MIDI keyboard not working? Eight things to check
Nine times out of ten it is one of eight things, and each takes under a minute to check. Start at the top.
1. 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 tells you when the browser cannot do MIDI at all.
2. 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.
3. Another program has the keyboard
Music software like 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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 that have MIDI enabled, then reload.
7. 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.
8. 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.
Questions people ask
- 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.