Bluetooth MIDI

The CrossPad is a Bluetooth MIDI device. A computer, phone or tablet connects to it and sees CrossPad as a MIDI port, the same way it sees a USB MIDI device. Bluetooth MIDI is off by default: switch it on in Settings → BLE MIDI → Enabled. To connect a device step by step, see With a computer.

What goes out

• Pad hits and pad pressure, when Settings → MIDI → Keypad Routing → Send to BLE is on (the default).
• The MIDI clock and the transport, whether they come from a DAW or from the CrossPad.
• Send transpose shifts the notes sent over Bluetooth only: Default sends the same notes as USB MIDI, and the other choices move them by whole octaves, from −48 to +60 semitones. +36 (C1) puts a grid that starts at note 0 on C1, where drum racks such as Ableton’s Drum Rack and FL Studio’s FPC expect it. A note shifted outside 0 to 127 is not sent.
• Sending never holds up a pad: messages are queued, and everything queued during one Bluetooth connection interval goes out in one packet, each message with its own timestamp.

What comes in

• A note that belongs to a pad plays that pad, exactly as a finger would, in the app that owns the pads. The kit decides which note belongs to which pad.
• Any other note or message goes to the CrossPad’s MIDI input, as it does from USB.

Bluetooth and WiFi share one radio

Bluetooth and WiFi use the same radio, one at a time. While WiFi is running, Bluetooth waits; it starts again by itself when WiFi stops. The Bluetooth icon in the status bar shows when a device is connected.

The browser companion

The browser companion at https://play.crosspad.app/device can use the Bluetooth link too. Over Bluetooth it shows the CrossPad’s state, opens the Sampler and closes the running app. It uses a fixed list of read and control commands; file transfer, firmware updates and settings changes need a USB cable.