This docking window dynamically displays the output notes on a virtual piano keyboard. The piano keyboard's orientation can be horizontal or vertical, depending on whether the window is docked horizontally or vertically. To monitor MIDI output messages other than notes, e.g. controllers, use the MIDI Output bar instead.
By default, output notes are displayed for all MIDI channels. To show only a particular channel, use the Channel Filter submenu of the window's context menu. This submenu also lets you choose multiple channels, in which case each channel is shown on its own keyboard. The context menu also lets you change the size of the piano keyboard, show or hide the key labels, and rotate the key labels. The window can optionally send MIDI notes when the corresponding keys are left-clicked. To enable this feature, use the context menu's Output Channel submenu to select the desired MIDI channel.
Context menu
| Channel Filter | To only show notes for a particular MIDI channel, select the corresponding submenu item, or select "All" to show notes for all channels. You can also select "Multiple" to choose multiple channels. |
| Output Channel | In this submenu, select the MIDI channel on which left-clicked piano keys should send the corresponding notes, or select "None" to disable this feature. |
| Piano Size | To resize the keyboard, select a standard piano size from the submenu. |
| Key Labels | Check this item to show labels on the piano keys that identify the corresponding MIDI notes. |
| Rotate Labels | Check this item to rotate the key labels 90° counterclockwise, so that they're vertical instead of horizontal. This may allow the labels to use a larger font. This option is only supported when the window is docked horizontally. |
| Color Velocities | Check this item to color the piano keys according to the velocities of the output notes. The colors range spectrally from blue (softest) to red (loudest). |
| Insert Track | This command inserts a track for the selected note. Position the cursor over the desired note on the piano keyboard before using this command. The new track's note property will be set appropriately. |
Multiple keyboards
The piano bar can display up to sixteen keyboards, each of which only shows notes for a specific MIDI channel. This is useful when the same notes are being played on multiple instruments; with a single keyboard, the instruments mingle, making it hard to distinguish them. The keyboards have labels indicating which channels they correspond to. To configure multiple keyboards, select "Multiple" in the context menu's Channel Filter submenu. This displays the Select Channels dialog, which has a checkbox for each channel. Check the desired channels, and then press OK to proceed. The dialog provides additional selection features, explained below.
| Button | Action |
|---|---|
| All | Checks all channels. |
| None | Unchecks all channels. |
| Used | Checks all channels that are used by the current document. |