Midi notes not consistent?

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magma

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This is a question that's been bugging me and I can't find a logical explanation, so here it is, I am using a Teensy to send a MIDI note for instance 48, witch is mapped as C3, monitoring the MIDI messages I have a C2.. is this normal or am I skipping through something?

You can reproduce the example running this simple code, on Teensy 3.2 and 3.6 is exactly the same:

Code:
#include <MIDI.h>

MIDI_CREATE_DEFAULT_INSTANCE();

// --

void setup() {
    Serial.begin(115200);
    MIDI.begin();
    Serial.println("Arduino ready.");
}

void loop() {
    usbMIDI.sendNoteOn(48, 127, 1);
    delay(1000);
    usbMIDI.sendNoteOff(48, 0, 1);
    delay(1000);
}
 
Maybe something between the Teensy and whatever is creating the sound is set to scale by 1 octave?

Hello Paul, thank you so much for your fast reply... this is totally raw messages with nothing in between... I am using a MIDI monitor, already tried in Ableton Live and is the same.. in MAXMSP I can see that I have the message 48..

Screen Shot 2018-10-16 at 17.47.53.jpg
 

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I used your code on a T3.2 and monitored its output with MIDI-OX. It shows the note as C3 (one octave below Middle C). There seems to be some confusion about whether Middle C is C4 or C3.
For example, my SY77 and M-Audio 61-es both label Middle C on the keyboard as C3 but when I play the note, MIDI-OX prints it as C4 (MIDI note 60).
Note 48 is the C below Middle C and the "standard" is that this is C3. If the software you are using follows the same labelling convention as my keyboards, they will refer to it as C2.

Pete
 
I used your code on a T3.2 and monitored its output with MIDI-OX. It shows the note as C3 (one octave below Middle C). There seems to be some confusion about whether Middle C is C4 or C3.
For example, my SY77 and M-Audio 61-es both label Middle C on the keyboard as C3 but when I play the note, MIDI-OX prints it as C4 (MIDI note 60).
Note 48 is the C below Middle C and the "standard" is that this is C3. If the software you are using follows the same labelling convention as my keyboards, they will refer to it as C2.

Pete

Pete, thanks for the explanation, and I should have researched more about this.. I will have to decide now if my 48 is going to be C3 or C2 :)
 
I'm curious, do any of these programs actually play a sound with a fundamental frequency other than 130.8 Hz when they get MIDI note 48?
 
They should not. Different note naming conventions are halfway ok (we are used to that here in Europe where almost every country has its own naming scheme), but the note number to frequency conversion must remain the same. Note 48 must always be 130.8Hz if no transposition is involved.
 
Let's just say that there is no "right" or "wrong" when it comes to what you signify as middle C, it will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and country to country. Despite this, the MIDI notation never changes in that middle C is always note 60 whether you call it C3 or C4 is up to you and MIDI Monitor gives you the option to call it either of those, but it does not change the MIDI value from being 60 as middle C.
Screen Shot 2018-10-16 at 10.39.58 PM.png
 
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