I like using a shareware program called "MidiGraphy."  It does
everything Cakewalk does and has a similar interface.  It is
available at http://member.nifty.ne.jp/mmaeda/e/macos.html

Another is "Arnold's MIDI player" or "AMP".  This is more
of a player-sequencer.  A quick search shows it at:
http://computer-karaoke.com/karplayers.shtml
with a link to  http://www.planete.net/~amasson

More importantly is the program "Simple Text."  Even on Mac
OS 8.xx, if you open a "MIDI" file it will play the file via
QuickTime, with little overhead.

Mac's do require an external clock for MIDI data when using the serial
port.  This dongle is one of the few places where a 3rd-party source
has proven more effective.  The dongle takes about 6 bucks worth of
parts.  I have not worked with the newer USB interfaces.  I suspect
these are more "Plug and Play."  MIDI is an integral part of QuickTime
and firmly integrated into the operating system.

In reference to the issue of playing BAR/ANN file on a Macintosh.
I have been working on and off with my Maddalena editor program.
Recently I was able to implement MIDI playback using the Mac OS
internals.  This is about 25 lines of code, versus the 500 lines or so
in Windows for similar use.  The Mac, being Mac, uses it's own internal
format; however, once learned, that format is quite easy to work with.

It sounds like I should put together such a player that runs
standalone, without using the editor.  I have been focusing on the
editing side of the Maddalena program.  Currently it is optimized for
Wurlitzer 150 roll scans.  Making a more generic player for BAR/ANN
files would not be difficult at all.

Apple was one of the original MIDI partners.  It still amazes me that
MIDI ran well on a 1 MHz Apple ][, and that for years such machines
were used in show [lighting] control for some rather large shows.  It
must be understood, though, that at the time it did not synthesize,
like the modern systems do.  Rather, it was more like a traffic cop,
using MIDI sequences to tell external controllers when to start or
stop.

Julie Porter