---
layout: default
title: MIDI on Linux
---                        
  
<h2>a2jmidid</h2>
<p>
  <dfn>a2jmidid</dfn> is an application that bridges between the system
  <abbr title="Musical Instrument Digital Interface">MIDI</abbr> ports and
  <abbr title="JACK Audio Connection Kit">JACK</abbr>.
</p>
<p>
  First you should make sure that there is no ALSA sequencer support enabled
  in JACK. To do that open QJackCtl's <kbd class="menu">Setup</kbd> window.
</p>
<p>
  Set <kbd class="menu">Settings &gt; MIDI Driver</kbd> to <kbd
  class="input">none</kbd>.
  Then uncheck the <kbd class="optoff">Misc &gt; Enable ALSA Sequencer
  support</kbd> option.<br />
  Now it's time to restart your jack server before going on.
</p>

<h3>Check for a2jmidid availability</h3>
<p>
  First, check whether a2jmidid is already installed in your system. After
  starting your JACK server, go to the command line and type
</p>
<kbd class="cmd lin">a2jmidid -e</kbd>
<p>
  If a2jmidid does not exist, install it with the software manager of your
  Linux distribution and try again.
</p>

<h3>Check surface control MIDI ports</h3>
<p>
  After starting a2jmidid, your control surface MIDI ports should appear in
  qjackctl under <kbd class="menu">Connections &gt; MIDI &gt; a2j</kbd>.
</p>
<p>
  You can now add <kbd class="input">a2jmidid -e</kbd> as an "after start-up" script in the <kbd
  class="menu">Setup &gt; Options</kbd> tab of QJackCtl, so that it is
  started automatically whenever you start JACK.
</p>