Using PlantWave with MIDI and your DAWUpdated 2 hours ago
What PlantWave is (and is not) in your studio
PlantWave is a MIDI controller: your plant plays note and CC data that you route into any DAW, synth, or sampler. It is not a VST or plugin, so there is nothing to install inside your DAW; it shows up as a MIDI input device. Everything below works without any subscription.
Anything your plant plays into your own instruments is entirely yours, including for commercial use. See Can I use PlantWave music in my song?
Four ways to connect
- 3.5mm MIDI out: the jack on the device is TRS Type A MIDI out (it is not a headphone jack). Guide: Use with a MIDI Synthesizer.
- USB: connect the device to your computer over USB. Guide: Use PlantWave with a DAW.
- Wi-Fi: stream MIDI to your DAW over the network (the device uses 2.4GHz Wi-Fi only). Same guide as above.
- Bluetooth via MIDI Bridge: our free MIDI Bridge app for Mac relays Bluetooth MIDI to your DAW. Enter your email at plantwave.com/pages/plant-midi-bridge and we will send it to you. A Windows version is not available.
Turning MIDI on
MIDI mode ships turned off; enable it in the app or via a web browser before your first session: Enable MIDI Mode. A factory reset turns MIDI off again and clears the device's Wi-Fi credentials, so re-enable after any reset.
The device's own settings page lives at plantwave.local: put the device and your computer on the same 2.4GHz network (hold the Mode button about 6 seconds to toggle the device's Wi-Fi), then open plantwave.local in a browser. Polyphony (voices) is set there: default 5, adjustable from 1 to 8. That setting lives only on the settings page, not in the app, and MIDI Bridge is a separate tool that does not replace it.
Channel, CC, scaling, and polyphony ideas: Getting the most out of your MIDI synth.
Recording MIDI
MIDI recording in the app is free on Android. On iOS it is part of the Plus tier. When any in-app recording ends, your phone's save dialog is the only save moment; the app keeps nothing internally. Pick a consistent location like Downloads so nothing goes missing. More: Where do my recordings save?
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