RMCP: Remote Music Control Protocol Design and Applications

This paper describes the design and various applications of a communication protocol in a distributed music system that integrates MIDI and computer networks. We designed this protocol, called RMCP (Remote Music Control Protocol), to share symbolized musical information through the networks. Most previous related protocols were connection-oriented and did not emphasize efficient information sharing among processes. Since the RMCP is a UDP/IP-based connection-less protocol, it supports broadcast- based information sharing without the overhead of multiple transmission. To enable real-time MIDI handling, it also supports time scheduling using time stamps. RMCP has been used in various applications such as a music-controlled virtual dancer, a virtual jazz session system, and a remote session system.