Looping a MIDI sequence in Java

Question

I'm trying to loop a MIDI sequence in a java game I'm making and I'm having some issues.

The current code I have does repeat the sequence, but there is a large delay between the end of the sequence and the restart. How can I eliminate this?

Here's my code:

try
    {
    // From file
        final Sequence sequence = MidiSystem.getSequence(new File("main menu.mid"));
        sequencer = MidiSystem.getSequencer();
        sequencer.open();
        sequencer.addMetaEventListener(new MetaEventListener() {
            public void meta(MetaMessage msg) {
                if (msg.getType() == 47) { // End of track
                    sequencer.setTickPosition(0);
                    try
                    {
                        sequencer.setSequence(sequence);
                    } catch(InvalidMidiDataException e) {e.printStackTrace();}
                    sequencer.start();
                }
            }
        });
        sequencer.setSequence(sequence);

    // Start playing
        sequencer.start();
    } catch (IOException e) {e.printStackTrace();}
      catch (MidiUnavailableException e) {e.printStackTrace();}
      catch (InvalidMidiDataException e) {e.printStackTrace();}

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:12

This source adapted from the Java Sound tag Wiki plays the MIDI without a 'long delay' between loops, which suggests to me that the delay you are hearing is part of the silent intro/outtro of the existing track.

import javax.sound.midi.*;
import javax.swing.JOptionPane;
import java.net.URL;

class LoopMidi {

    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        URL url = new URL("http://pscode.org/media/EverLove.mid");

        Sequence sequence = MidiSystem.getSequence(url);
        Sequencer sequencer = MidiSystem.getSequencer();

        sequencer.open();
        sequencer.setSequence(sequence);
        //sequencer.setLoopStartPoint(2000);
        //sequencer.setLoopEndPoint(4000);
        sequencer.setLoopCount(5);

        sequencer.start();
        JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "Everlasting Love");
    }
}

The solution then lies in either:

Trimming the MIDI track to remove those delays.
Setting the loop points of the existing MIDI (as shown above, but commented out).

I checked the MIDI files for trailing silence. There is none. The file ends when the sound ends. — MichaelPlante, Dec 04 '12 at 15:51
Did you ever solve the problem? Did you try other MIDI files? — Andrew Thompson, Aug 31 '20 at 00:27
I did eventually get it to loop properly, but I haven't touched this code since early 2013 and none of it was in version control so at this point I have no idea what I did. — MichaelPlante, Sep 05 '20 at 22:39

Looping a MIDI sequence in Java

1 Answers1