However, ideally, there would be a setting for note numbers as well as numbers are probably the most useful when setting up triggers. There is, actually, one app that uses this: Fugue Machine.Īll of this means that trying to get stuff to work together can be very confusing.ĭevelopers, please have a method of switching between what middle C is named! C3 and C4 are, by far, the most common, so all that is really needed. This comes from C1 to G11, using common counting starting from 1, not 0. Some people propose C5 as this relates to the MIDI Spec / programmer method of counting from 0 (so a full range of C0 - G10), but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it used in commercial products (note: you might think apeMatrix is one such app as the keyboard starts at C0, but this note is actually the 13th note you don't have access to the lowest octave).Īnd then there's middle C as C6. There are several apps that use this too (AUM, Xynthesizr, MIDIFlow), but it is probably slightly less common than C3 in the software world (but with Roland and Korg, just as common in hardware?). Roland used C4 for middle C, so the full MIDI range is C-1 to G9. A bit odd, but, it's probably the most common naming convention it’s what most apps seem to use (modstep, Garageband, Senode, BeatMaker 3, Infinite Looper, Audio Damage apps etc.) As well as Ableton, Arturia, Novation, DSI, etc. It gives the full 128 note MIDI range of C-2 to G8.

This comes from their originally using 61 note keyboards where middle C was the third C on the keyboard. Here middle C is clear, it's note 60.īut when it comes to names, nothing was ever defined, so different manufacturers came up with different naming conventions. The MIDI Manufacturers Association only specifies note numbers. C3, B4, etc.), please, please, please have a method for allowing the user to define what Middle C is!įor anyone unaware, there is no standard for note naming. If you're going to have notes named (e.g.

Midi note numbers chart