Live MIDI Out

What It Does

Live MIDI out streams the track into another application or device while it plays. Instead of exporting a file and importing it, you play the arrangement in MIDI Maker and record it into Logic Pro, Ableton Live, FL Studio, GarageBand or a hardware synth in real time — driving their instruments with MIDI Maker's note generation.

Each instrument is sent on its own MIDI channel, so every synth and drum can land on a separate track in your DAW. MIDI clock is streamed alongside the notes, letting other software and hardware follow MIDI Maker's tempo and transport.

Live MIDI out is built on the Web MIDI API, so it needs Chrome or Edge. It is a Pro feature — see pricing. For file-based export, use the MIDI download button instead.

Turning It On

Open the MIDI button — the DIN plug icon next to the transport controls in the studio — and switch on Stream MIDI. The browser asks for permission to use your MIDI devices the first time; allow it. If you block it by mistake, re-allow MIDI access in the browser's site settings and toggle it on again.

Once enabled, pick your destination from the Output device list. Anything your system exposes as a MIDI destination appears here — a virtual bus like the macOS IAC Driver, or a hardware synth connected over USB. Press play and the notes start streaming.

Setting Up a Virtual Bus

To reach a DAW running on the same machine you need a virtual MIDI bus — a software cable between the browser and your DAW.

On macOS, this is built in. Open Audio MIDI Setup, choose Window → Show MIDI Studio, double-click IAC Driver and tick Device is online. The bus then appears in MIDI Maker's output list and as a MIDI input inside your DAW.

On Windows, there is no built-in equivalent — install a virtual MIDI bus such as loopMIDI and create a port. It then behaves the same way in both MIDI Maker and your DAW.

Connecting to external hardware over USB or a MIDI interface needs no virtual bus — the device shows up in the output list directly.

Recording Into Logic Pro

1. Bring the IAC Driver online as described above.
2. Create a Software Instrument track in Logic and load an instrument onto it.
3. Record-enable the track so it listens for incoming MIDI.
4. Set Logic's tempo to match MIDI Maker's tempo.
5. Start recording in Logic, then press play in MIDI Maker.

To capture instruments onto separate tracks, set each Logic track's MIDI input to a specific channel rather than All, matching the channels MIDI Maker is sending on.

Logic Pro cannot follow MIDI clock, so its tempo will not change automatically — set it by hand to match. Notes still stream and record perfectly; only the tempo needs matching.

Clock Sync for Ableton, FL Studio and Hardware

MIDI Maker sends MIDI clock, Start/Stop and song position alongside the notes. Ableton Live, FL Studio and most hardware can lock their transport to it: enable the virtual bus (or your hardware port) as a sync input in their MIDI preferences and set the device to follow external sync.

With sync on, pressing play in MIDI Maker starts the other device, its tempo tracks MIDI Maker's, and seeking to a new position moves it too.

MIDI Channels

By default, synths take channels 1-9 and 11-16, and drum machines take channel 10 — the General MIDI percussion convention.

You can override this per instrument. Each monosynth's header has a MIDI channel selector, as does each drum machine's. Individual drums can also be given their own channel from the drum machine's timbre section — useful for routing the kick to its own channel so it records onto a separate DAW track from the rest of the kit. A per-drum channel overrides the kit's channel, which in turn overrides the default.

Silence App Audio

When live MIDI out is on, the Silence app audio toggle mutes MIDI Maker and skips audio generation entirely, so you hear only your DAW's instruments. Because no audio is synthesised, it also cuts CPU use noticeably.

Note that in-app recordings made while this is on will be silent — record the audio in your DAW instead, or switch the toggle off before using the Record button.

Troubleshooting

• No output devices listed — the virtual bus isn't running. On macOS, check Device is online is ticked for the IAC Driver.
• MIDI out unavailable — the browser doesn't support the Web MIDI API. Use Chrome or Edge.
• Notes arrive but nothing sounds — the receiving track isn't record-enabled or monitoring, or it's listening on a different channel.
• Everything lands on one track — the DAW track's MIDI input is set to All. Set each track to the specific channel you want.
• Tempo drifts out of time — the receiving device isn't following external sync, or it's Logic Pro, which can't. Match the tempo manually.