Connect MIDI Device

Play and record openDAW's instruments from a hardware MIDI keyboard or controller. Connecting a device is done per track, from the track header's menu, so each instrument can listen to its own controller and channel.

1. Grant MIDI access

Click the {icon:Midi} Midi Access button in the app header and accept the browser's prompt. It lights up once access is granted.

Web MIDI is not available in Safari. Firefox supports it but needs a few extra steps — see Firefox MIDI.

2. Create the instrument

A MIDI device drives an instrument (a synth, sampler, Playfield, etc.), so you need an instrument track to play.

• Use Add Instrument… in the timeline. It opens the Device Browser, where you can try instruments and presets with your controller before keeping one.

An instrument track is a MIDI track: its input captures MIDI rather than audio, which is what lets it listen to a controller.

3. Choose the device on the track header

Open the track header's menu with the {icon:Menu} button, then open the Capture MIDI submenu. Under Devices you'll find:

• All devices — listen to every connected controller at once.
• One entry per connected controller — listen to just that device.
• The on-screen keyboard — a software input for when you have no hardware (see section 5).

Pick a device and openDAW arms the track for you. While a MIDI track is armed it monitors its input live, so pressing keys on your controller now sounds the instrument — no transport or recording needed.

The currently selected device (and channel) is shown with a check mark, so you can see at a glance what a track is listening to.

4. Channels

Each device entry opens a channel submenu:

• All channels — respond to MIDI on any channel (the usual choice).
• Channel 1–16 — respond only to that one channel.

Use a specific channel when one controller sends several parts (for example a keyboard split, or a sequencer driving different synths per channel): give each instrument track the same device but a different channel, and each plays only its own part.

5. No hardware? Use the on-screen keyboard

If you have no controller, pick the on-screen keyboard entry in the device list. openDAW opens a software keyboard you can play with the mouse or your computer keys, routed to the armed track exactly like a hardware device. This is handy for sketching an idea or trying a sound before reaching for a controller.

6. Play, capture and record

Once a track is armed and listening:

• Just play — the instrument sounds live; nothing is written.
• Capture what you played — commit buffered notes to a region without arming a take; see the Capture MIDI page.
• Record a take — arm, roll the transport, and play; see the Recording page.

You can keep several MIDI tracks armed at once for monitoring; the header menu on each track decides which device and channel that track listens to.

Troubleshooting

• No devices in the list — grant access (section 1), and make sure the controller is connected and recognised by your operating system. Reopen the menu after plugging in.
• Nothing sounds — check the track is armed (selecting a device arms it) and that it holds an instrument, and that your controller is sending on the channel the track listens to.