MIDI help

[David Maddox]

I am trying to create a Midi program and i was wondering if their was a good place to get a list of the instruments available and their numbers. Someone help

[Kathy Sierra]

Howdy,
This is probably not a beginner question, but since I put MIDI stuff in a beginning Java book, I guess I can still answer this here
(Besides, I just think this stuff is a fun way to experiment with Java, even though the API is ridiculously more complicated than it needs to be).
Try this tiny app to print your sound list to the terminal:

   import javax.sound.midi.*;
   public class GetInstruments {
   public static void main (String[] args){
     try { 
       Synthesizer synth = MidiSystem.getSynthesizer();
       synth.open();
       Instrument[] instrument =
                     synth.getAvailableInstruments();
      for (int i=0; i<instrument.length; i++){
        System.out.println(i + "   "
                          + instrument[i].getName());
      }
   } catch (MidiUnavailableException e) {
     e.printStackTrace();
   }
 }
}

You'll see a list like:
186 Castanets
187 Mute Surdo
188 Open Surdo
189 Brush Snare High
190 Brush Snare Low
191 Soft Piano
192 Reflection Piano
Mine goes from 0 to 364... you can usually guarantee at least from 0 to 128.
Anyone know what the heck a "Surdo" is?
Have fun
cheers,
Kathy

[David Peterson]

http://www.mameluco.com/surdo.html

[Dirk Schreckmann]

While perhaps it's not a perfect fit, I'm moving this to the Other Java APIs forum...