Troubleshooting

Controller not detected

The main window will tell you. If the right-hand end of the help line - the strip along the bottom of the window - names your pad, then MIDIpad is reading it. If there's a No controller detected badge in the title bar instead, work down the list.

1. Check it's a supported pad: a DualShock 4, DualSense, an Xbox pad over Bluetooth, a Switch Pro Controller, or any other gamepad the system recognises. See Controllers.
2. Confirm the system sees it. Check the system's Bluetooth menu, and check the USB cable actually carries data and isn't a charge-only one. If the system doesn't list the pad then MIDIpad can't either, so re-pair it or charge it and try again.
3. Xbox pads: use Bluetooth. Wired Xbox controllers don't turn up as standard input devices on macOS. Paired over Bluetooth they work.
4. Reconnect while MIDIpad is running. The app watches for new connections continuously. Unplugging and replugging, or switching the pad off and on, usually clears a stubborn connection.
5. Restart MIDIpad. Quit it fully - tray icon → Quit MIDIpad - and relaunch.

If none of that works, Help → Send Feedback… sends me a diagnostics snapshot and I'll take a look.

No sound in your DAW

MIDIpad makes no sound of its own. First check the instrument is reacting at all: play, and watch the stage. If the chord wheel or the dial doesn't move, the problem is the controller - see Controller not detected. If it moves, the problem is MIDIpad → DAW. Continue below.

Routing checks

1. Is the right input enabled in the DAW? Chords arrives on MIDIpad Chords and drums on MIDIpad Drums, which are two separate ports. Most DAWs list MIDI devices in their settings with a switch per port, and some want the port enabled and assigned per track.
2. Is the track armed or monitoring? A track will receive MIDI happily and still make no sound unless it's record-armed or input-monitoring. Watch the track's input meter - if it flickers when you play then MIDI is arriving and it's the instrument or the patch at fault.
3. Was the DAW open before MIDIpad? Some DAWs only scan for new MIDI ports at launch. Restart the DAW with MIDIpad already running.
4. Check the channel filter. Where Chords arrives depends on Chords channels: the strings are on channels 2-7 under MPE, 1-6 under Multi-channel, and everything is on channel 1 under Poly aftertouch, Single channel and in Demo Mode - so a track filtered to channels 2-7 for the per-string setup will respond to absolutely nothing from the app in demo mode. Drums arrives on channel 1 in Demo Mode and in single-channel mode, on channels 2 to 4 - one per drum - with MPE, and on 1 to 3 with Multi-channel. Set the track to "all channels" to test.
5. Is the synth listening to what MIDIpad sends? Notes carry velocity and Chords' decay rides channel pressure, so a patch that ignores velocity and maps no pressure can come out near-silent on soft strums. Flick hard as a test, then try a plucky, velocity-sensitive patch. For Drums, use a GM-mapped kit, or check where the notes are pointed in Drum notes and channel.

It sounds wrong, it just isn't silent

If Chords comes through but every note sits half-open or permanently bright, your patch is almost certainly treating the timbre stream as an offset. MIDIpad sends CC74 as an absolute position resting at 64, which is what an MPE synth expects, and it isn't an amount to add on to zero. Map it as a position, or filter CC74 out of the track in your DAW.

Stuck notes

Long ringing is usually the instrument and not a fault. Chords' strings fade naturally, and hard-played low notes fade slowly, more so with String sustain up or with a synth patch that's got a long release of its own.

Test it first: pull L2LTZL all the way in. If the squeeze silences the note then nothing was stuck.

Panic! At the MIDIpad

Instrument → All Notes Off (⌘.) releases everything MIDIpad has sounding and sends All Notes Off on every channel it's touched, across both ports. It's a MIDI panic for everything downstream.

Genuinely stuck notes

On quit or any output change the app releases everything it sent and then sends All Notes Off.

If a note does hang in your DAW:

1. Use the DAW's panic, or MIDIpad's, above. Most DAWs have a MIDI-panic button or menu item that sends All Notes Off to their instruments.
2. Check the synth's own holds. A sustain-pedal CC from another device, a held arpeggiator or latch mode, or a long effects tail can all look exactly like a stuck note.
3. Report it. If you can reproduce a hang that traces back to MIDIpad, use Help → Send Feedback… and tell me what you were playing. If I can reproduce it I can fix it.