Gamepad MIDI:
Pitch Bend for Analog Axes
Buttons map to notes and CC. Analog axes map to CC — and now, pitch bend. Every output a gamepad can produce is now a MIDI output you can use.
Available in v1.4.0 for macOS, Windows, and Linux. All existing presets load without changes.
How It Works
Pitch bend is a third Type option in the mapping dialog, sitting alongside Control Change and Note. It's available on any analog axis: the four analog stick axes, two trigger axes, touchpad X and Y, and all six motion sensor axes (gyroscope and accelerometer). Buttons are digital — on or off — so pitch bend doesn't apply there.
The full 14-bit MIDI pitch bend range is used: values 0–16383, with center at 8192. How far that spans in semitones is up to the receiving synth or plugin — Gamepad MIDI sends the full range and stays out of the way.
Direction Control
The app distinguishes between axes that have a natural center (bipolar) and axes that rest at one extreme (unipolar), and sets sensible defaults for each.
What You Can Do With It
Expressive stick control
Map the right stick Y-axis to pitch bend with “Up/Down.” Push up to bend sharp, pull down to bend flat, release and pitch snaps back to center. Works with any pitch-bend-capable instrument — synthesizers, samplers, plugin instruments. Pair with the right trigger mapped to CC11 (expression) and you have two dimensions of real-time control in one hand.
Trigger-controlled pitch dive or rise
Map a trigger to pitch bend “Down” and you get a dive bar effect — hold the trigger partway for a subtle drop, fully for a full-range plunge. Switch to “Up” for the opposite.
Gyroscope pitch inflection
Map a gyroscope axis to pitch bend for tilt-based pitch control. Tilt the controller forward to bend down, back to bend up. Unusual, but effective for ambient and experimental work where physical gesture is part of the performance.