Nine times out of ten it is one of eight things, and each takes under a minute to check. Start at the top.
Check these, in order
- Your browser has no Web MIDI. Safari, on Mac and iPhone, has no MIDI support. Open the page in Chrome, Edge or Firefox on a computer. The test page’s status line says when the browser cannot do MIDI at all.
- The browser asked once and you said Block. Click the icon just left of the web address and allow MIDI (in some browsers it sits under Site settings), then reload. The Enable MIDI button then works.
- Another program has the keyboard. Ableton, Logic or GarageBand can hold a MIDI device so nothing else hears it. Quit that program, unplug and replug the keyboard, then reload the page.
- The cable or the port. Try a different USB cable and a different port, and skip hubs if you can. Some keyboards need their own power adapter, or a power switch turned on, before the computer sees them.
- It sends on another channel. That is fine. HitJam listens on all sixteen channels, and the test page shows which channel each message came from.
- On Windows, another program may own the device. Some Windows MIDI drivers let only one program use a device at a time. Close other music programs, and other browser tabs with MIDI enabled, then reload.
- Velocity is always 127. Your keyboard may have velocity turned off, a “fixed velocity” setting on many controllers. Check its settings, then hit keys softly and hard: the velocity number on the test page should move.
- Notes show up but you hear nothing. Browsers keep sound off until you click somewhere on the page once. Click the start-audio button, then check the volume slider on the piano and your computer volume.
Bluetooth keyboards: pair them in the computer first
Wireless keyboards do work here, but the pairing happens in your computer, not on this page. The browser is only ever shown devices your computer has already paired. Until that is done HitJam sees nothing at all, and it looks exactly like a broken keyboard.
On a Mac, open Audio MIDI Setup (Applications, then Utilities), choose Window and Show MIDI Studio, click the Bluetooth button, and connect your keyboard there. On Windows, pair it in the normal Bluetooth settings. Then come back, reload this page and press Enable MIDI: it appears in the list like any cabled keyboard.
Two things to expect. Wireless adds a little delay compared with a cable, so if the timing feels loose, plug in instead. And on an iPhone or iPad it will not work at all, wireless or wired, because Safari has no MIDI support.
Questions people ask
- Does a Bluetooth MIDI keyboard work?
- Yes, once your computer has paired it. Pair it in your system settings first (on a Mac that is the MIDI Studio window inside Audio MIDI Setup), then reload and press Enable MIDI. Many digital pianos from Roland, Yamaha, Kawai and Casio have it built in, and small adapters add it to older keyboards.
- How do I know if the computer sees the keyboard at all?
- The test page lists connected devices by name as soon as MIDI is enabled. If the list stays empty, the problem is before the browser: cable, power, driver, or another program.
- My keyboard worked yesterday and not today
- Usually a program that opened since (a DAW, a video-call app with a MIDI plug-in) or a different USB port. Close programs, replug, reload.
- Does HitJam measure latency?
- No. There is no reliable way to measure it from inside a browser page.