PlantWave has a 3.5mm Type A MIDI jack, which can be connected to other Type-A MIDI devices via a 3.5mm stereo aux cable or to 5-pin MIDI synths via a Type-A MIDI Adapter. PlantWave can also send MIDI via USB. PlantWave cannot be directly connected t

<p id="isPasted">PlantWave has a 3.5mm Type A MIDI jack, which can be connected to other Type-A MIDI devices via a 3.5mm stereo aux cable or to 5-pin MIDI synths via a Type-A MIDI Adapter.</p><p>PlantWave can also send MIDI via USB.</p><p>PlantWave cannot be directly connected to a Type-B MIDI synth without special configuration. For more info on Type-A vs Type-B MIDI, visit <a href="http://minimidi.world">minimidi.world</a></p><p><em>Factory settings of PlantWave&apos;s firmware have MIDI turned off. MIDI can easily be turned on via our app or a web browser.</em></p><h2 id="edit-midi-settings-on-your-device-via-ios-app">Edit MIDI Settings on your device via iOS App</h2><ol><li style="font-size: 16px;">Turn on your PlantWave</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Open the PlantWave iOS app</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Pair your App with your PlantWave in the Connect section</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Go to &#x201C;Settings&#x201D; in the top left corner</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Tap on &#x201C;Devices&#x201D;</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Tap on your device</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Tap on Advanced MIDI Settings</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Edit your settings</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Click Done</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">The settings are now active on your device</li></ol><h2 id="edit-midi-settings-on-your-device-via-android-app">Edit MIDI Settings on your device via Android App</h2><ol><li style="font-size: 16px;">Turn on your PlantWave</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Open the PlantWave Android app</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Pair your App with your PlantWave in the Connect section</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Tap the Gear icon next to your device in the Connect section</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Tap on the Arrow next to MIDI Settings</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Edit your settings</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Click the &#x201C;&lt;&#x201D; icon or back button to return to the previous screen</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">The settings are now active on your device</li></ol><h2 id="edit-midi-settings-on-your-device-via-web-browser">Edit MIDI Settings on your device via Web Browser</h2><p>PlantWave can be connected to WiFi via a 2.4GHz network and be accessed by a web browser. Most wireless routers include a 2.4GHz and a 5GHz network. When setting up your PlantWave, you&apos;ll need to connect it to your 2.4 network. Once it&apos;s connected, you should be able to access it via both your 2.4 and 5GHz networks on your wireless router.</p><ol><li style="font-size: 16px;">Turn on PlantWave</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Find the PlantWave WiFI</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Connect to it (you will lose your Internet connection)</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Navigate to 192.168.4.1 via a web browser</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Enter WiFi credentials for the 2.4GHz channel on your WiFi network</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Your PlantWave will now restart and the PlantWave signified by the lightshow on your device. The PlantWave WiFi network will also become inactive and disappear from your WiFi networks</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Connect your computer to your WiFi network</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Navigate to <a data-fr-linked="true" href="http://plantwave.local/">http://plantwave.local/</a> in a web browser</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">If you have changed your device name, replace plantwave.local with &lt;device-name.local&gt; (for instance, <a data-fr-linked="true" href="http://snakeplant.local">http://snakeplant.local</a>)</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Change your MIDI settings and click &#x201C;Save&#x201D;</li></ol>

Enable MIDI Mode for 3.5mm and USB ports

PlantWave can be connected to WiFi via a 2.4GHz network. Most wireless routers include a 2.4GHz and a 5GHz network. When setting up your PlantWave, you'll need to connect it to your 2.4 network. Once it's connected, you should be able to access it vi

<h2 id="isPasted">Connect to DAW via WiFi for the first time (Mac)</h2><p>PlantWave can be connected to WiFi via a 2.4GHz network. Most wireless routers include a 2.4GHz and a 5GHz network. When setting up your PlantWave, you&apos;ll need to connect it to your 2.4 network. Once it&apos;s connected, you should be able to access it via both your 2.4 and 5GHz networks on your wireless router.</p><p><em>Note that holding the mode button for six seconds while your PlantWave is powered on will toggle on/off your device&apos;s WiFi</em></p><p>Turn on PlantWave</p><ol><li style="font-size: 16px;">Find the PlantWave WiFI on your Mac</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Connect to it (you will lose your Internet connection)</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Navigate to 192.168.4.1 via a web browser</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Enter WiFi credentials for the 2.4GHz channel on your WiFi network</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Your PlantWave will now restart, signified by the lightshow on your device. The PlantWave WiFi network will also become inactive and disappear from your WiFi networks</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Connect your computer to your WiFi network</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Navigate to <a data-fr-linked="true" href="http://plantwave.local/">http://plantwave.local/</a> in a web browser</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">You will now see you are connected to the PlantWave through your WiFi network</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Open Audio MIDI Setup on your Mac and navigate to MIDI Studio</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Click on MIDI Network Setup (it looks like a connected globe)</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Click the Plus (+) under &quot;My Sessions&quot;</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Name your Session and enable it by clicking the checkbox</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Find your PlantWave in the Directory</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Highlight your PlantWave in your Directory and then click &quot;Connect&quot;</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">You will now see your PlantWave as a participant</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Go to your digital audio workstation, and you will see your PlantWave listed as an input.</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Make sure Track and Remote are both selected. This will send MIDI note and MIDI CC messages from your PlantWave</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Now you can set your PlantWave as an input on any of your MIDI channels, just like you would a MIDI controller.</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Add some MIDI Scalers and Arpeggiators and watch the magic happen.</li></ol><h2 id="connect-to-daw-via-usb-mac">Connect to DAW via USB (Mac)</h2><p><em>To use this feature, you must have your device in MIDI mode.&#xA0;</em>See the section, &#x201C;Enable MIDI Mode for 3.5mm and USB ports&#x201D; and then continue on with the below instructions.</p><ol><li style="font-size: 16px;">Make sure your PlantWave is ON before plugging it into USB (otherwise, it could go into USB serial mode)</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Plug your PlantWave into a USB cable and connect it to your computer</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Your PlantWave will appear in the MIDI settings of your DAW</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">If you do not see your PlantWave listed, try disconnecting and reconnecting your USB cable. Note that restarting your device will not have an effect.</li></ol><h2 id="connect-to-daw-via--35mm-midi">Connect to DAW via &#x215B;&#x201D; (3.5mm) MIDI</h2><p><em>To use this feature, you must have your device in MIDI mode.</em> See the section, &#x201C;Enable MIDI Mode for 3.5mm and USB ports&#x201D; and then continue on with the below instructions.</p><ol><li style="font-size: 16px;">Follow the instructions for &#x201C;Connect to a MIDI Synth&#x201D; and connect PlantWave to your MIDI interface on your computer.</li></ol><p><br></p>

Use PlantWave with a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)

To use this feature, you must have your device in MIDI mode. See the section, “Enable MIDI Mode for 3.5mm and USB ports” and then continue on with the below instructions. PlantWave features a ⅛” (3.5mm) Type A MIDI port for connecting to synthesizers

<p id="isPasted"><em><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-rv fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T9E0TjBX4AQ?&amp;list=PLAEIBaDzoJ5EzJDJuw46dJ5iFzFZNiKyK&amp;index=6&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span>To use this feature, you must have your device in MIDI mode.</em> See the section, &#x201C;Enable MIDI Mode for 3.5mm and USB ports&#x201D; and then continue on with the below instructions.</p><h2 id="connect-to-a-midi-synthesizer">Connect to a MIDI Synthesizer</h2><p>PlantWave features a &#x215B;&#x201D; (3.5mm) Type A MIDI port for connecting to synthesizers. PlantWave can be connected to synths with &#x215B;&#x201D; MIDI inputs via a &#x215B;&#x201D; stereo cable. PlantWave can also be connected to more traditional 5-pin MIDI ports using a &#x215B;&#x201D; (3.5mm) to 5-pin Type A MIDI adapter.</p><ol><li style="font-size: 16px;">Connect your desired cable to the &#x215B;&#x201D; (3.5mm) port on your PlantWave</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Connect the other end of your cable to the MIDI input on your synthesizer</li></ol>

Use with a MIDI Synthesizer

Scaling, MIDI routing, CC mapping and polyphony settings can take your plant music to the next level. Let's dive in a little deeper. PlantWave's firmware allows you to change MIDI settings on your device, including the channel you're sending MIDI not

<p id="isPasted">Scaling, MIDI routing, CC mapping and polyphony settings can take your plant music to the next level. Let&apos;s dive in a little deeper.</p><h2 id="about-midi-notes-and-cc">About MIDI Notes and CC</h2><p>PlantWave&apos;s firmware allows you to change MIDI settings on your device, including the channel you&apos;re sending MIDI notes as well as the Control Number of CC messages. Factory settings have notes coming on Channel 1 and Control Number set to 80.</p><p>MIDI notes on a PlantWave are generated by changes in conductivity of your plant. MIDI CC messages are generated by the velocity of those changes. While MIDI note messages determine the note sent to your synthesizer, MIDI CC messages can be used to allow a plant to make timbral changes to the expression of those notes.</p><p>For instance, if you had a Roland Juno 106, you could set the MIDI CC value of your PlantWave to control the Attack Envelope by changing the Control Number on your device to CC20. This means, that, while a plant may generate a note message of C4, it&apos;s activity level will determine the attack of that note. This allows for more expression in the music played by your plant and also gives you more information to tune into through monitoring your plant with a synthesizer.</p><p>Different synths have different Control Number configurations, so getting the most out of your synth will require getting to know what parameters can be controlled by MIDI CC message and then changing the output of your PlantWave accordingly. Please proceed with caution when giving a plant control of CC parameters of your synth. It&apos;s best to stick to more subtle effects. We do not recommend giving a plant control of volume or low pass filters with high resonance, for instance.</p><h2 id="about-scaling-and-polyphony">About Scaling and Polyphony</h2><p>PlantWave&apos;s firmware comes with a variety of Scaling and Polyphony options, allowing you to scale your plant&apos;s data to a specific key and decide how many notes will be sent to your synthesizer at one time. While the device ships with Chromatic tuning, we recommend Pentatonic scales for their ability to be played in any order and maintain harmony. That said, some users of our previous device (MIDI Sprout) report their plants coming into harmony with singing over time, even with the device set to Chromatic. Surely there is some experimentation to be had here.</p>

Getting the most out of your MIDI synth with PlantWave

Broadcast Mode (currently iOS only) allows you to broadcast your plants to your friends and other PlantWave app users. A few notes about Broadcast mode:. Enable Broadcast mode while listening to your PlantWave:. Disable Broadcast mode:

<p><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-rv fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KpPpF4wi_rs?&amp;list=PLAEIBaDzoJ5EzJDJuw46dJ5iFzFZNiKyK&amp;index=5&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px;">Broadcast Mode (currently iOS only) allows you to broadcast your plants to your friends and other PlantWave app users.&#xA0;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px;">A few notes about Broadcast mode:</span></p><ol><li style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Broadcasting requires sharing your location information. We do this to simplify the naming of broadcasts. Your broadcasts&#x2019; name will be the name of your neighborhood.</span></li><li style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Broadcasts send data from your plant to be listened to by other users. Broadcasts do not include Soundset information.&#xA0;</span></li><li style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Listeners of your broadcast can choose what instruments your plant is playing on their phone.<br></span></li></ol><p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px;">Enable Broadcast mode while listening to your PlantWave:</span></p><ol><li style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">From the home screen, tap &#x201C;Broadcast&#x201D; at the top middle of your screen</span></li><li style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Allow location sharing (this is used to name your broadcast)</span></li><li style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tap &#x201C;Begin Broadcasting&#x201D;<br></span></li></ol><p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px;">Disable Broadcast mode:</span></p><ol><li style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">From the home screen, tap &#x201C;Broadcasting&#x201D;</span></li><li style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tap &#x201C;Stop Broadcasting&#x201D;</span></li></ol>

Broadcast Mode

Currently only on iOS app, Android in development

<p><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-rv fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/U10cnSwsbDI?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></p><p><em>Currently only on iOS app, Android in development</em></p>

Recording and Video

Firmware updates are no longer required within the app and are not necessary for full functionality. If you believe you need assistance with PlantWave purchased before 2024, feel free to contact us at plantwave@datagarden.org.

<p id="isPasted">Firmware updates are no longer required within the app and are not necessary for full functionality. If you believe you need assistance with PlantWave purchased before 2024, feel free to contact us at <a href="mailto:plantwave@datagarden.org">plantwave@datagarden.org</a>.</p>

Firmware Updates

This resets to default, which turns MIDI off and deletes WiFi credentials you may have saved.

<p id="isPasted"><em>This resets to default, which turns MIDI off and deletes WiFi credentials you may have saved.</em></p><ol><li style="font-size: 16px;">While device is OFF, press and hold the pairing button</li><li style="font-size: 16px;">Turn device ON while continuing to hold pairing button for 10 seconds, or until the lights on the top of the device flash.</li></ol>

Factory Reset

This can help save power. With WiFi off, editing firmware settings via the web browser will not be possible. While device is ON, press and hold the pairing button for 6 seconds

<p id="isPasted"><em>This can help save power. With WiFi off, editing firmware settings via the web browser will not be possible.</em></p><p>While device is ON, press and hold the pairing button for 6 seconds</p>

Turn WiFi On / Off

How To