MIDI devices
- you are not limited by MIDI THRU delays
- you can use MIDI wireless over WiFi
- you can use as many MIDI ports and channels as you like
How can I start using MIDI RTP?
Good news for MacOS and iOS users, no additional software is needed, network-MIDI is included in every Mac since OS X 10.4, and the RTP-MIDI driver is reached using the Network icon in the MIDI/Audio Configuration tool.
You'll need to add simple software on your Windows computer to act as a virtual MIDI/RTP MIDI bridge.
I recommend rtpMIDI by Tobias Erichsen which is free and easy to install. It is fully compliant with Apple's implementation, and can then be used to connect a Windows machine with a Mac computer.
For your synthesizers, you'll need a MIDI-RTP box:
Is RTP MIDI reliable?
Compared to MIDI 1.0, RTP-MIDI includes new features like session management, device synchronization and detection of lost packets, with automatic regeneration of lost data. RTP-MIDI is compatible with real-time applications, and supports sample-accurate synchronization for each MIDI message.
