The WebMIDI Interface lets you control your MIDI devices from the browser. This is perfect to quickly test some settings, or setup complicated presets without reading page after page of the manual.
System Requirements
For the WebMIDI Interface to work you need a MIDI interface connected to your computer. That can be an audio interface with MIDI support, a MIDI controller like the Morningstar MC3/6(pro)/8 or a dedicated USB MIDI interface. Also, you need a browser that supports the WebMIDI API, like Chrome (recommended), Edge or Opera. Browsers on iOS generally have no support for WebMIDI.
Connecting to an Interface
Upon loading the site for the first time you will be asked for permissions for the browser to use the MIDI interface. Of course agreeing to this is necessary for the site to work. You now see a list of MIDI devices that can be used. The WebMIDI interface only uses outputs, so only outputs are listed. Click on the Connect button next to the output you want to use. Unused outputs will disappear. Click on Disconnect to get back to the list of all outputs to select another one.
MIDI Channel & MIDI Clock
Upon connection to one of the outputs, two settings will appear right under the selected output. MIDI channel and MIDI clock.
- MIDI Channel: Select the MIDI channel for the device that is connected, or use All to send the MIDI commands to every channel. This is not the best option performance wise, but it works regardless of the channel.
- MIDI Clock: Click Start MIDI Clock to start the MIDI clock. An indicator will appear next to the button. Enter your BPM in the text field. Click Stop MIDI clock to stop the clock.
Device Tabs
Right below you’ll find some tabs. The first one is called General and it allows you to send PC and CC messages. Next to the General tab you’ll find tabs for some of our devices that’ll help you to test and setup these. Please be aware that the WebMIDI interface only sends MIDI commands. It is not aware of the state the connected device is in. For that reason you’ll find two buttons on top of most device tabs:
- Sync to Device: This button sends all settings set on the tab to the device, so they’re in sync. It’ll only send temporary settings. It won’t overwrite anything persistent like the MIDI channel.
- Reset: Resets all controls to their default values and syncs with the device.
Siren
Under Volume Control you can choose if you either have the volume control relative to the knobs (0 is mute and 127 is the knob position) or the absolute settings, where 0 is mute, 64 is unity gain and 127 is maximum boost. The sliders below that let you set the volume.
The LFO controls consist of the waveform, speed, depth and delay. Speed can either be synced to MIDI clock (don’t forget to enable the clock) or free running. For free running a text input will appear where you can set the time from 100ms to 1270ms. Delay starts the waveform at a different point. It can also be used to delay one channel to the other. The checkbox Link LFOs reduces the controls to a single set, so you can control the LFO of both channels at once. If you want to use LFO A and B in sync, click Sync to Device once in a while to make sure the LFOs are in sync.
To save volume and LFO settings to a Preset, select a number and hit Save. To call up the preset, send a PC command (e.g. from the General tab). Please be aware that the Siren v1 can save only 16 presets.
All following settings are not saved to a preset. Also, the settings for Phase and Routing are volatile. To set them permanently, use the PHASE button on the Siren.
Setting the Gain Range and MIDI Channel is permanent. Remember to restart the Siren for the MIDI channel to take affect.
ABY
For the ABY you can connect A to IN/OUT and B to IN/OUT by selecting the checkboxes. You can save and delete presets, set the MIDI channel and set the CC commands used to operate the switches. All these functions take affect immediatly. Be aware that if you change the CC command, the A and B checkboxes will no longer work.
Troubleshooting
I can’t see my MIDI interfaces, get an error message or nothing appears at all
If nothing appears at all, try waiting a bit longer until the WebMIDI API in the background has fully loaded. But, if it takes longer than a few seconds, it probably will end up in an error message.
In case of an error message (Loading of WebMIDI API failed), check if your browser is supported and up to date. Also, the browser needs permissions to access the MIDI devices. Maybe you have declined in a prior session or maybe on another website. You can clear that in the browser settings.
When this all fails, try another browser. Chrome works best. Edge works, but sometimes not all MIDI interfaces are recognized.
The device receives messages, but behaves strangely
Maybe you have the device set to Omni (all our devices ship in omni mode) and the WebMIDI Interface set to All Channels. That means that it sends 16 messages and the device reacts to everyone. That can sometimes lead to strange behaviour. Try to select a channel, or set the device to a channel.