If you have "acoustic drums" selected as your instrument, you will have the option to change your audio input device. This is the device Melodics uses to listen to your acoustic instrument, such as your internal microphone or a microphone connected to your computer.

In most cases, "OS default" is the best choice — this will most likely be the built-in microphone on your computer. If you would like to use a different microphone, make sure it is connected to your computer and then select it from the dropdown menu.

The term ‘audio device’ refers to any speakers, headphones, or audio interface that attaches to a computer for the purpose of playing sound. By default, Melodics will use the same settings as your operating system. This may be your computer’s built-in speakers or the headphone jack output – it depends on what device you have selected in System Preferences (macOS) or Sound Settings (Windows 10). While you’re there, check that your system volume is turned up.

The default device selected in Melodics settings is called ‘OS Default’.

If you are using an external audio interface connected via USB, you can choose this device in the ‘selected device’ dropdown menu. Or if you are already using this audio device as your system’s default output, you can simply select ‘OS Default’ in Melodics.

Note: if you make changes to your system audio settings, you will need to restart Melodics for these changes to take effect.

If your audio interface has multiple outputs to choose from, you can select the specific outputs you would like to use. Melodics audio is in stereo, so the outputs to choose from are in stereo pairs: 1&2, 3&4, etc. This option will only appear if your selected audio device has more than one pair of ‘main’ outputs.

On Windows machines, you may have the option to use your audio device in ‘exclusive mode’. The purpose of exclusive mode is to optimise your setup to achieve minimal latency. By allowing Melodics to use your device exclusively, it helps speed up the audio processing resulting in lower latency.

Latency is the delay between action (playing a pad or key) and perceived response (audible sound). To make the most of your practice with Melodics, it’s important to optimise your audio setup to reduce latency. For more information, check out our audio latency setup guide.

Note: while using your audio device in exclusive mode, system audio and audio from other applications will not be able to use your audio device at the same time. Close Melodics or turn off this setting to allow other applications to use your audio device again.

The ‘master volume’ slider controls the loudness of Melodics. This affects all sounds in the app, including the volume of your instrument, lessons, and other app sounds. Use the ‘play test audio’ button to test the volume of Melodics and make sure it’s at a comfortable listening level.

These are all the sounds Melodics plays for things that aren't part of a lesson, such as the music that plays when you get a perfect performance, when you get stars, and complete a course.

When you open a lesson, Melodics plays the preview of the step you're on automatically. Set this to ‘off’ if you don't want that to happen.

When performing, notes you play are colour coded as you play them to help you see how your timing was - early (orange), late (purple), missed (red), or perfect (green). If you prefer, switch this 'on' to make all notes white & use icons instead.

When you start hitting lots of perfect notes in a row, they start flashing to let you know you're on a perfect note streak. You can turn those flashes off by setting this option to 'off'.

Turn this on to learn drums left handed. It will flip the layout of your drums and all Melodics content. (Other left hand configurations not available.)

The term ‘instrument’ refers to any MIDI controller that you have connected to your computer, and also your computer keyboard that can be used to play Melodics. This list shows all the instruments mapped and connected to Melodics. That includes any of our supported instruments or anything you have mapped previously. Make sure your MIDI controller is connected via USB. If your instrument is one Melodics recognises you can select it and you're good to go. If it doesn't appear in this list, don't worry – click the ‘map your instrument’ button below to create a mapping.

Mapping an instrument to Melodics allows Melodics to recognise your instrument when you play it. We’ve already mapped a huge range of instruments which you can view on our supported instruments list. If your instrument is not on the list, you can create your own mapping for it. Click the ‘map your instrument’ button and follow the instructions to create a [USER] mapping.

If you've previously mapped your instrument because Melodics didn't automatically recognise it, or if you made a mistake when you mapped it, clicking this button will remove any and all of your mappings. This only removes the mappings from Melodics, it doesn't change or reset anything on your instrument itself.

On iPad only, if your controller supports MIDI over Bluetooth you can connect it wirelessly to play Melodics. To pair your Bluetooth instrument with Melodics on iPad, make sure your instrument is ‘discoverable’ or in Bluetooth pairing mode, and tap the ‘[ᚼᛒ] connect’ button. For more information on connecting your instrument on iPad, check out our iPad connection guide.

For drums you can adjust your instrument sensitivity. Sensitivity refers to how hard you have to hit your drums to trigger notes in Melodics. How sensitive you want your instrument to be depends on your playing style and preferences, but usually this should be as far right as possible – the most sensitive setting. However if your drums are too sensitive, sometimes there can be errors with double triggering or cross-talk. If you are experiencing these issues, try reducing sensitivity by moving the sensitivity slider a little bit to the left until you don’t experience those issues any more.

Double triggering: when you hit your drum once and Melodics registers two or more hits. In Melodics, this might look like a green square with a red dot. The green square represents the note you hit perfectly, and the red dot represents subsequent notes caused by ‘double triggering’.

Cross-talk: when you hit one drum and a different drum gets triggered at the same time. If your sensitivity is too high, some drums might be triggered by tiny vibrations through the drum stand or through the floor.

While the sensitivity slider can help with these issues, there are other ways to help optimise your setup. Most drum modules have sensitivity settings that you can adjust. If you’re having troubles, we recommend factory resetting your drum module. Make sure your hardware is set up correctly and isolated from vibrations that may cause triggering issues.