Man page 1 : amidi

amidi - read from and write to ALSA RawMIDI ports

amidi [-p port] [-s file | -S data] [-r file] [-d] [-t seconds] [-a]

amidi is a command-line utility which allows to receive and send SysEx (system exclusive) data from/to external MIDI devices. It can also send any other MIDI commands.

amidi handles only files containing raw MIDI commands, without timing information.

amidi does not support Standard MIDI (.mid) files, but

aplaymidi(1) and

arecordmidi(1) do.

Use the -h,-V,-l,or -Loptions to display information; or use at least one of the -s,-r,-S,or -doptions to specify what data to send or receive.

• -h, --help
      Help: prints a list of options.
• -V, --version
      Prints the current version.
• -l, --list-devices
      Prints a list of all hardware MIDI ports.
• -L, --list-rawmidis
      Prints all RawMIDI definitions. (used when debugging configuration files)
• -p, --port=name
      Sets the name of the ALSA RawMIDI port to use. If this is not specified,

amidi uses the default port defined in the configuration file (the default for this is port 0 on card 0, which may not exist).

• -s, --send=filename
      Sends the contents of the specified file to the MIDI port. The file must contain raw MIDI commands (e.g. a .syx file); for Standard MIDI (.mid) files, use

aplaymidi(1).

• -r, --receive=filename
      Writes data received from the MIDI port into the specified file. The file will contain raw MIDI commands (such as in a .syx file); to record a Standard MIDI (.mid) file, use

arecordmidi(1).

amidi will filter out any Active Sensing bytes (FEh), unless the -aoption has been given.

• -S, --send-hex="..."
      Sends the bytes specified as hexadecimal numbers to the MIDI port.
• -d, --dump
      Prints data received from the MIDI port as hexadecimal bytes. Active Sensing bytes (FEh) will not be shown, unless the -aoption has been given. This option is useful for debugging.
• -t, --timeout=seconds
      Stops receiving data when no data has been received for the specified amount of time. If this option has not been given, you must press Ctrl+C (or kill

amidi\fR) to stop receiving data.

• -a, --active-sensing
      Does not ignore Active Sensing bytes (FEh) when saving or printing received MIDI commands.

amidi -p hw:0 -s my_settings.syx
    will send the MIDI commands in my_settings.syxto port hw:0.

amidi -S 'F0 43 10 4C 00 00 7E 00 F7'
    sends an XG Reset to the default port.

amidi -p hw:1,2 -S F0411042110C000000000074F7 -r dump.syx -t 1
    sends a « Parameter Dump Request » to a GS device, saves the received parameter data to the file dump.syx,and stops after the device has finished sending data (when no data has been received for one second).

amidi -p virtual -d
    creates a virtual RawMIDI port and prints all data sent to this port.

/usr/share/alsa/alsa.confdefault rawmidi definitions
/etc/asound.confsystem-wide rawmidi definitions
~/.asoundrcuser specific rawmidi definitions

aplaymidi(1)
arecordmidi(1)

Clemens Ladisch <>