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Need to play TWEAKER from your DAW?

First we need to create a fixed MIDI Loopback Port. See below for setup per platform…

TWEAKER MIDI In dropdown showing detected loopback ports

macOS

Uses Apple’s built-in IAC Driver. One-time setup at the OS level — any MIDI-aware app then sees the bus regardless of launch order.

One-time setup:

  1. Open Audio MIDI Setup (in /Applications/Utilities/, or via Spotlight).
  2. Menu: Window → Show MIDI Studio.
  3. Double-click the IAC Driver icon.
  4. Tick Device is online at the top.
  5. Under Ports, add a port named TWEAKER (use the + button if no ports are listed). Click Apply.
macOS Audio MIDI Setup — IAC Driver enabled with TWEAKER port added

Every session:

  • In your DAW: set the MIDI Hardware Output or track MIDI input to IAC Driver TWEAKER.
  • In TWEAKER: the MIDI In dropdown can stay on All MIDI Inputs (default) or be set explicitly to the IAC bus.

Troubleshooting:

  • IAC Driver icon missing from MIDI Studio: it’s built into macOS but may have been hidden. Try the View menu’s Show All toggle, the configuration dropdown (switch away from “Default” and back), or the + button to re-add it. Last resort: quit Audio MIDI Setup, run sudo killall coreaudiod in Terminal, then reopen Audio MIDI Setup.
  • IAC Driver shows red/disabled and won’t open: single-click to select it first, then click the ⓘ Info button in the MIDI Studio toolbar (or right-click the icon) and tick Device is online. Icon turns blue and double-click then opens properties.
  • Single-click still doesn’t select IAC Driver after enabling: quit Audio MIDI Setup and relaunch it — MIDI Studio sometimes needs a restart before the newly-enabled device responds.

Windows

Windows 11 build 24H2 or newer required — the new Windows MIDI Services aren’t available on Windows 10 or earlier Windows 11 builds.

One-time setup:

  1. Install Microsoft’s Windows MIDI Services SDK Runtime and Tools (~220 MB). TWEAKER’s MIDI dropdown has a “How to use MIDI from a DAW…” entry with a Download Now button that takes you here.
  2. Launch the Windows MIDI and Musician Settings app from the Start menu.
  3. Click the blue Finish MIDI Setup button at the top; restart Windows if prompted.
  4. Click Set MIDI Service to auto-start at boot so the service is ready before basehead launches.
  5. (Optional) Under MIDI 2.0 Loopback Endpoints, click Create New Loopback Endpoint Pair and name them TWEAKER A / TWEAKER B. If you skip this, the built-in Default App Loopback (A)/(B) pair works just as well — TWEAKER shortens these to Def. Loopback (A)/(B) in its dropdown.
Windows MIDI and Musician Settings app — Finish MIDI Setup and Loopback Endpoint configuration

Every session:

  • In your DAW: set the MIDI hardware output to Default App Loopback (A) (or TWEAKER A if you made your own pair).
  • In TWEAKER: the MIDI In dropdown can stay on All MIDI Inputs (default), or be set explicitly to Def. Loopback (B) (or TWEAKER B).
  • The ● dot next to MIDI In: in the TWEAKER header blinks on each incoming MIDI message — quick way to confirm receive is alive.
DAW MIDI output set to Default App Loopback (A) routing into TWEAKER

Troubleshooting:

  • No loopback entries in TWEAKER’s dropdown: re-run “Finish MIDI Setup” in the Windows MIDI Settings app, and confirm a loopback pair exists under “MIDI 2.0 Loopback Endpoints”.
  • Entries show up but notes don’t arrive: in the MIDI Settings app, Active Sessions should list both basehead and your DAW as open clients of the loopback endpoints.
  • Worked, then stopped after relaunching the DAW: occasionally Windows MIDI Services keeps stale handles to changed endpoints. Quit and relaunch both the DAW and basehead.

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