How do you keep Web MIDI from crashing a 1983 synthesizer?
26 points
3 days ago
| 3 comments
| knob.monster
| HN
_def
2 hours ago
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tangent/feedback about the product: replacing abandoned desktop apps with a webapp with unknown future does not exactly excite me. Bundle this as a desktop app that works offline-first and you'll pique more interest.
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nl
1 hour ago
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Strong disagree!

Zero install is a huge feature both to reduce friction and to save local storage. I don't want to install yet another synth I'll use twice a year.

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gbanfalvi
58 minutes ago
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You can offer standalone exes without installers.
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halfradaition
1 hour ago
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Fair point. We went web-first to bypass driver installation hell, but a local Tauri app for offline-first use is on the roadmap.
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sargstuff
2 days ago
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Nice retro-demo/motivation for "what's the point of protocols/abstraction layers"[0].

Use case argument for an add-on programmable logic array / micro controller board as security interface / non-standard to standard protocol translation.

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[0] : https://www.terryewell.com/m116/Docs/historyMIDI.pdf

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halfradaition
22 hours ago
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We just throttle the Web MIDI stream in JS with 100ms pauses between packets so the 8-bit CPU doesn't choke.
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Macha
4 hours ago
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I had the opposite problem where using my (recent-ish) cheap midi keyboard with WebMidi was crashing Firefox.
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halfradaition
3 hours ago
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That's usually caused by cheap controller firmware flooding the connection with continuous Active Sensing signals (0xFE bytes every 300ms) or noisy clock jitter.
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im3w1l
2 minutes ago
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That's one way to look at it, but imo firefox shouldnt crash no matter how malformed the data is.
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