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🎹Biotron MIDI and CC

Receive plant MIDI, test experimental incoming CC, connect Reaper or iPad, and power a hardware-synth setup.

🌿Biotron → DAWReceive notes and plant CC90. 🎚DAW → BiotronTest incoming settings commands carefully. 📱Use an iPadPlay instruments without opening Settings. 🎛Use a hardware synthSend TRS MIDI and power Biotron separately.

Biotron to your DAW

Biotron sends standard MIDI over USB:

  • Note on/off triggers instruments and samplers.
  • CC90 follows plant-sensor intensity in the MIDI range 0–127.
  • Plant and light output can use separate MIDI channels. These channels are configurable, so choose All channels for the first test.

On Windows, names such as Biotron, Biotron 2, MIDIIN2 or MIDIOUT2 identify the device's two USB MIDI ports. They are not the plant and light channels.

Enable Biotron as a MIDI input, arm an instrument track, and choose all channels for the first test. MIDI carries control data, not sound; the track still needs a synth or sampler.

💡 CC90 is useful for filter, expression, or effect modulation. Check the range in a MIDI monitor. It is musical sensor data, not calibrated biological data.

Your DAW to Biotron

Biotron also recognises incoming CC messages that change its stored musical settings.

⚠️ Incoming control is experimental. Use occasional values while testing. Do not send automation, LFOs, or rapid fader sweeps until a firmware release passes physical burst and persistence testing.

Incoming CC map

CC Setting Scope
3 Input filter percentage Global
9 Maximum note velocity Channel-specific
14 Plant tempo / light tempo division Channel-specific
15 Ultra sensitivity Global
20 Minimum repeated-note distance Channel-specific
21 Note Hold Global
22 Step Size Global
23 Wake-Up Global
24 Scale Global
25 Minimum note velocity for Humanize Channel-specific
26 Humanize Channel-specific
27 Light pitch-bend mode Global
28 Light-note range Global
30 Performance mode Global
31 Mute note output Channel-specific
85 Centre plant note Global
86 First-note swing percentage Global
87 Button mute mode Global

For channel-specific commands, MIDI channel 1 selects the plant setting and channel 2 selects the light setting. Global commands ignore the channel. Value mappings differ by command; this source-derived table is a test map, not a finished live-control specification.

What the less obvious controls do

Control Useful values What to listen for
CC15 — Ultra sensitivity 0–63 off; 64–127 on Enables the firmware's alternate sensor-processing mode. It does not control velocity, and the audible difference may be subtle.
CC21 — Note Hold 0 = 1/64 beat; 99 = 1/2 beat; 127 = full beat Shorter or longer notes. Tempo does not change.
CC22 — Step Size 0–127; compare 32 and 96 Shapes how strongly sensor changes move through the note sequence. Judge it over several notes, not one event.
CC24 — Scale 0 Major; 20 Chromatic; 40 Mixolydian; 69 Minor blues; 119 Hirajōshi Changes the set of notes selected around the Home Note. The complete map contains 13 scales.
CC25 — Minimum velocity 0–127 This is the lower edge of the velocity range. It is used only while Humanize is on, and should not be higher than CC9 Maximum velocity.
CC26 — Humanize 0–63 off; 64–127 on When on, each note receives a velocity between CC25 Minimum and CC9 Maximum. When off, CC25 has no audible effect.
CC27 — Light Pitch Bend 0–63 off; 64–127 on When on, the light sensor bends plant notes instead of playing separate light notes.
CC28 — Light Note Range 1–127; 0 is treated as 1 Sets the span of separate light notes. It is not Pitch Bend and is heard only while CC27 is off.

For a quick velocity check on MIDI channel 1, send CC9 = 100, then CC26 = 127, then CC25 = 20. Play several plant notes: their velocities should vary between 20 and 100. Now send CC26 = 0; CC25 is intentionally ignored and the velocity returns to the fixed CC9 value.

For musical feedback on Windows, make these changes from Reaper after it owns the Biotron output. You do not need to reopen Settings between CC changes. Settings and Reaper may compete for the same Windows MIDI port, so use Release device for DAW before the session and Reconnect settings after closing Reaper.

The USB port number and MIDI channel number are separate. Firmware 1.9.8 accepts incoming CC on either Biotron USB output: if Reaper can enable only Biotron 2, use that output and send on MIDI channel 1 to change plant settings. This does not turn Biotron 2 into the light channel.

Test one command in Reaper

  1. Close Settings. On Windows, another app may still own the Biotron MIDI port.
  2. Enable a Biotron output in Options → Preferences → Audio → MIDI Devices. If Windows lists two, use the one Reaper opens without an error.
  3. Route one track to Biotron under MIDI Hardware Output.
  4. Set the track to MIDI channel 1 for plant settings.
  5. Send one reversible value. Send CC31 = 127 to mute plant notes, then CC31 = 0 and confirm the notes return.

If Reaper says Failed to open device, close every Chrome, Edge, and Playtronica Settings window. Reconnect Biotron, then enable the output again.

If Biotron disappears from both Reaper and MIDI-OX, stop sending CC immediately. Close every MIDI app, disconnect USB, and check Device Manager → Sound, video and game controllers before reconnecting once with a known data cable. Green LEDs prove power only. Do not reflash firmware from this symptom alone.

MIDI Clock changes Biotron's timing

Biotron listens for MIDI Start, Stop, and Clock. Turn off Send clock to this device in Reaper if you want Biotron to keep its own timing. MIDI Clock is not required for CC.

A synth holds a note

Use Panic or All Notes Off first. If the problem returns, save a short raw MIDI log with the synth name and version. Do not assume the synth is at fault while dense-message firmware testing remains open.

Use an iPad

You can play Biotron from an iPad, but mobile Safari cannot open the Web MIDI Settings page. Configure Biotron once on a desktop computer; the configuration stays on the device.

  1. Connect an Apple USB adapter or a compatible USB-C hub.
  2. Plug Biotron into the adapter with its USB data cable.
  3. Open GarageBand and choose an instrument.
  4. Touch the plant. GarageBand should receive Biotron's notes.

If Biotron lights up but GarageBand is silent, check the external MIDI input for the track. If notes were muted in Settings, reconnect Biotron to a desktop computer and restore them there.

Use a hardware synth

The TRS MIDI cable carries MIDI data but does not power Biotron.

  1. Connect Biotron's TRS output to the synth's MIDI input.
  2. Power Biotron from a standard 5 V USB adapter or battery pack.
  3. Power on the synth, then touch the plant.

Biotron uses TRS MIDI Type A. If the synth expects Type B, use a Type A to Type B adapter.

Quick self-test

Press the fingerprint button and watch a MIDI monitor. If the monitor receives the preset-change note burst, the USB route works and the remaining issue is likely routing, mute state, or the instrument track.

Need Settings without internet? The offline Windows guide shows how to prepare and install the field-test beta once, then reopen it without internet. Firmware downloads remain online-only.

Still stuck

Email [email protected] with:

  • a short video of the complete connection;
  • your operating system and DAW;
  • the MIDI input and output names;
  • whether the fingerprint self-test appears in a MIDI monitor.

We aim for 24 hours, but a reply may take up to 3 business days.

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