midimouse (Mac OS X)

[update]: Just released a beta version of midimouse 0.7 that will run on Mac OS 10.7 (Lion) and Mac OS 10.8 (Mountain Lion). Unfortunately some User Interface Elements and the Wii stuff weren’t compatible, so I had to remove it. As I’m quite busy, this version hasn’t been tested very well. (see Download)

midimouse is a small, easy-to-use and very simple program. It sends MIDI-controller-messages (CC) by moving the mouse over its (resizeable) window. While moving the mouse (with or without mouseDown) over the X-/Y-axxis, each axxis sends a CC, so you might send values within up to 4 configurable Controllers.

The default CC’s are:
CC12 and CC13 for X/Y and
CC14 and CC15 for X/Y with mouseDown*
(* not available in “clickThrough”-mode)

So, what’s it for if you’ve never heard of CC’s?
You can make music with it! Just connect it as a MIDI-Controller to your hardware-synthesizers or software-programs (eg. Ableton LIVE, Propellerheads Reason, …) and you can control the effects by moving your mouse – on a small screensize or even also on full screen, if midimouse is in “click-trough” mode. It’s like a virtual KAOSS-Pad!

midimouse

Version: 0.7

 

System Requirements:
– midimouse 0.7: Mac OS X 10.7. or Mac OS X 10.8.
– midimouse 0.4 to 0.6: Mac OS X 10.4. to Mac OS X 10.6.8 (Universal Binary for PowerPC and IntelMacs)
– midimouse 0.1 to 0.3: Mac OS X 10.3.
(see below in the Download-Archive section!)

 

License:
CC-License: BY-NC-ND
Creative-Commons (by-nc-nd), that means free for private use and you are welcome to copy and share midimouse! Please ask before trying to use midimouse commercial (that means before you try to _sell_ midimouse, standalone or bundled; of course you might _use_ it for free on any occation).
Parts of midimouse are built upon the PYMIDI.framework from Pete Yandell. Thank you Pete!

 

 

Screenshot:

midimouse 0.6 screenshot  
midimouse_screenshot_06bCm2.jpg

 

 

 

Download:


· v.0.7 beta: midimouse_110723_07b.zip (Mac OS 10.7. – 10.8. Intel)
Please leave a comment or contact me, if you have issues with this version or found a bug, older versions are still available below!

Archive (old versions):
· v.0.6: midimouse_071113_0.6.bC.dmg.zip (Mac OS 10.4. – 10.6. / PPC / Intel)
· v.0.4: midimouse_060316_0.4.dmg.gz (Mac OS 10.4. / PPC / Intel)
· v.0.3: midimouse_051111_0.3.dmg.gz (Mac OS 10.3. / PPC)
· v.0.2: midimouse_050310_0.2.dmg.gz (Mac OS 10.3. / PPC)

Version-History
· v.0.1: first beta-release (unstable)
· v.0.2: first stable release
· v.0.3: some bug-fixes, added “click-through-mode”, where the window is completely unresponsible for mouse-clicks. This version is compatible with Mac OS X 10.3.
· v.0.4: universal binary for IntelMacs and PowerPCs, added Quartz-Mode supporting QuartzComposer Visuals, some bugfixes, improved window-handling. This version needs Mac OS X 10.4.
· v.0.5: added ScrollWheel support and some minor modifications (never released)
· v.0.6: nearly completely rewritten, now document based application, added keyboard + Wii control (experimental), HID inspector
· v.0.7: fixed to run on Lion and Mountain Lion (10.7 and 10.8), removed WII support and deactivated some incompatible interface elements (HID inspector).

Original timestamp for this article: March 10, 2005 @ 20:31

 

Posted on 13. November 2007 by . This entry was posted in Articles in English, Programming, Software and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

46 thoughts on “midimouse (Mac OS X)”

  1. there is no hurry!
    the sources would bring me nothing, .plist-editing is one thing, coding another ;-)

    i extended my project in a very special way:
    i finally can use my wacom to “steer” midimouse – i defined an area where the wacom is working (upper left edge of my screen, EXACTLY where my windows of midimouse are, no pixel further) and placed 2 midimouse-instances side by side – my wacom is now split in two halfes, each one steering 2 midi-channels (only with pressure (like mouse-button pressed), everything else is too risky for a liveact)…

    i can post more information if anybody wants it…

    a yeah, another suggestion:
    the “resize-edge” in the lower left corner of midimouse, could you add an option to disable it? me and my wishes, i know ;-)
    but if i accidentially start in this corner i am resizing the window, and thats not good during a liveact ;-)

  2. midimouse 0.6 is in development :)

    I invested some time to cleanup the ugly code and rewrote most parts from scratch.

    It’s a document based application and will support multiple devices, such as mouse incl. scroll wheels, tablets, computer-keyboard keys and (tadaa!) Wii remotes!

    All CC-values, ports and channels will be switch-, set- and storeable. Due to a flexible datasource concept it will be easy to add support for more devices in future updates with ease.

    I expect a public beta release still in this year (probably still in november)

    Regards,
    Michael

  3. super, ich freu mich schon auf die neue version (lasse das projekt wieder aufleben) ;-)

    teste mal die beta an…

    lg

    head

  4. I love and use midimouse 0.6, and it is just like heaven.
    The only missing feature for me is the pitch bend.

    Thanks for this wonderful program.

  5. Hi – have you had any experience using Midimouse with Traktor Pro – I’ve tried it using various channels and various ports (midimouse and IAC driver). Traktor can see both of these ports in the “Midi Setup” preference and I can select either, but then no midi signal comes through. There is a light at the top of the Traktor Pro GUI that lights when a midi signal is received even if it isn’t mapped and this light doesn’t come on at all.

    It looks like such a beautiful program and I would love to use it as an FX controller.

  7. Hi Andy,

    as I am not working with Traktor (nor 3 neither Pro), I’m not sure I can be of any help here. If it works with Traktor 3, this indicates that the problem might be with Traktor Pro; maybe you’ve overseen some preferences or so? Sometimes it helps to restart the Applications.

    For any kind of Midi problems, I can recommend MIDIMonitor, a simple application that shows you outgoing and incoming MIDI signals. This way it’s very simple to say which app isn’t working as expected: http://www.snoize.com/MIDIMonitor/

    A similar function (AList) is also in MIDIPipe, but this is a bit more complex to setup, so I’d suggest to try MIDIMonitor.

    Hope this helps,
    Michael

  8. Great stuff Michael!! Thanks for sharing!

    May I suggest looking into supporting OSC as well, so we can hook up stuff like our iPhones / iPod Touches as well? Will be happy to help testing!

  10. I really like this application, I am working on something similar but I do not know how to get the software to show up as a MIDI device. Is there source code available for this?

  11. Hi! great application!
    What would be reaaallly cool is a pitch bend feature, and something like a full screen/relative mode (relative to the point where i clicked, so i could press the mouse button, pitch notes up with the touchpad, and when i release the mouse button pitch bending returns to zero).
    hope you like that idea too,
    martin

  12. Wicked App .. Just figured it out using Reason.
    Gonna have some fun with this!

    Cheers
    Chris

  13. Does anyone know if this works with Reason Adapted?
    If so does anyone know what I should do to set it up? When I open Reason I can choose midimouse as a controller, but it is having no effect.
    I’m sure I’m doing something stupid, can anyone help?

  14. Great application! I would also love to use it with Traktor 3.3 but it does not work. Midimouse shows up in the List of Midi-Devices and I can also choose it – but it does not stay activated. A Bug?

  17. Thank you this is a great application.

    I’m using it with GRM Tools which use an XY control on most of their tools. Works like a charm. Would love some more varied mm.qtz files.

    BTW it’s featured in this month’s Computer Music Magazine (CM170)

  18. Hey, just published an updated version of midimouse that runs on 10.7 and 10.8.
    Sorry for the wait, but it actually slipped my mind two years ago and no one ever asked for it until today. So here’s the 0.7 update (not really tested, though it should work), enjoy.
    Michael

  19. About midimouse and NoteOn messages: midimouse will only create Control Changes (CC). Every noteOn needs a corresponding noteOff, otherwise you’ll end up having hanging notes.

    It’s not trivial to decide about noteOffs with mouseMove events only; that’s why I decided against it, but there’s software out there that you can use to change midi messages, for example MidiPipe. You can convert any CC to Note_On, Note_Off or Pitchbend values.
    http://www.subtlesoft.square7.net/MidiPipe.html

    This table might be helpful, esp. Table 2 and Table 3:
    http://www.midi.org/techspecs/midimessages.php

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