FreeMIDI was a popular virtual studio management application by
Mark of the Unicorn
Mark of the Unicorn (MOTU) is a music-related computer software and hardware supplier. It is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts and has created music software since 1984. In the mid-1980s, Mark of the Unicorn sold productivity software and severa ...
(MOTU) for the
Classic Mac OS
Mac OS (originally System Software; retronym: Classic Mac OS) is the series of operating systems developed for the Macintosh family of personal computers by Apple Computer from 1984 to 2001, starting with System 1 and ending with Mac OS 9. The ...
. It was used to mimic the physical setup of
MIDI devices that are connected to the computer and provide applications and the Mac OS a way for referencing them.
OMS by
Opcode
In computing, an opcode (abbreviated from operation code, also known as instruction machine code, instruction code, instruction syllable, instruction parcel or opstring) is the portion of a machine language instruction that specifies the operat ...
also performed similar duties. Some MIDI interfaces provided
drivers for both FreeMIDI and OMS, while some only included drivers for one or the other. FreeMIDI included an ''OMS Compatibility Mode'' which allowed FreeMIDI to communicate with devices in OMS.
Under
macOS, neither FreeMIDI or OMS are used, as those duties are covered by macOS's included
Audio MIDI Setup utility.
For those who still have or use Macs that can only run Classic Mac OS, OMS still exists in select music app archives online.
MIDI
Macintosh multimedia software
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