FAQ

Will there be a Windows version?

I am working on it, and with any luck it will be available soon, fingers crossed, it's a high priority. This one is very frequently asked, and that's why it's right up here at the top. It's coming.

Is it a VST?

No, it's a standalone application that essentially pretends to be a USB MIDI keyboard, or a couple of them, as far as your DAW is concerned. This one is also very frequently asked and I must admit I don't even know how a MIDI controller could be a VST? I guess Native Instruments sort of did that with a couple of things, but look at where that got them.

Do I need a DAW?

Not necessarily, but you do need something that accepts MIDI input and produces sound for MIDIpad to do anything. That could be a DAW, it could be a standalone synth or sampler or really anything that accepts MIDI input. Could even be a lighting system (if you end up running a lighting rig with MIDIpad please get in touch, I definitely want to know how that goes, you absolute mad person). Generally speaking though, a modern DAW is best. I personally use Ableton Live Suite and Logic Pro, so those are the DAWs that MIDIpad is most strenuously tested on, but I also occasionally just plug it into standalone synth apps when I just want to noodle about. I like Arturia ones, they're fun.

Didn't there used to be built-in sounds?

Yes, there were, in the very first public release. I removed them because maintaining them kind of got in the way of the core feature set, and didn't add enough value to keep them. It's a shame because I really did enjoy them, but ultimately it's kind of in the name: MIDIpad is a MIDI controller and I want to keep my efforts 100% focused on making it the best it can be in that dimension, and leave synthesis to the experts.

Do I need to know any music theory to use this?

Nope.

Which controllers work?

It's built for PlayStation controllers (DualShock 4 and DualSense) first and foremost, and they're the only ones that carry the whole of Chords, because the touchpad and motion sensors are core to it, not extras. Xbox and Switch Pro pads play too, with real constraints I've listed in Controllers, and Drums plays on anything with two analog sticks, though the triggers need to be analog for the hi-hat opening and the manual snare. If you're not on a Sony pad, spend ten minutes with the demo before you spend any money.

What about third-party controllers?

I've tested it with a couple of third-party PS4 controllers and they worked fine! But that's really not any form of guarantee, and there are so many of them that I can't hand-on-heart say "yup, absolutely all of them will work", so MIDIpad supports the official controllers, and I try my best with the rest of them.

If your controller doesn't work and you think it should, please let me know via the feedback form so I can help.

Do I need to install a driver?

No, weary time-traveler, it's 2026, we don't do that any more. MIDIpad shows up on your system as two MIDI outputs (MIDIpad Chords and MIDIpad Drums) and one input (MIDIpad in) when it's open. Connect a compatible controller and you're ready to rock.

Which DAWs does it work with?

Any that can read a MIDI input, which is all of them. There's a page over here about it that I'm still filling in the gaps of: Set up your DAW.

Does it do MPE?

Yes, that's kind of half of why it exists at all. But it doesn't do it the way keyboards do, so it's worth spending some time with it to figure out what's going on and wrap your head around it.

On the Chords instrument, MIDIpad's strings engine produces energy (string vibration) as pressure and brightness (where the string is plucked) as timbre (or "slide", depending on your setup). You strum harder, more pressure. You shake the pad, pressure rebuilds. Pluck the strings to the right, higher timbre, which dissipates with the pressure. Pluck to the left, lower timbre. Results may vary depending on what your synth is doing.

These are intentionally fuzzy, yet quite finely tuned mechanisms. They're designed for the maximum amount of expression from minimal input, and are about as precise as trying to ice skate barefoot. That is half of the fun, sans the frostbitten toes.

The biggest differentiation from most MPE implementations is that there isn't any pitchbend at all in MIDIpad. It's just too imprecise a surface to make pitchbend musically useful with Chords.

Check MIDI and MPE for more information on Chords specifically, and the MIDI reference for the broad overview. Demo Mode doesn't include the MPE or CC outputs - more on that below.

What's the catch with the demo?

No catch. Basically, you get to play with it for free, forever, in a mode that doesn't stop you from playing but doesn't have the full functionality. And the full functionality currently costs less than a pack of cigarettes (or, at least, less than the cigarettes I smoke).

I think demos should be like those old PS1 demo discs you used to get bundled with the console, or on the front of magazines - a taste of the full experience to show you how it plays, not something deliberately crippled to corner you into buying the full thing out of self-defense.

If MIDIpad resonates with you, if you feel it and go "oh this is cool", I appreciate your support whether you buy it or not. But buying it does get you quite a lot more than the demo provides, and it helps me keep making it better.

Go read Demo vs licensed for more info on what's there and isn't.

How does the licence work?

Pay once, get a key, put it on up to two of your computers, no subscription. I've designed it to be pretty aggressively offline-first, so once you've gone through the activation process you don't need to be online to use it, or any of that nonsense.

What does early access mean for me?

That you're buying it while I'm still building it, frankly, and that things are highly likely to change between now and, well, whatever not-early-access is called. Your licence covers every release through 1.0 and beyond, the price goes up at 1.0, and the changelog covers what happens in the meantime.

"Chords" and "Drums" and "MIDIpad"? These aren't exactly imaginative names.

And that is not exactly a question, yet it comes up a lot.

I reckon: a gamepad is a pad that enables people to play games. MIDIpad shifts the focus from games to MIDI, thus it is a pad that plays MIDI. Thus this is a MIDI pad. It plays chords, and it plays drums. What more do you want?

What's with all these hyphens everywhere?

My MacBook's keyboard is broken in quite specific ways - no left shift key, no left option key - it's very annoying, and I never learned the keyboard shortcut to type em-dashes properly anyway, and am also a terrible writer that confuses British and American spelling constantly. This is also why the spelling of "license" is so confused throughout everything.

I apologise.