Raspberry Pi as Bluetooth-MIDI Repeater

Topology

Tested components

• Raspberry Pi 3 Model B v1.2
• 2x WIDI BUD (BLE to USB MIDI Bridge)
• 2x Wave for Music (Genki Instruments), firmware version 1.7.0, standalone mode

Tested system

Raspberry Pi OS Lite
Release date: May 7th 2021
Kernel version: 5.10

Basic installation

• Download original RPi Imager
• Write "Raspberry Pi OS Lite" to SD card
• Boot image
• Login (user: pi, password: raspberry)
• Basic Setup - sudo raspi-config
  • Wifi
    • 1 System Options
    • S1 Wireless LAN
  • Password
    • 1 System Options
    • S3 Password
  • SSH
    • 3 Interface Options
    • P2 SSH
• Check IP on Wifi adapter: ip a
• Connect through SSH (optional) - better for copy-pasting commands
• Update
  • sudo apt update
  • sudo apt upgrade -y
• Setup DHCP
  • sudo echo "interface eth0" >> /etc/dhcpcd.conf
  • sudo echo "static ip_address=192.168.120.1/24" >> /etc/dhcpcd.conf
  • sudo reboot
  • Login again
  • sudo apt install dnsmasq -y
  • sudo nano /etc/dnsmasq.conf add lines

    interface=eth0
    bind-dynamic
    dhcp-range=192.168.120.100,192.168.120.200,255.255.255.0,12h
    dhcp-option=3
    dhcp-option=6
    

  • sudo service dnsmasq restart

Test Wave + WiDi

• Insert WiDi dongels
• Start Waves - they should connect in one minutes
• Run aseqdump -l. Expected output:

   Port    Client name                      Port name
    0:0    System                           Timer
    0:1    System                           Announce
   14:0    Midi Through                     Midi Through Port-0
   24:0    WidiBud                          WidiBud MIDI 1
   28:0    WidiBud                          WidiBud MIDI 1
  

• (Alternative) Run amidi -l. Expected output:

  Dir Device    Name
  IO  hw:2,0,0  WidiBud MIDI 1
  IO  hw:3,0,0  WidiBud MIDI 1
  

• (Alternative) Run aplaymidi -l. Expected output:

   Port    Client name                      Port name
   14:0    Midi Through                     Midi Through Port-0
   24:0    WidiBud                          WidiBud MIDI 1
   28:0    WidiBud                          WidiBud MIDI 1
  

• Warning: This outputs represents installed dongles, not connected Waves
  Blicking 2 dots in the middle row indicate disconnected Wave
• Test incoming events. Run aseqdump --port 24:0,28:0 or any other port from previus outputs. It shows you incoming MIDI CC messages from Waves. For example:

  ...
    28:0   Control change          0, controller 50, value 63
    28:0   Control change          0, controller 52, value 101
    24:0   Control change          0, controller 17, value 89
    24:0   Pitch bend              0, value 20
    28:0   Control change          0, controller 52, value 100
    24:0   Control change          0, controller 16, value 84
    24:0   Pitch bend              0, value 0
  ...
  

Install core

Follow compiling instructions: https://blog.tarn-vedra.de/pimidi-box/

Config files

/etc/raveloxmidi_hw2.conf

alsa.input_device = hw:2,0,0 
alsa.output_device = hw:2,0,0 
network.bind_address = 0.0.0.0 
service.name = Wave-RPi-hw2 
network.control.port = 5004
network.data.port = 5005
network.local.port = 5006

/etc/raveloxmidi_hw3.conf

alsa.input_device = hw:3,0,0 
alsa.output_device = hw:3,0,0 
network.bind_address = 0.0.0.0 
service.name = Wave-RPi-hw3
network.control.port = 5007
network.data.port = 5008
network.local.port = 5009

Service files

/etc/systemd/system/raveloxmidi_hw2.service

[Unit]
After=local-fs.target network.target
Description=raveloxmidi RTP-MIDI network server HW2

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/raveloxmidi -N -c /etc/raveloxmidi_hw2.conf

Type=simple
Restart=always

/etc/systemd/system/raveloxmidi_hw3.service

[Unit]
After=local-fs.target network.target
Description=raveloxmidi RTP-MIDI network server HW3

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/raveloxmidi -N -c /etc/raveloxmidi_hw3.conf

Type=simple
Restart=always

Enable services:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable raveloxmidi_hw2.service
sudo systemctl start raveloxmidi_hw2.service
sudo systemctl enable raveloxmidi_hw3.service
sudo systemctl start raveloxmidi_hw3.service

Set Network sessions

Add hosts:

Name: hw2
Host: 192.168.120.1
Port: 5004

Name: hw3
Host: 192.168.120.1
Port: 5007