IMPORTANT NOTE: Please ensure that you read the section on the use of the EX5 MIDI ports, and which ones to use. Use of the correct MIDI Ports and their configuration is essential for the correct operation of ex.factory's MIDI support.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are using ex.factory on Windows 7 and above, then there is an issue with the EX5's default configuration of the MIDI A Output Port which can prevent the reception of Voice and Performance bulk dumps over MIDI. This issue is covered in the EX5 MIDI ports section.
ex.factory is downloaded as a self installing file, so installation is automatic, and for most users little else, if anything, needs to be done to get up and running.
A native installer for Windows is also available.
This section is only relevant to installing additional items not included as part of the ex.factory installer.
If you wish to use the MIDI support provided on Mac OSX, then a Java MIDI Service Provider extension is required.
The extensions provide MacOS X Java programs access to all CoreMIDI devices
An extension is required because, historically, the Java implementation on OS X is not able to access external MIDI devices. Apple/Oracle claim to have fixed the external MIDI device access problem in its Java implementation. However, it appears that only "simple" MIDI messages are now supported. SYSEX data transfer (essential for transferring synth data) is not supported.
ex.factory now embeds CoreMIDI4J in the application package, so you no longer need to download and install it separately. However, if you still require an SPI for other Java MIDI software then you will need to ensure that you have the latest compatible version of CoreMIDI4J, as if an SPI is installed in the /Library/Java/Extensions folder then this will override the version of CoreMIDI4J embedded in ex.factory.
If you are not using any other Java software that requires MIDI access, it is best to remove any existing version of CoreMIDI4J from the /Library/Java/Extensions folder so that ex.factory can access the CoreMIDI4J version embedded in the package. That way you can ensure that ex.factory is always using the latest compatible version of CoreMIDI4J.
ex.factory will warn you if it detects an earlier version of CoreMIDI4J. It will still function, but will not benefit from recent CoreMIDI4J bug fixes or enhancements.
If you need to retain a version of CoreMIDI4J in the /Library/Java/Extensions folder then you can always download the latest version of CoreMIDI4J.jar from CoreMIDI4J Releases
Once you have downloaded CoreMIDI4J.jar it needs to be copied to the /Library/Java/Extensions folder. You will need to provide administrator permissions to copy the files.
Once installed, when running the librarians and selecting the MIDI ports to use, select the ports prefixed with CoreMIDI4J -. For example my Edirol UA-25 interface that I use for testing on OS X is listed as CoreMIDI4J - UA-25. The latest version of ex.factory will only list CoreMIDI4J devices.
If you make use of sy.factory's Sample/Wave manipulation facilities then I recommend that you download and install the Tritonus extensions to the standard Java Sound implementation.
The Tritonus extensions provide better support for converting between different audio file types.
If you use the ex.factory Sample Editor to audition Samples whilst adjusting their centre key values then it is essential that you install Tritonus.
You will need the following libraries from the Tritonus Website:
Once you have these files you need to install them into your JRE.
To do this copy the files to the lib\ext folder within the folder where you installed your JRE. For example, on my machine the full path where these files need to be installed is:
C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.8.0_73\lib\ext
On MacOS X, these files must be copied to the /Library/Java/Extensions directory. You will need to provide administrator permission when copying the files.