Confused by MIDI note numbers

estevancarlos's icon

I'm sending a MIDI note number to the midiselect object however I don't know what numbers correlate with what MIDI note. I'm getting confusing results and confusing information online.

I have a track in Live playing one note. That note is F1. When I send a MIDI note number of 41 to [midiselect] it recognizes the incoming note, F1. However different online documentation state different numbers for F1 (17, 29). The midi note of 41 is the pitch of F but listed as different octaves.

Can anyone explain what the deal is?

Screen-Shot-2014-08-25-at-9.50.54-PM.png
png
Screen-Shot-2014-08-25-at-9.51.41-PM.png
png
Wetterberg's icon

Your link has it too:
"The MIDI specification only defines note number 60 as "Middle C", and all other notes are relative. The absolute octave number designations shown here are based on Middle C = C5, which is an arbitrary assignment."

Since there is no clear denotation of "middle C" this varies from manufacturer to manufacturer.

I suggest simply going with the integers. They never lie.

Peter Castine's icon

The confusion is because there are different standards for specifying octaves. If you take a look at the Inspector for [numbox], you will see that there are two different conventions supported there (IMS, middle C as C4 and as C5). That's just the tip of the iceberg as far as octave numbering goes %-}

If you work with 60 = middle C, 48 = octave below, 72 = octave above, etc., you should avoid confusion and be all right.

"The great thing about standards is that there are always so many to choose from!"