Looking for an affordable hardware solution to a deceptively simple problem. I want a piece of hardware that can store midi files and play them via a midi out into the midi input on a synth.
There are lots of pieces of gear that can do this but nothing that’s specifically for this. I’m trying to avoid having a laptop in my rig for this purpose. I’m also not going to buy an Organelle or some sort of groovebox for $400-600 just to use this one tiny function.
Ideally I’m looking to avoid iOS solutions. It seems I may have to build something w/an arduino but programming would be a new skill to learn and I’d like to avoid that too.
One classic “midi playback and only midi playback” device is the Alesis MMT-8; bands still tour with them and there are a few on auction sites for ~$100. If vintage isn’t what you had in mind then maybe it’s still a useful reference point, e.g.:
Disting Mk4 algorithms J-1 and J-3 do MIDI playback. The notes are played on the CV outs, but all of the MIDI file contents are transmitted over the module’s MIDI header.