Arduino

MIDI
Pieter P, 08-03-2017

This is a guide that covers the basics of the Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) protocol
and its implementation on the Arduino platform.
The format of the protocol is explained in the first chapter. Chapter two goes over the hardware.
In chapter three, example code for sending MIDI is presented. Chapter four contains everything
needed to build a working MIDI controller. MIDI input is covered in chapter five, and chapter six
extends this by adding support for System Exclusive (SysEx) messages.
The MIDI protocol
The MIDI specification can be found here: https://www.midi.org/specifications/item/the-midi-1-0-specification

The MIDI protocol describes a set of MIDI events. For example, a note is played, or a note is
turned off, a controller is moved and set to a new value, a new instrument is selected, etc. These
events correspond to MIDI messages that can be sent over the MIDI hardware connection.

There are two main types of messages: channel messages and system messages. Most
performance information will be sent as channel messages, while system messages are used for
things like proprietary handshakes, manufacturer-specific settings, sending long packets of data,
real-time messages for synchronization and tuning, and other things that are not really of
interest to someone who just wants to make an Arduino MIDI instrument or controller. That's why
this guide will mainly focus on channel messages.

Channel messages
There are 16 MIDI channels. Each MIDI instrument can play notes on one of these channels, and
they can apply different voices or patches to different channels, as well as setting some
controllers like volume, pan, balance, sustain pedal, pitch bend, etc.
MIDI messages that target a specific channel are called channel messages.

A MIDI channel message consist of a header byte, referred to as the status byte, followed by one
or two data bytes:

Status ─ Data

Status ─ Data 1 ─ Data 2

Each byte consists of 8 binary digits. To distinguish between status and data bytes, and to
prevent framing errors, status bytes have the most significant bit (msb) set to one (1), and data
bytes have the msb set to zero (0).
Status byte Data byte 1 Data byte 2 (optional)
Bit 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Value 1 x x x x x x x 0 x x x x x x x 0 x x x x x x x

Status bytes

The status byte of channel messages is divided into two 4-bit nibbles. The high nibble (bits 4-7)
specifies the message type, and the low nibble (bits 0-3) specifies the MIDI channel. Because the
most significant bit has to be one, there are 8 different message types (0b1000 - 0b1111 or 0x8 -
0xF), and 16 different channels (0x0 - 0xF). Message type 0xF is used for system messages, so it
won't be covered in this section on channel messages.
Status byte
Bit 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Value m m m m n n n n

Where mmmm is the message type (0x8 - 0xE) and nnnn is the channel nibble.
Note that the channels start from nnnn = 0 for MIDI channel 1. (nnnn = channel - 1)

Data bytes

Each data byte contains a 7-bit value, a number between 0 and 127 (0b01111111 or 0x7F). The
meaning of this value depends on the message type. For example, it can tell the receiver what
note is played, how hard the key was struck, what instrument to select, what value a controller is
set to, etc.

Channel Messages: message types

The following section will go over the different channel messages and their status and data
bytes.
Keep in mind that nnnn = channel - 1.
Note Off (0x8)

A note off event is used to stop a playing note. For example, when a key is released.

Data 1 (0b0kkkkkkk):  Note number (key). See MIDI note names.

Data 2 (0b0vvvvvvv):  Velocity (how fast the key is released).

A velocity of 0 is not defined, and some software or devices may not register the note off
event if the velocity is zero.
Most software or devices will ignore the note off velocity.
Instead of a note off event, a note on event with a velocity of zero may be used. This is
especially useful when using a running status.

Status byte Note number Velocity

Bit 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Value 1 0 0 0 n n n n 0 k k k k k k k 0 v v v v v v v

Note On (0x9)

A note on event is used to play a note. For example, when a key is pressed.

Data 1 (0b0kkkkkkk):  Note number (key). See MIDI note names.

Data 2 (0b0vvvvvvv):  Velocity (how fast/hard the key is pressed).

If the velocity is zero, the note on event is interpreted as a note off event. This is especially
useful when using a running status.

Status byte Note number Velocity

Bit 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Value 1 0 0 1 n n n n 0 k k k k k k k 0 v v v v v v v

Polyphonic key pressure (0xA)

A polyphonic key pressure event is used when the pressure on a key or a pressure sensitive pad
changes after the note on event.

Data 1 (0b0kkkkkkk):  Note number (key). See MIDI note names.

Data 2 (0b0vvvvvvv):  Pressure on the key.

Most normal MIDI keyboards do not implement this event.

Key pressure is sometimes referred to as after-touch or after-pressure.

Status byte Note number Pressure

Bit 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Value 1 0 1 0 n n n n 0 k k k k k k k 0 v v v v v v v

Control change (0xB)

A control change event is used when the value of a controller changes.

Data 1 (0b0ccccccc):  Controller number. See Controller numbers.

Data 2 (0b0vvvvvvv):  The value of the controller.

Controller numbers 120-127 are reserved as "Channel Mode Messages".

Status byte Controller number Value

Bit 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Value 1 0 1 1 n n n n 0 c c c c c c c 0 v v v v v v v

Program change (0xC)

A program change event is used to change the program (i.e. sound, voice, tone, preset or patch)
of a given channel is changed.

Data 1 (0b0ppppppp):  Program number. See Program numbers.

 Controller numbers 120-127 are reserved as "Channel Mode Messages".

Status byte Program number

Bit 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Value 1 1 0 0 n n n n 0 c c c c c c c

Channel pressure (0xD)

A channel pressure event is used when the pressure on a key or a pressure sensitive pad
changes after the note on event. Unlike polyphonic key pressure, channel pressure affects all
notes playing on the channel.

Data 1 (0b0vvvvvvv):  Pressure value.

Most normal MIDI keyboards do not implement this event.

Channel pressure is sometimes referred to as after-touch or after-pressure.

Status byte Pressure

Bit 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Value 1 1 0 1 n n n n 0 v v v v v v v

Pitch bend change (0xE)

A pitch bend change event is used to alter the pitch of the notes played on a given channel.

Data 1 (0b0lllllll):  Least significant byte (bits 0-7) of the pitch bend value.
Data 2 (0b0mmmmmmm):  Most significant byte (bits 8-13) of the pitch bend value.

The center position (no pitch change) is represented by LSB = 0x0, MSB = 0x40

Status byte LSB MSB

Bit 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Value 1 1 1 0 n n n n 0 l l l l l l l 0 m m m m m m m

Running status

There are a lot of circumstances where you have to send many messages of the same type. For
example, if you have a digital keyboard, pretty much all messages will be note on and note off
events, or when you turn a knob on a MIDI controller, a lot of control change messages will be
sent to update the controller value. To save bandwidth in these kinds of situations, you only have
to send the status byte once, followed by only data bytes. This technique is called "running
status".
Because note on events are most likely to be followed by note off events (or more note on
events), the MIDI standard allows you to use a note on event with a velocity of zero instead of a
note off event. This means that you only need one status byte for all note events, drastically
reducing the data throughput, thus minimizing the delay between events.

System Messages

System messages are MIDI messages that do not carry data for a specific MIDI channel. There
are three types of system messages:

System Common Messages

System Common messages are intended for all receivers in the system.
These messages are beyond the scope of this guide. If you want more information, refer to page
27 of the MIDI 1.0 Detailed Specification 4.2.

MIDI Time Code Quarter Frame (0xF1)

Song Position Pointer (0xF2)
Song Select (0xF3)
Tune Request (0xF6)
EOX (End of Exclusive) (0xF7)
System Real Time Messages

System Real Time messages are used for synchronization between clock-based MIDI
components.
These messages are beyond the scope of this guide. If you want more information, refer to page
30 of the MIDI 1.0 Detailed Specification 4.2.

Timing Clock (0xF8)

Start (0xFA)
Continue (0xFB)
Stop (0xFC)
Active Sensing (0xFE)
System Reset (0xFF)

System Exclusive Messages

System Exclusive (SysEx) messages are used for things like setting synthesizer or patch settings,
sending sampler data, memory dumps, etc.
Most SysEx messages are manufacturer-specific, so it is best to consult the MIDI implementation
in the manual. If you want more information on the topic, you can find it on page 34 of the MIDI
1.0 Detailed Specification 4.2.

A system exclusive message starts with a status byte 0xF0, followed by an arbitrary number of
data bytes, and ends with another status byte 0xF7.
SysEx start Data … SysEx end
Bit 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 … 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Value 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 d d d d d d d … 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1

Appendices
All numbers are in hexadecimal representation, unless otherwise specified.

MIDI note names

Middle C or C4 is defined as MIDI note 0x3C.

The lowest note on a standard 88-key piano is A0 (0x15) and the highest note is C8 (0x6C).
Note
Octave C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B
-1 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B
0 0C 0D 0E 0F 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
1 18 19 1A 1B 1C 1D 1E 1F 20 21 22 23
2 24 25 26 27 28 29 2A 2B 2C 2D 2E 2F
3 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 3A 3B
4 3C 3D 3E 3F 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47
5 48 49 4A 4B 4C 4D 4E 4F 50 51 52 53
6 54 55 56 57 58 59 5A 5B 5C 5D 5E 5F
7 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 6A 6B
8 6C 6D 6E 6F 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77
9 78 79 7A 7B 7C 7D 7E 7F

Controller numbers
This is an overview of the MIDI controller numbers that can be used as the first data byte of a
control change event.
The second data byte is the value for the controller. This value is 7 bits wide, so has a range of
[0, 127]. Controller numbers 0x00-0x1F can be combined with numbers 0x20-0x3F for 14-bit
resolution. In this case, numbers 0x00-0x1F set the MSB, and numbers 0x20-0x3F the LSB.
Controller numbers 120-127 are reserved for Channel Mode Messages, which rather than
controlling sound parameters, affect the channel's operating mode.
Controller Function Value Used
Dec Hex as
0 00 Bank Select 00-7F MSB
1 01 Modulation Wheel or Lever 00-7F MSB
2 02 Breath Controller 00-7F MSB
3 03 Undefined 00-7F MSB
4 04 Foot Controller 00-7F MSB
5 05 Portamento Time 00-7F MSB
6 06 Data Entry MSB 00-7F MSB
7 07 Channel Volume (formerly Main Volume) 00-7F MSB
8 08 Balance 00-7F MSB
9 09 Undefined 00-7F MSB
10 0A Pan 00-7F MSB
11 0B Expression Controller 00-7F MSB
12 0C Effect Control 1 00-7F MSB
13 0D Effect Control 2 00-7F MSB
14 0E Undefined 00-7F MSB
15 0F Undefined 00-7F MSB
16 10 General Purpose Controller 1 00-7F MSB
17 11 General Purpose Controller 2 00-7F MSB
18 12 General Purpose Controller 3 00-7F MSB
19 13 General Purpose Controller 4 00-7F MSB
20 14 Undefined 00-7F MSB
21 15 Undefined 00-7F MSB
22 16 Undefined 00-7F MSB
23 17 Undefined 00-7F MSB
24 18 Undefined 00-7F MSB
25 19 Undefined 00-7F MSB
26 1A Undefined 00-7F MSB
27 1B Undefined 00-7F MSB
28 1C Undefined 00-7F MSB
29 1D Undefined 00-7F MSB
30 1E Undefined 00-7F MSB
31 1F Undefined 00-7F MSB
32 20 LSB for Control 0 (Bank Select) 00-7F LSB
33 21 LSB for Control 1 (Modulation Wheel or Lever) 00-7F LSB
34 22 LSB for Control 2 (Breath Controller) 00-7F LSB
35 23 LSB for Control 3 (Undefined) 00-7F LSB
36 24 LSB for Control 4 (Foot Controller) 00-7F LSB
37 25 LSB for Control 5 (Portamento Time) 00-7F LSB
38 26 LSB for Control 6 (Data Entry) 00-7F LSB
39 27 LSB for Control 7 (Channel Volume, formerly Main Volume) 00-7F LSB
40 28 LSB for Control 8 (Balance) 00-7F LSB
41 29 LSB for Control 9 (Undefined) 00-7F LSB
42 2A LSB for Control 10 (Pan) 00-7F LSB
43 2B LSB for Control 11 (Expression Controller) 00-7F LSB
44 2C LSB for Control 12 (Effect control 1) 00-7F LSB
45 2D LSB for Control 13 (Effect control 2) 00-7F LSB
46 2E LSB for Control 14 (Undefined) 00-7F LSB
47 2F LSB for Control 15 (Undefined) 00-7F LSB
48 30 LSB for Control 16 (General Purpose Controller 1) 00-7F LSB
49 31 LSB for Control 17 (General Purpose Controller 2) 00-7F LSB
50 32 LSB for Control 18 (General Purpose Controller 3) 00-7F LSB
51 33 LSB for Control 19 (General Purpose Controller 4) 00-7F LSB
52 34 LSB for Control 20 (Undefined) 00-7F LSB
53 35 LSB for Control 21 (Undefined) 00-7F LSB
54 36 LSB for Control 22 (Undefined) 00-7F LSB
55 37 LSB for Control 23 (Undefined) 00-7F LSB
56 38 LSB for Control 24 (Undefined) 00-7F LSB
57 39 LSB for Control 25 (Undefined) 00-7F LSB
58 3A LSB for Control 26 (Undefined) 00-7F LSB
59 3B LSB for Control 27 (Undefined) 00-7F LSB
60 3C LSB for Control 28 (Undefined) 00-7F LSB
61 3D LSB for Control 29 (Undefined) 00-7F LSB
62 3E LSB for Control 30 (Undefined) 00-7F LSB
63 3F LSB for Control 31 (Undefined) 00-7F LSB
64 40 Damper Pedal on/off (Sustain) ≤3F off, ≥40 on ---
65 41 Portamento On/Off ≤3F off, ≥40 on ---

66 42 Sostenuto On/Off ≤3F off, ≥40 on ---

67 43 Soft Pedal On/Off ≤3F off, ≥40 on ---

≤3F Normal, ≥40
68 44 Legato Footswitch ---
Legato
69 45 Hold 2 ≤3F off, ≥40 on ---
70 46 Sound Controller 1 (default: Sound Variation) 00-7F LSB
71 47 Sound Controller 2 (default: Timbre/Harmonic Intens.) 00-7F LSB
72 48 Sound Controller 3 (default: Release Time) 00-7F LSB
73 49 Sound Controller 4 (default: Attack Time) 00-7F LSB
74 4A Sound Controller 5 (default: Brightness) 00-7F LSB
75 4B Sound Controller 6 (default: Decay Time - see MMA RP-021) 00-7F LSB
76 4C Sound Controller 7 (default: Vibrato Rate - see MMA RP-021) 00-7F LSB
77 4D Sound Controller 8 (default: Vibrato Depth - see MMA RP-021) 00-7F LSB
78 4E Sound Controller 9 (default: Vibrato Delay - see MMA RP-021) 00-7F LSB
79 4F Sound Controller 10 (default undefined - see MMA RP-021) 00-7F LSB
80 50 General Purpose Controller 5 00-7F LSB
81 51 General Purpose Controller 6 00-7F LSB
82 52 General Purpose Controller 7 00-7F LSB
83 53 General Purpose Controller 8 00-7F LSB
84 54 Portamento Control 00-7F LSB
85 55 Undefined --- ---
86 56 Undefined --- ---
87 57 Undefined --- ---
88 58 High Resolution Velocity Prefix 00-7F LSB
89 59 Undefined --- ---
90 5A Undefined --- ---
Effects 1 Depth (default: Reverb Send Level - see MMA RP-023)
91 5B 00-7F ---
(formerly ExternalEffects Depth)
92 5C Effects 2 Depth (formerly Tremolo Depth) 00-7F ---
Effects 3 Depth (default: Chorus Send Level - see MMA RP-023)
93 5D 00-7F ---
(formerly Chorus Depth)
94 5E Effects 4 Depth (formerly Celeste [Detune] Depth) 00-7F ---
95 5F Effects 5 Depth (formerly Phaser Depth) 00-7F ---
96 60 Data Increment (Data Entry +1) (see MMA RP-018) N/A ---
97 61 Data Decrement (Data Entry -1) (see MMA RP-018) N/A ---
98 62 Non-Registered Parameter Number (NRPN) - LSB 00-7F LSB
99 63 Non-Registered Parameter Number (NRPN) - MSB 00-7F MSB
100 64 Registered Parameter Number (RPN) - LSB* 00-7F LSB
101 65 Registered Parameter Number (RPN) - MSB* 00-7F MSB
102 66 Undefined --- ---
103 67 Undefined --- ---
104 68 Undefined --- ---
105 69 Undefined --- ---
106 6A Undefined --- ---
107 6B Undefined --- ---
108 6C Undefined --- ---
109 6D Undefined --- ---
110 6E Undefined --- ---
111 6F Undefined --- ---
112 70 Undefined --- ---
113 71 Undefined --- ---
114 72 Undefined --- ---
115 73 Undefined --- ---
116 74 Undefined --- ---
117 75 Undefined --- ---
118 76 Undefined --- ---
119 77 Undefined --- ---

Channel
mode Function Value
Dec Hex
120 78 All Sound Off 00
121 79 Reset All Controllers 00
122 7A Local Control On/Off 00 off, 7F on
123 7B All Notes Off 00
Omni Mode Off (+ all
124 7C 00
notes off)
Omni Mode On (+ all
125 7D 00
notes off)
Mono Mode On (+ poly Note: This equals the number of channels, or zero if the number of
126 7E
off, + all notes off) channels equals the number of voices in the receiver.
Poly Mode On (+ mono
127 7F 0
off, + all notes off)

Source

Program numbers

The MIDI specification doesn't specify instruments or voices for program numbers. The General
MIDI 1 sound set does define a list of sounds and families of sounds.
Program Family Name
1-8 Piano
9-16 Chromatic Percussion
17-24 Organ
25-32 Guitar
33-40 Bass
41-48 Strings
49-56 Ensemble
57-64 Brass
65-72 Reed
73-80 Pipe
81-88 Synth Lead
89-96 Synth Pad

97-104 Synth Effects

105-112 Ethnic
113-120 Percussive
121-128 Sound Effects

Program Instrument Name

1 Acoustic Grand Piano
2 Bright Acoustic Piano
3 Electric Grand Piano
4 Honky-tonk Piano
5 Electric Piano 1
6 Electric Piano 2
7 Harpsichord
8 Clavi
9 Celesta
10 Glockenspiel
11 Music Box
12 Vibraphone
13 Marimba
14 Xylophone
15 Tubular Bells
16 Dulcimer
17 Drawbar Organ
18 Percussive Organ
19 Rock Organ
20 Church Organ
21 Reed Organ
22 Accordion
23 Harmonica
24 Tango Accordion
25 Acoustic Guitar (nylon)
26 Acoustic Guitar (steel)
27 Electric Guitar (jazz)
28 Electric Guitar (clean)
29 Electric Guitar (muted)
30 Overdriven Guitar
31 Distortion Guitar
32 Guitar harmonics
33 Acoustic Bass
34 Electric Bass (finger)
35 Electric Bass (pick)
36 Fretless Bass
37 Slap Bass 1
38 Slap Bass 2
39 Synth Bass 1
40 Synth Bass 2
41 Violin
42 Viola
43 Cello
44 Contrabass
45 Tremolo Strings
46 Pizzicato Strings
47 Orchestral Harp
48 Timpani
49 String Ensemble 1
50 String Ensemble 2
51 SynthStrings 1
52 SynthStrings 2
53 Choir Aahs
54 Voice Oohs
55 Synth Voice
56 Orchestra Hit
57 Trumpet
58 Trombone
59 Tuba
60 Muted Trumpet
61 French Horn
62 Brass Section
63 SynthBrass 1
64 SynthBrass 2
65 Soprano Sax
66 Alto Sax
67 Tenor Sax
68 Baritone Sax
69 Oboe
70 English Horn
71 Bassoon
72 Clarinet
73 Piccolo
74 Flute
75 Recorder
76 Pan Flute
77 Blown Bottle
78 Shakuhachi
79 Whistle

80 Ocarina
81 Lead 1 (square)
82 Lead 2 (sawtooth)
83 Lead 3 (calliope)
84 Lead 4 (chiff)
85 Lead 5 (charang)
86 Lead 6 (voice)
87 Lead 7 (fifths)
88 Lead 8 (bass + lead)
89 Pad 1 (new age)
90 Pad 2 (warm)
91 Pad 3 (polysynth)
92 Pad 4 (choir)
93 Pad 5 (bowed)
94 Pad 6 (metallic)
95 Pad 7 (halo)
96 Pad 8 (sweep)
97 FX 1 (rain)
98 FX 2 (soundtrack)
99 FX 3 (crystal)
100 FX 4 (atmosphere)
101 FX 5 (brightness)
102 FX 6 (goblins)
103 FX 7 (echoes)
104 FX 8 (sci-fi)
105 Sitar
106 Banjo
107 Shamisen
108 Koto
109 Kalimba
110 Bag pipe
111 Fiddle
112 Shanai
113 Tinkle Bell
114 Agogo
115 Steel Drums
116 Woodblock
117 Taiko Drum
118 Melodic Tom
119 Synth Drum
120 Reverse Cymbal

121 Guitar Fret Noise

122 Breath Noise
123 Seashore
124 Bird Tweet
125 Telephone Ring
126 Helicopter
127 Applause
128 Gunshot

Source
MIDI hardware
The MIDI hardware link is just a 5mA current loop that asynchronously sends and receives 8-bit
bytes at a baud rate of 31250 symbols per second. This means that the Arduino's hardware UART
can be used for transmitting and receiving MIDI. DIN 5 pin (180 degree) female receptacles are
used for MIDI in, out and through connectors.

This is the original schematic that can be found in the 1996 MIDI 1.0 Detailed Specification 4.2:

The current loop consists of a an open collector output on the transmitting end (MIDI out and
MIDI through), and an opto-isolator at the receiving end (MIDI in). When a 'zero' is sent, the open
collector output sinks current, turning on the LED of the opto-isolator. This will in turn bring low
the open collector output of the opto-isolator, resulting in a low signal.
The reason for using a current loop instead of a voltage, is that the sender and the receiver can
be at different potentials, because everything is galvanically isolated. This also prevents ground
loops, which can result in noise.
Note that the ground and shielding (pin 2 on the 5-pin DIN connector) is connected to the ground
of the MIDI out and through circuits, but not to the ground of the receiver in the MIDI in circuit.

The standard was updated in 2014 to include specifications for 3.3V MIDI devices.
( MIDI 1.0 Electrical Specification Update (CA-033) (2014). MMA Technical Standards Board / AMEI
MIDI Committee.)

Pin 2 must be tied to ground on the MIDI transmitter

only.

The buffer between the UART transmitter and R C is

optional and system-dependent.

The UART is configured with 8 data bits, no parity, and 1

stop bit, or 8-N-1.

The resistor values depend on the transmission signaling

voltage, V TX, as detailed below.

The optional ferrite beads are 1k-ohm at 100MHz such as

MMZ1608Y102BT or similar.

VTX +5V ± 10% +3.3V ± 5%

RA 220Ω 5% 0.25W 33Ω 5% 0.5W

RC 220Ω 5% 0.25W 10Ω 5% 0.25W

Do not connect any pins of the MIDI IN jack

directly to ground
VRX Value of RD Optional MIDI Thru Circuit
depends on opto-
Jack shield – N/C or optional small isolator and VRX.
capacitor (0.1 µF typical) to improve Recommended value
EMI/EMC performance is 280Ω for PC900V VTX Jack shield – N/C or
optional ground to improve
with VRX=5V.
Optional ferrite beads to EMI/EMC performance
IN improve EMI/EMC
RD
performance
1
N/C
N/C
3 FB3 31,250 bits/sec THRU
4 1K @100MHz UART Receiver RE
5
2
N/C 1
FB5 3
N/C

D1 1K @100MHz 4
5
FB4 1N914 2
1K @100MHz
FB6
1K @100MHz
RB Opto-Isolator
220 such as RF
PC900V or 6N138
Reverse voltage Optional ferrite beads to
protection for improve EMI/EMC
opto-isolator performance

Pin 2 – N/C or optional small Choose RE and RF based on VTX in the

capacitor (0.1 µF typical) to same way as described for MIDI Out RA
improve RF grounding and RC
Sending MIDI over Serial
The easiest way to send out MIDI packets is to use the Serial.write(uint8_t data); function. This
function writes out one 8-bit byte over the Serial connection (either hardware UART0 or the
virtual COM port over USB).
To send out a MIDI packet, we just have to write out the three bytes that make up the packet:
first the status byte, then the two data bytes.

void sendMIDI(uint8_t statusByte, uint8_t dataByte1, uint8_t dataByte2) {

Serial.write(statusByte);
Serial.write(dataByte1);
Serial.write(dataByte2);
}

In order to support MIDI packets with only one data byte as well, we can just overload the
sendMIDI function. This means that we create two functions with the same name, but with
different parameters.

void sendMIDI(uint8_t statusByte, uint8_t dataByte) {

Serial.write(statusByte);
Serial.write(dataByte);
}

In its current form, the sendMIDI function is quite silly. Although it sends out MIDI packets, it
doesn't automatically create these packets for us, we still have to put together the status and
data bytes ourselves, and we have to make sure that it is a valid MIDI packet before calling
sendMIDI. Let's create a more useful function that takes a message type, channel number and
data as inputs, creates a MIDI packet, and sends it over the Serial port.

void sendMIDI(uint8_t messageType, uint8_t channel, uint8_t data1, uint8_t data2) {

channel--; // Decrement the channel, because MIDI channel 1 corresponds to binary channel 0
uint8_t statusByte = messageType | channel; // Combine the messageType (high nibble)
// with the channel (low nibble)
// Both the message type and the channel should be
4 bits wide
Serial.write(statusByte);
Serial.write(data1);
Serial.write(data2);
}

We now have a working function that sends MIDI packets, and takes a somewhat sensible input,
not just the bytes of the packet. But there's still no guarantee that it is a valid MIDI message.
Remember that the status byte should have a most significant bit equal to 1, and the data bytes
a most significant bit equal to 0. We'll use some bitwise math to make sure that this is always the
case, no matter what data the user enters.

void sendMIDI(uint8_t messageType, uint8_t channel, uint8_t data1, uint8_t data2) {

channel--; // Decrement the channel, because MIDI channel 1
// corresponds to binary channel 0
uint8_t statusByte = messageType | channel; // Combine the messageType (high nibble)
// with the channel (low nibble)
// Both the message type and the channel
// should be 4 bits wide
statusByte |= 0b10000000; // Set the most significant bit of the status byte
data1 &= 0b01111111; // Clear the most significant bit of the data
bytes
data2 &= 0b01111111;
Serial.write(statusByte); // Send over Serial
Serial.write(data1);
Serial.write(data2);
}

void sendMIDI(uint8_t messageType, uint8_t channel, uint8_t data) {

channel--; // Decrement the channel, because MIDI channel 1
// corresponds to binary channel 0
uint8_t statusByte = messageType | channel; // Combine the messageType (high nibble)
// with the channel (low nibble)
// Both the message type and the channel
// should be 4 bits wide
 statusByte |= 0b10000000; // Set the most significant bit of the status byte
data &= 0b01111111; // Clear the most significant bit of the data byte
Serial.write(statusByte); // Send over Serial
Serial.write(data);
}

Before sending the packet, we set the most significant bit of the status byte by performing a
bitwise OR operation:

0bxsss ssss
0b1000 0000
----------- |
0b1sss ssss

Where 0bsss ssss is the status, and x is either 1 or 0. As you can see, no matter the value of x, the
result will always be 0b1sss ssss.
We also clear the most significant bits of the data bytes by performing a bitwise AND operation:

0bxddd dddd
0b0111 1111
----------- &
0b0ddd dddd

Where 0bddd dddd is the data, and x is either 1 or 0. No matter what the value of x is, the result
will always be 0b0ddd dddd

You could go even further by making sure that the message type and the channel don't interfere
with each other. However, that might be overly defensive.

void sendMIDI(uint8_t messageType, uint8_t channel, uint8_t data1, uint8_t data2) {

channel--; // Decrement the channel, because MIDI channel 1
// corresponds to binary channel 0
messageType &= 0b11110000; // Make sure that only the high nibble
// of the message type is set
channel &= 0b00001111; // Make sure that only the low nibble
// of the channel is set
uint8_t statusByte = messageType | channel; // Combine the messageType (high nibble)
// with the channel (low nibble)
// Both the message type and the channel
// should be 4 bits wide
statusByte |= 0b10000000; // Set the most significant bit of the status byte
data1 &= 0b01111111; // Clear the most significant bit of the data
bytes
data2 &= 0b01111111;
Serial.write(statusByte); // Send over Serial
Serial.write(data1);
Serial.write(data2);
}

Improving readability
To send a Control Change (0xB0) message on channel 3 for controller 80 with a value of 64, you
would call sendMIDI(0xB0, 3, 80, 64);
To make it a little more obvious what's going on, we could declare some constants for the
different message types:

const uint8_t NOTE_OFF = 0x80;

const uint8_t NOTE_ON = 0x90;
const uint8_t KEY_PRESSURE = 0xA0;
const uint8_t CC = 0xB0;
const uint8_t PROGRAM_CHANGE = 0xC0;
const uint8_t CHANNEL_PRESSURE = 0xD0;
const uint8_t PITCH_BEND = 0xE0;

You can now use sendMIDI(CC, 3, 80, 64); which will make the code much easier to read.
When writing code, it's always a good idea to keep so-called magic numbers to a minimum.
These are seemingly arbitrary numeric literals in your code that don't have a clear meaning.
For example, this code snippet plays a chromatic glissando (all keys, one after the other) on an
honky-tonk piano:

sendMIDI(0xC0, 1, 4);
for (uint8_t i = 21; i <= 108; i++) {
sendMIDI(0x90, 1, i, 64);
delay(100);
 sendMIDI(0x80, 1, i, 64);
}

To someone who has never seen the code, or someone who doesn't know all MIDI message type
codes by heart, it's not clear what all these numbers mean. A much better sketch would be:

const uint8_t honkyTonkPiano = 4; // GM defines the Honky-tonk Piano as instrument #4

const uint8_t note_A1 = 21; // lowest note on an 88-key piano

const uint8_t note_C9 = 108; // highest note on an 88-key piano

uint8_t channel = 1; // MIDI channel 1

uint8_t velocity = 64; // 64 = mezzo forte

sendMIDI(PROGRAM_CHANGE, channel, honkyTonkPiano);

for (uint8_t note = note_A1; note <= note_C9; note++) { // chromatic glissando over all 88 piano
keys
sendMIDI(NOTE_ON, channel, note, velocity);
delay(100);
sendMIDI(NOTE_OFF, channel, note, velocity);
}

This snippet does exactly the same thing as the previous example, but it's much easier to read
and understand.

Using structs
Another approach would be to compose the MIDI message in a buffer, and then just write out
that buffer. We can define a struct with the different fields of a MIDI event. Take a look at this
struct:

typedef struct MIDI_message_3B {

unsigned int channel : 4; // second nibble : MIDI channel (0-15)
unsigned int status : 3; // first nibble : status message
unsigned int _msb0 : 1; // most significant bit of status byte : should be 1 according to
MIDI specification
unsigned int data1 : 7; // second byte : first value
unsigned int _msb1 : 1; // most significant bit of first data byte : should be 0 according
to MIDI specification
unsigned int data2 : 7; // third byte : second value
unsigned int _msb2 : 1; // most significant bit of second data byte : should be 0 according
to MIDI specification
MIDI_message_3B() : _msb0(1), _msb1(0), _msb2(0) {} // set the correct msb's for MIDI
};

You might have noticed that the bit fields are in the wrong order: for example, the normal order
of the status byte would be 1.mmm.cccc with mmm the message type and cccc the channel.
However, the order in our struct is cccc.mmm.1. To understand what's going on, you have to know
that Arduinos are Little Endian. This means that the first bit field takes up the least significant
bits in each byte. In other words, the bit fields within each byte are in reversed order, compared
to the conventional Big Endian notation (that is used in the MIDI specification).

You can now fill up all fields of the struct, to create a valid MIDI packet. You don't have to worry
about the most significant bits of each byte, bitmasking is done automatically, because of the bit
fields. These bits are set to the correct value when a message is created, in the initializer list of
the constructor. The only thing you need to keep in mind is that the channels are zero-based.
Also note that the message types are no longer 0x80, 0x90 etc., but 0x8, 0x9 ...

const uint8_t NOTE_ON = 0x9;

MIDI_message_3B msg; // Create a variable called 'msg' of the 'MIDI_message_3B' type we just
defined
msg.status = NOTE_ON;
msg.channel = channel - 1; // MIDI channels start from 0, so subtract 1
msg.data1 = note_A1;
msg.data2 = velocity;

Finally, you can just write out the message over the Serial port. We'll create another overload of
the sendMIDI function:
 void sendMIDI(MIDI_message_3B msg) {
Serial.write((uint8_t *)&msg, 3);
}

We're using the write(uint8_t* buffer, size_t numberOfBytes) function. The first argument is a
pointer to a buffer (or array) of data bytes to write out. The pointer points to the first element of
this array. The second argument is the number of bytes to send, starting from that first element.
There's one minor problem: msg is not an array, it's an object of type MIDI_message_3B. The write
function expects a pointer to an array of bytes (uint8_t). To get around this, we can just take the
address of msg, using the address-of operator (&) and cast it to a pointer to an array of uint8_t's
using (uint8_t*). We need to write out the entire MIDI packet, which is 3 bytes long, so the
second argument is just 3.
To use the function, just use:

sendMIDI(msg);

In fact, we could do even better. Now every time the sendMIDI function is called, the msg object is
copied. This takes time and memory. To prevent it from being copied, we can pass only a
reference to msg to the function. Here's what that looks like:

void sendMIDI(MIDI_message_3B &msg) {

Serial.write((uint8_t *)&msg, 3);
}

sendMIDI(msg);

You can do the same thing for two-byte MIDI packets:

typedef struct MIDI_message_2B {

unsigned int channel : 4; // second nibble : MIDI channel (0-15)
unsigned int status : 3; // first nibble : message type
unsigned int _msb0 : 1; // most significant bit of status byte : should be 1 according to
MIDI specification
unsigned int data : 7; // second byte : first value
unsigned int _msb1 : 1; // most significant bit of first data byte : should be 0 according
to MIDI specification
MIDI_message_2B() : _msb0(1), _msb1(0) {} // set the correct msb's for MIDI
};

void sendMIDI(MIDI_message_2B &msg) {

Serial.write((uint8_t *)&msg, 2);
}

Running status

As discussed in chapter 1, you can use running statuses to save bandwidth. The implementation
is relatively easy: remember the last status byte (header) that was sent, and then compare every
following status byte to this header. If it's the same status, send the data bytes only, otherwise,
send the new status byte, and remember this header.
To remember the previous header, a static variable is used. Static variables are not destroyed
when they go out of scope, so the value is retained the next time the sendMIDIHeader function is
executed.

void sendMIDIHeader(uint8_t header) {

static uint8_t runningHeader = 0;
if (header != runningHeader) { // If the new header is different from the
previous
Serial.write(header); // Send the status byte over Serial
runningHeader = header; // Remember the new header
}
}

void sendMIDI(uint8_t messageType, uint8_t channel, uint8_t data1, uint8_t data2) {

channel--; // Decrement the channel, because MIDI channel 1
// corresponds to binary channel 0
uint8_t statusByte = messageType | channel; // Combine the messageType (high nibble)
// with the channel (low nibble)
 // Both the message type and the channel
// should be 4 bits wide
statusByte |= 0b10000000; // Set the most significant bit of the status byte
data1 &= 0b01111111; // Clear the most significant bit of the data
bytes
data2 &= 0b01111111;

sendMIDIHeader(statusByte); // Send the header over Serial, using running

status
Serial.write(data1); // Send the data bytes over Serial
Serial.write(data2);
}

void sendMIDI(uint8_t messageType, uint8_t channel, uint8_t data) {

channel--; // Decrement the channel, because MIDI channel 1
// corresponds to binary channel 0
uint8_t statusByte = messageType | channel; // Combine the messageType (high nibble)
// with the channel (low nibble)
// Both the message type and the channel
// should be 4 bits wide
statusByte |= 0b10000000; // Set the most significant bit of the status byte
data &= 0b01111111; // Clear the most significant bit of the data byte

sendMIDIHeader(statusByte); // Send the header over Serial, using running

status
Serial.write(data); // Send the data byte over Serial
}

Going even further, we can replace note off events by note on events with a velocity of zero:

void sendMIDI(uint8_t messageType, uint8_t channel, uint8_t data1, uint8_t data2) {

if (messageType == NOTE_OFF) { // Replace note off messages
messageType = NOTE_ON; // with a note on message
data2 = 0; // with a velocity of zero.
}
channel--; // Decrement the channel, because MIDI channel 1
// corresponds to binary channel 0
uint8_t statusByte = messageType | channel; // Combine the messageType (high nibble)
// with the channel (low nibble)
// Both the message type and the channel
// should be 4 bits wide
statusByte |= 0b10000000; // Set the most significant bit of the status byte
data1 &= 0b01111111; // Clear the most significant bit of the data
bytes
data2 &= 0b01111111;

sendMIDIHeader(statusByte); // Send the header over Serial, using running

status
Serial.write(data1); // Send the data bytes over Serial
Serial.write(data2);
}

To ensure that the receiver will know what to do with the data, even if it missed the first header
byte, it is a good idea to send a header byte regularly. This can be done by remembering the
time the last header was sent:

const unsigned long headerResendTime = 1000; // send a new header every second

void sendMIDIHeader(uint8_t header) {

static unsigned long lastHeaderTime = millis();
static uint8_t runningHeader = 0;
if (header != runningHeader // If the new header is different from the
previous
|| (millis() - lastHeaderTime)
> headerResendTime) { // Or if the last header was sent more than 1 s
ago
Serial.write(header); // Send the status byte over Serial
runningHeader = header; // Remember the new header
lastHeaderTime = millis();
}
}

Finished code

You can now put these functions in a separate file, so that you can use it in all of your sketches.
Save it as sendMIDI.h, you'll need it in the following chapters.
#ifndef sendMIDI_h_
#define sendMIDI_h_

const uint8_t NOTE_OFF = 0x80;

const uint8_t NOTE_ON = 0x90;
const uint8_t KEY_PRESSURE = 0xA0;
const uint8_t CC = 0xB0;
const uint8_t PROGRAM_CHANGE = 0xC0;
const uint8_t CHANNEL_PRESSURE = 0xD0;
const uint8_t PITCH_BEND = 0xE0;

const unsigned long headerResendTime = 1000; // send a new header every second

void sendMIDIHeader(uint8_t header) {

static unsigned long lastHeaderTime = millis();
static uint8_t runningHeader = 0;

if (header != runningHeader // If the new header is different from the previous

|| (millis() - lastHeaderTime)
> headerResendTime) { // Or if the last header was sent more than 1 s ago
Serial.write(header); // Send the status byte over Serial
runningHeader = header; // Remember the new header
lastHeaderTime = millis();
}
}

void sendMIDI(uint8_t messageType, uint8_t channel, uint8_t data1, uint8_t data2) {

if (messageType == NOTE_OFF) { // Replace note off messages
messageType = NOTE_ON; // with a note on message
data2 = 0; // with a velocity of zero.
}
channel--; // Decrement the channel, because MIDI channel 1
// corresponds to binary channel 0
uint8_t statusByte = messageType | channel; // Combine the messageType (high nibble)
// with the channel (low nibble)
// Both the message type and the channel
// should be 4 bits wide
statusByte |= 0b10000000; // Set the most significant bit of the status byte
data1 &= 0b01111111; // Clear the most significant bit of the data bytes
data2 &= 0b01111111;

sendMIDIHeader(statusByte); // Send the header over Serial, using running

status
Serial.write(data1); // Send the data bytes over Serial
Serial.write(data2);
}
void sendMIDI(uint8_t messageType, uint8_t channel, uint8_t data) {
channel--; // Decrement the channel, because MIDI channel 1
// corresponds to binary channel 0
uint8_t statusByte = messageType | channel; // Combine the messageType (high nibble)
// with the channel (low nibble)
// Both the message type and the channel
// should be 4 bits wide
statusByte |= 0b10000000; // Set the most significant bit of the status byte
data &= 0b01111111; // Clear the most significant bit of the data byte

sendMIDIHeader(statusByte); // Send the header over Serial, using running

status
Serial.write(data); // Send the data byte over Serial
}

#endif
MIDI Controllers
The MIDI protocol is often used for MIDI controllers, devices with physical knobs and buttons to
control settings in a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), or to enter notes in audio or music notation
software. This is often much faster and more intuitive than using the mouse and keyboard for
everything. MIDI controllers are also used during live performances, to control effect modules,
samplers, synthesizers, DJ software, etc.
This chapter will cover how to write the code for a working MIDI controller using Arduino.

Buttons
For sending the state of a button, note events are used. When the button is pressed, a note on
event is sent, when it's released, a note off event is sent.

Hardware

Connecting a button to the Arduino is pretty straightforward: Connect one lead of the button to a
digital input pin, and connect the other lead to ground.
+5V

Internal pull-up resistor

R1

Arduino digital input

S1

The internal pull-up resistor* of the input pin will

be used, so if the button is released (if it doesn't conduct), the input will be "pulled up" to 5V,
and it will read a digital 1. When the button is pressed, it connects the input pin directly to
ground, so it will read a digital 0.

(*) The microcontroller has built-in pull-up resistors, to make working with buttons and open-collector outputs a whole
lot easier. This resistor can be enabled in software, using pinMode(pushButtonPin, INPUT_PULLUP). This means that you
don't have to add a resistor externally.

Software

The MIDI controller only has to send events when the state of the button changes. To do this, the
input will constantly be polled in the loop, and then the previous state is kept in a static variable.
When the new input state does not equal the previous state, the state of the button has
changed, and a MIDI event will be sent.
If the new state is low, the button has been pressed and a note on event is sent. If it's high, it has
been released, and a note off event is sent.

const uint8_t pushButtonPin = 2;

const uint8_t channel = 1; // MIDI channel 1

const uint8_t note = 0x3C; // Middle C (C4)
const uint8_t velocity = 0x7F; // Maximum velocity

void setup() {
pinMode(pushButtonPin, INPUT_PULLUP); // Enable the internal pull-up resistor
Serial.begin(31250);
}

void loop() {
static bool previousState = HIGH; // Declare a static variable to save the
previous state
 // and initialize it to HIGH (not pressed).
bool currentState = digitalRead(pushButtonPin); // Read the current state of the input pin
if (currentState != previousState) { // If the current state is different from the
previous state
if (currentState == LOW) { // If the button is pressed
sendMIDI(NOTE_ON, channel, note, velocity); // Send a note on event
} else { // If the button is released
sendMIDI(NOTE_OFF, channel, note, velocity); // Send a note off event
}
previousState = currentState; // Remember the current state of the button
}
}

Keep in mind that the declaration and initialization of a static local variable happen only once,
the value is retained the next time the function is executed.

In principle, this approach should work, however, in practice, there will be contact bounce. When
you press or release a button, it actually changes state many times really quickly, before settling
to the correct state. This is called bounce, and can be a real problem if you want to reliably
detect button presses. By including a timer in the code, you can make sure that the button is
stable for at least a couple of tens of milliseconds before registering the state change. Here's
what that looks like:

const unsigned long debounceTime = 25; // Ignore all state changes that happen 25 milliseconds
// after the button is pressed or released.

void loop() {
static bool previousState = HIGH; // Declare a static variable to save the
previous state of the input
// and initialize it to HIGH (not pressed).
static bool buttonState = HIGH; // Declare a static variable to save the state
of the button
// and initialize it to HIGH (not pressed).
static unsigned long previousBounceTime = 0; // Declare a static variable to save the time
the button last
// changed state (bounced).
bool currentState = digitalRead(pushButtonPin); // Read the current state of the input pin
if (currentState != buttonState) { // If the current state is different
from the button state
if (millis() - previousBounceTime > debounceTime) { // If the input has been stable for at
least 25 ms
buttonState = currentState; // Remember the state that the
(debounced) button is in
if (buttonState == LOW) { // If the button is pressed
sendMIDI(NOTE_ON, channel, note, velocity); // Send a note on event
} else { // If the button is released
sendMIDI(NOTE_OFF, channel, note, velocity); // Send a note off event
}
}
}
if (currentState != previousState) { // If the state of the input changed (if
the button bounces)
previousBounceTime = millis(); // Remember the current time
previousState = currentState; // Remember the current state of the
input
}
}

buttonState keeps the state of the ideal, debounced button, while previousState keeps the previous
state of the actual input.

Potentiometers and faders

MIDI controllers often feature potentiometers and faders for continuous controllers like volume,
pan, modulation, etc.

Hardware

The variable resistors (potentiometers or faders) are just used in a voltage divider configuration,
with the two outer pins connected to ground and 5V, and the center pin connected to an analog
input pin on the Arduino. Keep in mind that you need a potentiometer with a linear taper (not a
 +5V

R1

Arduino analog input

logarithmic or audio taper).

Control Change

For most continuous controllers, control change events are used. Most software only supports 7-
bit controllers. This allows for a total of 1920 controllers (120 on each of the 16 MIDI channels).

A continuous controller can be implemented as follows: sample the analog input in the loop,
convert from the 10-bit analog value to a 7-bit Control Change value, if it's a different value than
last time, send a control change message with the new value.

const uint8_t analogPin = A0;

const uint8_t channel = 1; // MIDI channel 1

const uint8_t controller = 0x10; // General Purpose Controller 1

void setup() {
Serial.begin(31250);
}

void loop() {
static uint8_t previousValue = 0b10000000; // Declare a static variable to save the
previous CC value
// and initialize it to 0b10000000 (the most
significant bit is set,
// so it is different from any possible 7-bit
CC value).

uint16_t analogValue = analogRead(analogPin); // Read the value of the analog input

uint8_t CC_value = analogValue >> 3; // Convert from a 10-bit number to a 7-bit
number by shifting
// it 3 bits to the right.

if (CC_value != previousValue) { // If the current value is different from the
previous value
sendMIDI(CC, channel, controller, CC_value); // Send the new value over MIDI
previousValue = CC_value; // Remember the new value
}
}

The problem is that there can be quite a lot of noise on the analog inputs. So if the value
fluctuates a lot, it will constantly send new CC messages, even if the knob is not being touched.
To prevent this, a running average filter can be used on the input.

const uint8_t averageLength = 8; // Average the analog input over 8 samples (maximum = 2^16 /
2^10 = 2^6 = 64)

void loop() {
static uint8_t previousValue = 0b10000000; // Declare a static variable to save the
previous CC value
// and initialize it to 0b10000000 (the most
significant bit is set,
// so it is different from any possible 7-bit CC
value).

uint16_t analogValue = analogRead(analogPin); // Read the value of the analog input

analogValue = runningAverage(analogValue); // Average the value
uint8_t CC_value = analogValue >> 3; // Convert from a 10-bit number to a 7-bit
number by shifting
// it 3 bits to the right.

if (CC_value != previousValue) { // If the current value is different from the
previous value
sendMIDI(CC, channel, controller, CC_value); // Send the new value over MIDI
previousValue = CC_value; // Remember the new value
}
}

uint16_t runningAverage(uint16_t value) { // https://playground.arduino.cc/Main/RunningAverage

 static uint16_t previousValues[averageLength];
static uint8_t index = 0;
static uint16_t sum = 0;
static uint8_t filled = 0;

sum -= previousValues[index];
previousValues[index] = value;
sum += value;
index++;
index = index % averageLength;
if (filled < averageLength)
filled++;

return sum / filled;
}

Pitch Bend

If a higher resolution is required, for example for volume faders, pitch bend events are used. This
means that they have a 14-bit accuracy, however, most devices only use the 10 most significant
bits. There can be only one pitch bend controller on each of the 16 MIDI channels.

The code is pretty similar to the previous example. Just shift the value 4 bits to the left instead of
3 bits to the right, and send a pitch bend message instead of a control change message. Also
note that some of the variables are now of larger data types, to accommodate the 14-bit pitch
bend values.
To send the 14-bit pitch bend value, it has to be split up into two 7-bit data bytes. This can be
acchieved by shifting it 7 bits to the right, to get the 7 most significant bits. The sendMIDI function
takes care of the bit masking of the 7 least significant bits.

const uint8_t analogPin = A0;

const uint8_t channel = 1; // MIDI channel 1

void setup() {
Serial.begin(31250);
}

const uint8_t averageLength = 16; // Average the analog input over 16 samples (maximum = 2^16 /
2^10 = 2^6 = 64)

void loop() {
static uint16_t previousValue = 0x8000; // Declare a static variable to save the
previous value
// and initialize it to 0x8000 (the most
significant bit is set,
// so it is different from any possible 14-bit
pitch bend value).

uint16_t analogValue = analogRead(analogPin); // Read the value of the analog input

analogValue = runningAverage(analogValue); // Average the value
uint16_t value = analogValue << 4; // Convert from a 10-bit number to a 14-bit
number by shifting
// it 4 bits to the left (adds 4 padding zeros
to the right).

if (value != previousValue) { // If the current value is different from
the previous value
sendMIDI(PITCH_BEND, channel, value, value >> 7); // Send the new value over MIDI (split
up into two 7-bit bytes)
previousValue = value; // Remember the new value
}
}

uint16_t runningAverage(uint16_t value) { // https://playground.arduino.cc/Main/RunningAverage

static uint16_t previousValues[averageLength];
static uint8_t index = 0;
static uint16_t sum = 0;
static uint8_t filled = 0;

sum -= previousValues[index];
previousValues[index] = value;
sum += value;
index++;
index = index % averageLength;
if (filled < averageLength)
filled++;

return sum / filled;
}
Rotary encoders

The disadvantage of potentiometers is that the computer can't change their position. For
example, if you have a potentiometer mapped to a plugin parameter, and you select a different
plugin, the potentiometer doesn't automatically move to the position of the new pluggin
parameter's value. Even worse, if you accidentally touch the potentiometer, it will overwrite the
parameter with the position of potentiometer, regardless of the value it had before.

One solution is to use rotary encoders. This is a relative or incremental type of rotary knob, which
means that it doesn't have an absolute position, it only sends incremental position changes when
moved. When the encoder is turned two ticks to the right, it sends a value of +2, when it's
turned 5 ticks to the left, it sends a value of -5.

Hardware

Connect the common pin of the rotary encoder to ground, and connect the A and B pins to digital
input pins (preferably interrupt capable pins) of the Arduino. As a hardware debouncing measure,
you could add an RC low-pass filter.

Software

The easiest way to read a rotary encoder is to use a library. This ensures compatibility on pretty
much all boards, and many of these libraries are much more efficient than writing the ISR code
yourself. My personal favorite is the PJRC Encoder library.

#include <Encoder.h> // Include the PJRC Encoder library

const uint8_t channel = 1; // MIDI channel 1

const uint8_t controller = 0x10; // General Purpose Controller 1

Encoder encoder (2, 3); // A rotary encoder connected to pins 2 and 3

void setup() {
Serial.begin(31250);
}

void loop() {
static int32_t previousPosition = 0; // A static variable for saving the previous
encoder position
int32_t position = encoder.read(); // Read the current encoder position
int32_t difference = position - previousPosition; // Calculate the relative movement
if (difference != 0) { // If the encoder was moved
sendMIDI(CC, channel, controller, difference); // Send the relative position change over
MIDI
previousPosition = position; // Remember the current position as the
previous position
}
}

Most rotary encoders send 4 pulses for every physical 'tick' (indent). It makes sense to divide the
number of pulses by 4 before sending it over MIDI. Keep in mind that is a floor division, so we
can't just replace previousPosition with position, because we'd lose pulses. For example, if the
current position is 6, and the previous position is 0, difference will be 6 pulses. 6 / 4 = 1 complete
tick. Then the previous position will be set to 6. However, only 1 tick, i.e. 4 pulses, has been sent,
and 6 % 4 = 2 pulses have just been lost.
The solution is very simple:

void loop() {
static int32_t previousPosition = 0; // A static variable for saving the previous
encoder position
int32_t position = encoder.read(); // Read the current encoder position
int32_t difference = position - previousPosition; // Calculate the relative movement
difference /= 4; // One tick for every 4 pulses
if (difference != 0) { // If the encoder was moved
sendMIDI(CC, channel, controller, difference); // Send the relative position change over
MIDI
previousPosition += difference * 4; // Add the pulses sent over MIDI to the
previous position
}
}

There are three ways to encode negative position changes into a 7-bit MIDI data byte:

1. Two's complement
 2. Signed magnitude
3. Offset binary

On the Arduino, all signed numbers are represented as two's complement. So sending a two's
complement number over MIDI is as simple as just sending (the 7 least significant bits of) the
signed variable.
In signed magnitude representation, bit 6 is used as a sign bit (0 = positive, 1 = negative), and
the 6 least significant bits are used to store the absolute value of the signed number.
When using binary offset representation, 64 is added to the signed number to make everything
positive.

Some programs don't support relative changes of more than 15 in one MIDI message, so we
constrain the difference to 15.

This sketch allows you to choose what representation to use, to guarantee compatibility with
most software, and also limits the relative position change per MIDI message to 15.

#include <Encoder.h> // Include the PJRC Encoder library

enum relativeCCmode {
TWOS_COMPLEMENT,
BINARY_OFFSET,
SIGN_MAGNITUDE
};

const uint8_t channel = 1; // MIDI channel 1

const uint8_t controller = 0x10; // General Purpose Controller 1

const Encoder encoder (2, 3); // A rotary encoder connected to pins 2 and 3

const relativeCCmode negativeRepresentation = SIGN_MAGNITUDE; // Select the way negative numbers

are represented

void setup() {
Serial.begin(31250);
}

void loop() {
static int32_t previousPosition = 0; // A static variable for saving the previous
encoder position
int32_t position = encoder.read(); // Read the current encoder position
int32_t difference = position - previousPosition; // Calculate the relative movement
difference /= 4; // One tick for every 4 pulses
difference = constrain(difference, -15, 15); // Make sure that only 15 ticks are sent at
once
if (difference != 0) { // If the encoder was moved
uint8_t CC_value = mapRelativeCC(difference); // Change the representation of negative
numbers
sendMIDI(CC, channel, controller, CC_value); // Send the relative position change over
MIDI
previousPosition += difference * 4; // Add the pulses sent over MIDI to the
previous position
}
}

uint8_t twosComplementTo7bitSignedMagnitude(int8_t value) { // Convert an 8-bit two's complement

integer to 7-bit sign-magnitude format
uint8_t mask = value >> 7;
uint8_t abs = (value + mask) ^ mask;
uint8_t sign = mask & 0b01000000;
return (abs & 0b00111111) | sign;
}

uint8_t mapRelativeCC(int8_t value) { // Convert an 8-bit two's complement integer to a 7-bit

value to send over MIDI
switch (negativeRepresentation) {
case TWOS_COMPLEMENT:
return value; // Remember that the sendMIDI function does the bit masking, so you don't
have to worry about bit 7 being 1.
case BINARY_OFFSET:
return value + 64;
case SIGN_MAGNITUDE:
return twosComplementTo7bitSignedMagnitude(value);
}
}

Object-Oriented approach
The examples above only work for a single button, potentiometer or encoder. Just copying and
pasting the code for each new component would lead to many repetitions and very messy code.
That's why it's a good idea to implement the code in different classes: a class for buttons,
another class for potentiometers, etc. You can then just instantiate many objects of these classes
for the many buttons and knobs on your MIDI controller.

I wrote an Arduino MIDI controller library that makes this really easy. For example, this is all the
code you need for a MIDI controller with 4 potentiometers, 4 buttons and 2 rotary encoders:

#include <MIDI_Controller.h> // Include the library

/* Create four new instances of the class 'Analog' on pins A0, A1, A2 and A3,
with controller number 0x07 (channel volume), on MIDI channels 1 through 4. */
Analog potentiometers[] = {
{A0, 0x7, 1},
{A1, 0x7, 2},
{A2, 0x7, 3},
{A3, 0x7, 4},
};
/* Create four new instances of the class 'Digital' on pins 4, 5, 6 and 7,
with note numbers 0x10 through 0x13 (mute), on MIDI channel 1. */
Digital buttons[] = {
{4, 0x10, 1},
{5, 0x11, 1},
{6, 0x12, 1},
{7, 0x13, 1},
};
/* Create two new instances of the class 'RotaryEncoder' called 'encoders', on pins 0 & 1, and 2
& 3,
controller numbers 0x2F and 0x30, on MIDI channel 1, at normal speed, using normal encoders
(4 pulses per click/step), using two's complement sign representation. */
RotaryEncoder encoders[] = {
{0, 1, 0x2F, 1, 1, NORMAL_ENCODER, TWOS_COMPLEMENT},
{2, 3, 0x30, 1, 1, NORMAL_ENCODER, TWOS_COMPLEMENT}
};

void setup() {}

void loop() { // Refresh all inputs

MIDI_Controller.refresh();
}

As you can see, there's only the definitions of all controls, then an empty setup, and finally just a
loop that refreshes all controls indefinitely. The MIDI Controller library handles everything
discussed above, and even more!
It allows you to arrange controls into different banks, switch between banks, choose between
many different MIDI interfaces (USB, Serial, SoftwareSerial), has support for multiplexers, button
matrices, etc.

You can download the library here .

MIDI Input
Reading MIDI can be done using the Arduino's UART. The MIDI specification proposes an
algorithm for receiving MIDI messages:

Read Serial Input

Bit 7 = 1 Bit 7 = 0
?

Yes Is it a Third Byte Flag = 1

? Real-Time ?
Message?
No Flag = 0
Store in Running Status
Running Status Buffer = 0
Buffer ?
Ignore
Clear Third Buffer Data Byte
Byte Flag Greater
than 0 Less
than
C0H Clear Third
No Is this a ? Byte Flag
? Tune Request?
Store Third
Yes = F6H Byte into FIFO
(do not Store it in FIFO Less than E0H
increment ? Increment
pointer here) Pointer + 3
Increment
Pointer + 1
Buffer Less
than F0H
?
Buffer
Greater
than F0H

Buffer = F2H Clear Running

? Status Buffer

Buffer >= F0H

Buffer = F3H Set Third
Clear Running or F1H Byte Flag
Status Buffer ?
Store Status
Store Status into FIFO
into FIFO
Store Data Byte
Store Data Byte Clear Running into FIFO
into FIFO Status Buffer
(do not
Increment increment
Pointer + 2 Ignore Status pointer here)

In this chapter, we won't be concerned with System or Real-Time messages. The implementation
of the algorithm above is pretty straightforward. We won't use a FIFO, but handle the messages
immediately.

void setup() {
Serial.begin(31250);
}
 void handleMIDI(uint8_t statusByte, uint8_t data1, uint8_t data2 = 0) {
;
}

void loop() {
static uint8_t runningStatus = 0;
static uint8_t data1 = 0;
static bool thirdByte = false;

if (Serial.available()) {
uint8_t newByte = Serial.read();
if (newByte & 0b10000000) { // Header byte received
runningStatus = newByte;
thirdByte = false;
} else {
if (thirdByte) { // Second data byte received
uint8_t data2 = newByte;
handleMIDI(runningStatus, data1, data2);
thirdByte = false;
return;
} else { // First data byte received
if (!runningStatus) // no status byte
return; // invalid data byte
if (runningStatus < 0xC0) { // First data byte of Note Off/On, Key Pressure
or Control Change
data1 = newByte;
thirdByte = true;
return;
}
if (runningStatus < 0xE0) { // First data byte of Program Change or Channel
Pressure
data1 = newByte;
handleMIDI(runningStatus, data1);
return;
}
if (runningStatus < 0xF0) { // First data byte of Pitch Bend
data1 = newByte;
thirdByte = true;
return;
} else {
; // System message (not implemented)
}
}
}
}
}

There are a few optimizations we can do. We can just check if the running status byte contains a
message type for a two- or three-byte message, instead of the comparisons we have right now.
Apart from that, we don't really need an extra variable for the third byte flag, we can just use bit
7 of the data1 variable.

const uint8_t NOTE_OFF = 0x80;

const uint8_t NOTE_ON = 0x90;
const uint8_t KEY_PRESSURE = 0xA0;
const uint8_t CC = 0xB0;
const uint8_t PROGRAM_CHANGE = 0xC0;
const uint8_t CHANNEL_PRESSURE = 0xD0;
const uint8_t PITCH_BEND = 0xE0;

void loop() {
static uint8_t runningStatus = 0;
static uint8_t data1 = 0b10000000;

if (Serial.available()) {
uint8_t newByte = Serial.read();
if (newByte & 0b10000000) { // Status byte received
runningStatus = newByte;
data1 = 0b10000000;
} else {
if (data1 != 0b10000000) { // Second data byte received
handleMIDI(runningStatus, data1, newByte);
data1 = 0b10000000;
return;
} else { // First data byte received
if (!runningStatus) // no status byte
return; // invalid data byte
if (runningStatus == PROGRAM_CHANGE
|| runningStatus == CHANNEL_PRESSURE) { // First data byte of Program Change or
Channel Pressure
handleMIDI(runningStatus, newByte);
return;
} else if (runningStatus < 0xF0) { // First data byte of Note Off/On, Key
Pressure, Control Change or Pitch Bend
data1 = newByte;
return;
} else {
; // System message (not implemented)
}
}
}
}
}