You can use the MIDI to WAVE converter and player TiMidity++ ( http://timidity.sourceforge.net) in server mode. This approach is interesting for all those who can't bring the MIDI device to work.

A presupposition is that TiMidity++ is compiled with (at least) the configure options:

         --enable-audio=alsa --enable-server --enable-alsaseq

Whether or not your TiMidity++ is compiled with these options can be determined by starting it with -iA Option:

         timidity -iA -B2,8 -Os1l -s 44100    

If it says: "-A option not compiled in" then compile it "by hand" as stated above.

You should also try to change "the orchestra" by installing a different soundfont. To get such a soundfont you should first have a look at the CDROM shipped with your soundcard. Perhaps you find there a file with suffix .sf2. But be careful: Make sure it is a General MIDI file!

If not then load the soundfile mentioned at http://alsa.opensrc.org/8MBGMSFX.SF2. Download it and in /usr/share/timidity/timidity.cfg (or /usr/local/share/timidity/timidity.cfg) change:

     dir <path_to_the_directory_there_the_8MBGMSFX.SF2_file_is_situated>

and:

     soundfont 8MBGMSFX.SF2

Comment all other lines! If all is ok, you can start TiMidity++ with:

         timidity -iA -B2,8 -Os1l -s 44100    

Select the configure dialog:

Configure → Configure...

You should see 4 new MIDI devices:

Choose one of them and the replay should work!

Tip: If the replay interrupts during page turn over then start TiMidity++ as root. This increases the priority of the TiMidity++ process. Use the following command in this case:

     timidity --realtime-priority=100 -iA -B2,8 -Os1l -s 44100

Sometimes it helps to increase the number of buffer fragments:

         timidity -iA -B8,8 -Os1l -s 22050    

If you want a different sound have a look at the Hammersound install page.