Midi synthesizer applet working with appletviewer , but no in IE browser

Question

Hi ,
The following code works OK using appletviewer , but not working with IE browser . The user can play notes from C to G , using the corresponding keyboard keys (only when typing small A,B,C,D,E,F or G , a corresponding midi note would be produced) .
When running it using appletviewer , the notes are being heard ;
this isn't the case when running the applet using IE browser (after removing the security warning (of showing active content) - here , the applet simply doesn't respond to the key events .
The code is :
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.sound.midi.*;
public class RandomNotes extends JApplet implements KeyListener
     private MidiChannel midiChannel;
     private int note ;
     private long timeWhilePress;
     private long timeAfterPress;
     private int firstTime = 0;
     public void start()
          try
               Synthesizer synthesizer = MidiSystem.getSynthesizer();
                  synthesizer.open();
              midiChannel = synthesizer.getChannels()[0];
          catch(Exception ex)
               ex.printStackTrace();
          addKeyListener(this);
     public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e)
          firstTime++;
          switch (e.getKeyChar())
               case 'c':
                    note = 60;
                    break;
               case 'd':
                    note = 62;
                    break;
               case 'e':
                    note = 64;
                    break;
               case 'f':
                    note = 65;
                    break;
               case 'g':
                    note = 67;
                    break;
               case 'a':
                    note = 69;
                    break;
               case 'b':
                    note = 71;
                    break;
               default:
                    note = -1;
                    break;
          timeWhilePress = System.currentTimeMillis();
          if (firstTime == 1)
               midiChannel.noteOn(note, 127);
     public void keyReleased(KeyEvent e)
          timeAfterPress = System.currentTimeMillis();
         try
               Thread.currentThread().sleep(timeAfterPress - timeWhilePress);
          catch (InterruptedException exception)
               exception.printStackTrace();     
        midiChannel.noteOff(note);
        firstTime = 0;
     public void keyTyped(KeyEvent e)
}Why it runs OK using appletviewer and not under IE browser , and how can I correct the problem please , so under IE browser , the applet should respond to key events ?
Thanks in advance ,
Lior .

Answer 1

The problem is related to the Midi itself , not to the keyPressed event - I've just checked it :
If I add a JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null,"Lior"); statement
as the first line of the keyPressed method ,
then also when running the applet under IE browser , when clicking on any letter character (eg. "j") , I see the "Lior" message appears on screen . So the problem is not with the keyboard event handling , but something related to the Midi itself .
If you don't mind , I should post this question also in the Java sound forum (unless this is considered a crosspost , then I'll not do that) .
Thanks in advance ,
Lior .