MIDI on a Mac: the complete guide
A Mac handles MIDI without extra software. Plug in a USB MIDI keyboard and music apps see it. The settings, Bluetooth pairing, the virtual cable between apps and MIDI over a network all live in one app that ships with macOS: Audio MIDI Setup, in Applications, Utilities. This guide follows the path most people take, in order, and each step links to a page that covers it in full.
I make InputConfig, a free Mac app that turns MIDI gear into shortcuts and game controllers into MIDI instruments. Most of this guide needs no app at all, and the parts that use mine say so. If MIDI itself is new to you, What is MIDI explains it in plain words first.
InputConfig is free on the Mac App Store. macOS 14 or later, no account, no tracking, open source.
On this page: 13 sections
- Steps
- Connect a MIDI device
- Find the Mac's MIDI settings
- Test that it works
- Play without a MIDI keyboard
- Send MIDI between apps and computers
- Understand the messages
- Work with MIDI files
- Turn MIDI into Mac shortcuts
- Turn a game controller into a MIDI controller
- Keep these calculators handy
- The short version
- Questions
Steps
- Connect the MIDI device by USB, or pair it over Bluetooth in Audio MIDI Setup.
- Open Audio MIDI Setup, choose Window, Show MIDI Studio, and check the device is listed.
- Open a music app, select a software instrument track and play.
- If nothing sounds, test the device in a browser MIDI tester to see whether its messages arrive.
Connect a MIDI device
- USB. Most MIDI keyboards and pad controllers are class compliant, which means they need no driver. Plug one in and it is ready. How to connect a MIDI keyboard to a Mac covers cables, hubs and older 5-pin gear.
- Bluetooth. Pair a Bluetooth MIDI device in Audio MIDI Setup, not in System Settings. Bluetooth MIDI on a Mac has the steps.
- No device at all. The Mac's own keyboard can play notes, and so can a web page. See the section on playing without a keyboard, below.
A USB MIDI keyboard is usually ready the moment it is plugged in.
Find the Mac's MIDI settings
Open Audio MIDI Setup and choose Window, Show MIDI Studio. Every MIDI device the Mac knows appears there as an icon, and a device that is unplugged or offline is dimmed. The same window can rescan for devices and test a connection. If a device is in MIDI Studio, the Mac sees it, and any problem is further along. Audio MIDI Setup on a Mac goes through the window.
Test that it works
- In a browser. The MIDI tester shows every note, knob and pedal as it arrives, with sound if you want it. It needs Chrome, Edge or Firefox, because Safari has no Web MIDI.
- With an app. MIDI monitors for Mac compares four free ways to watch messages.
- When nothing arrives. MIDI keyboard not working on a Mac is a ladder of fixes, smallest first.
See the messages arrive before you blame the music app.
Play without a MIDI keyboard
- The Mac's own keys. In GarageBand and Logic Pro, Command K opens Musical Typing. The computer keyboard as a MIDI controller covers it.
- A keyboard on screen. The virtual MIDI keyboard plays from the letter keys and can send to any MIDI output.
- Pads and faders on screen. The virtual MIDI controller has sixteen pads, eight faders, pitch bend and a panic button.
- A drum grid. The online drum machine is a sixteen-step sequencer that can send its beat to a MIDI output or save it as a MIDI file.
- A game controller. See the section on controllers, below.
You can start with MIDI before you own any MIDI hardware.
Send MIDI between apps and computers
- Between two apps. The IAC Driver is the Mac's built-in virtual MIDI cable. The IAC Driver on a Mac turns it on, and virtual MIDI port on a Mac compares it with the other kinds of port.
- Coming from Windows. loopMIDI for Mac maps that tool's ideas onto the Mac's.
- Between two computers. MIDI over a network on a Mac sets up a session over Wi-Fi or Ethernet.
Everything needed to route MIDI is already in Audio MIDI Setup.
Understand the messages
| Message or idea | What it is | Page |
|---|---|---|
| Notes and velocity | Which key, and how hard | MIDI velocity, note number chart |
| Control Change | Knobs, faders and pedals | MIDI CC list |
| Program Change | Switching sounds | MIDI Program Change |
| Pitch bend | The pitch wheel | MIDI pitch bend |
| Channels | Sixteen lanes on one cable | MIDI channels |
| Sustain pedal | CC 64 | The MIDI sustain pedal |
| Aftertouch | Pressure on a held key | MIDI aftertouch |
| Clock and transport | Keeping devices in tempo | MIDI clock |
| MSB and LSB | Values bigger than 127 | MSB and LSB |
| NRPN and RPN | Settings with no CC number | NRPN and RPN |
| SysEx | Maker-specific data | MIDI SysEx |
| Thru | Passing messages along a chain | MIDI Thru |
| Panic | Silencing a stuck note | The MIDI panic button |
Nearly everything a controller does is a note, a Control Change or a pitch bend. The MIDI message decoder turns raw bytes into words, and back.
Work with MIDI files
- Play one. How to play a MIDI file on a Mac: GarageBand for real instruments, or a browser for a quick listen.
- Look inside one. The MIDI file viewer and player lists tracks, tempo and every event as text.
- Watch one. The MIDI visualizer shows a file as falling notes over a piano, and shows what you play as it happens.
- Change one. The MIDI transposer moves a file to another key and changes its tempo.
- Make one. The MIDI recorder saves what you play as a .mid file.
- Name its sounds. The General MIDI instrument list and the GM drum map say which number is which instrument and which drum.
A MIDI file is the same messages, written down with a time on each.
Turn MIDI into Mac shortcuts
This is where InputConfig comes in. It reads a copy of what a MIDI device sends and turns notes, pads, knobs and pedals into keys, shortcuts, macros, clicks, scrolling and the Mac's volume, in any app.
- The feature. MIDI to keystroke on a Mac is the reference.
- A whole setup. A MIDI controller as a macro pad and control surface builds one, with presets to download.
- The volume. A MIDI knob as the Mac's volume control.
- The mouse. MIDI to mouse on a Mac: clicks, scrolling and the pointer.
- By app. Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro, Lightroom Classic, Photoshop and OBS.
- Games. A MIDI keyboard as a game controller.
- Other apps that do this. MIDI to keystroke apps for Mac compares them honestly.
Inside a music app, the app's own MIDI learn is the right tool for mapping a knob to a control. A pad that types nothing is the best shortcut key a Mac can have.
Turn a game controller into a MIDI controller
The other direction works too. InputConfig sends notes from controller buttons and Control Change or pitch bend from sticks and triggers, through its own MIDI port, with no IAC Driver needed.
- The setup. Gamepad to MIDI on a Mac builds a playable instrument.
- By controller. Xbox, PS5 and PS4, Joy-Con and Switch Pro, and joysticks, wheels and other HID devices.
- By music app. Logic Pro and GarageBand, Ableton Live and FL Studio.
The controller in the drawer has two analog sticks and two triggers, which is four faders.
Keep these calculators handy
- Tempo. The tap tempo tool finds a BPM from taps, a MIDI pad or a MIDI clock.
- Delay times. The BPM to ms calculator turns a tempo into note lengths in milliseconds and hertz.
- Chords. The chord identifier names whatever you click or play.
- Progressions. The chord progression generator plays a progression in any key and saves it as a MIDI file.
All of them run in the browser and send nothing anywhere.
The short version
- Connect. USB needs nothing. Bluetooth pairs in Audio MIDI Setup.
- Check. MIDI Studio shows what the Mac sees, and a MIDI tester shows what the device sends.
- Route. The IAC Driver between apps, a network session between computers.
- Go further. MIDI into shortcuts, or a game controller into MIDI.
On a Mac, MIDI starts working at the cable and everything else is one utility away.
Questions
Does a Mac need a driver for a MIDI keyboard?
Usually not. Most USB MIDI keyboards are class compliant and work as soon as they are plugged in. Some older interfaces need a driver from their maker.
Where are the MIDI settings on a Mac?
In Audio MIDI Setup, in Applications, Utilities. Choose Window, Show MIDI Studio to see every MIDI device, pair Bluetooth MIDI, turn on the IAC Driver and set up network MIDI.
How do I know if my Mac sees my MIDI keyboard?
Open Audio MIDI Setup and choose Window, Show MIDI Studio. A connected device appears as an icon that is not dimmed. A browser MIDI tester then shows whether its messages arrive.
Can I use MIDI on a Mac without a MIDI keyboard?
Yes. Musical Typing in GarageBand and Logic Pro, Command K, plays notes from the Mac's keyboard, and a virtual MIDI keyboard in a browser can send notes to any app.
Can a Mac send MIDI from one app to another?
Yes. Turn on the IAC Driver in Audio MIDI Setup and add a bus. One app sends to the bus and another listens to it.
Can a MIDI controller run Mac shortcuts?
Yes, with a mapper. InputConfig, a free Mac app, turns pads, keys, knobs and pedals into keyboard shortcuts, macros, clicks and volume control in any app.
Related
Free. macOS 14 or later. No account, nothing leaves your Mac. Open source on GitHub.
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