Raspberry Pi, Puredata and MIDI

My initial test with the Raspberry Pi running Puredata did not go as well as I had hoped. Noticeable noise in the output audio. In my MUS306 class today, MIDI was the topic of discussion. Why not MIDI? Connected my $5 no name MIDI interface to the Pi and started Puredata. Changed the configuration to turn off the audio output and set the MIDI ports. Used my Yamaha QY-10 as the MIDI tone generator. Everything worked perfectly. Now I'd like to see if I can attach controls directly to the GPIO port. This would save me from having to attach another MIDI device.