What are MIDI channels?
A MIDI connection carries 16 channels, numbered 1 to 16. Every note, knob movement and program change is tagged with one of them, and a receiving instrument answers only the channels it is set to hear. That is how one cable can play sixteen different parts. In General MIDI, channel 10 is reserved for drums.
I make InputConfig, a free Mac app that maps MIDI to shortcuts and sends MIDI from game controllers, so the last section says how channels behave there.
On this page: 9 sections
Steps
- Find the channel your keyboard or pad sends on, in its settings or with a MIDI monitor.
- Set the receiving instrument or track to the same channel, or to all channels.
- For drums on a General MIDI device, send on channel 10.
See where the channel sits in a message
The channel is part of the first byte of a message. The first half of that byte says what kind of message it is, and the second half is the channel, written 0 to 15 for channels 1 to 16.
| First byte | Message | Channel |
|---|---|---|
| 0x90 | Note On | 1 |
| 0x99 | Note On | 10 |
| 0xB0 | Control Change | 1 |
| 0xCF | Program Change | 16 |
Channel 1 is 0 inside the message, so the channel on the wire is always one less than the channel on the screen.
InputConfig is free on the Mac App Store. macOS 14 or later, no account, no tracking, open source.
Match the sender and the receiver
- Same channel. The instrument plays.
- Different channels. The instrument ignores the notes. This is the most common reason a connected keyboard is silent.
- Receiver set to all channels. Often called omni. It plays whatever arrives.
When a keyboard is connected and nothing sounds, compare the two channel numbers first. The MIDI tester shows the channel of every message a device sends.
Know why channel 10 is drums
General MIDI sets channel 10 aside for percussion. On that channel a note number picks a drum, not a pitch: 36 is the kick, 38 the snare, 42 the closed hi-hat. On the other fifteen channels the same numbers play notes. A drum pad that plays pitched notes on a General MIDI device is sending on the wrong channel. The General MIDI drum map lists every drum.
Know what does not have a channel
Timing and transport messages belong to the whole connection, not to a channel: MIDI clock, Start, Continue and Stop. So does System Exclusive data. A device set to channel 5 still follows the clock.
Notes, knobs, bends and program changes have channels, and clock and transport do not.
Use more than sixteen
Sixteen is the limit of one MIDI port. A second port is a second set of sixteen, which is why interfaces and music apps offer several ports. Some expressive controllers use the channels differently and send each held note on a channel of its own, so every finger can bend separately. More than sixteen parts means more than one port, not a seventeenth channel.
Set channels in InputConfig
- MIDI coming in. A row made with Scan keeps the channel it was scanned on. Choose Any channel for a controller that plays each note on its own channel.
- Splitting a keyboard. Pick a channel on a row to give one zone of a keyboard its own shortcuts.
- MIDI going out. Each MIDI output on a row has its own channel, so one controller can play drums on channel 10 and a synth on channel 1.
If a pad lights in the Live Visualizer and its row does nothing, the row's channel does not match the pad's. MIDI to keystroke on a Mac has the filters.
The short version
- How many. Sixteen in one port.
- What for. Sixteen parts over one connection, each instrument hearing its own.
- Channel 10. Drums, in General MIDI.
Sender and receiver on the same channel, and the notes arrive.
Questions
How many MIDI channels are there?
Sixteen in each MIDI port, numbered 1 to 16. Inside a message they are written 0 to 15.
What is MIDI channel 10 used for?
Drums and percussion, in General MIDI. On channel 10 each note number is a different drum, not a pitch.
Why does my MIDI keyboard make no sound?
Often the keyboard sends on one channel and the instrument listens to another. Set both to the same channel, or set the instrument to receive all channels.
What is omni mode?
A receiving mode where an instrument responds to messages on every channel, whatever channel they were sent on.
Does MIDI clock have a channel?
No. Clock, Start, Continue and Stop are sent to the whole connection, so every device on it follows them whatever its channel.
Related
Free. macOS 14 or later. No account, nothing leaves your Mac. Open source on GitHub.
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