🎹MIDI & Devices

Praxis reads your playing from a connected MIDI instrument — a wind controller or a keyboard — over either USB or Bluetooth (BLE). Once a device is connected, every note you play feeds the tuner, the exercises, and the Praxis Coach, and lets you use Record digital sax to record freeform takes.

Connect a USB MIDI device

A USB wind controller or keyboard connects through your phone or tablet's charging port.

1. Plug the instrument into your device. On most phones you'll need a USB-C (or Lightning, on older iPhones) adapter — use one that carries data, not a charge-only cable.
2. Open MIDI Setup (in onboarding, or later from Settings).
3. Your instrument appears under Available Devices. Tap it to connect.
4. Play a note — the Test Input panel lights up and shows the detected note.

Connect a Bluetooth (BLE) MIDI device

Wireless instruments and BLE-MIDI adapters connect without a cable.

1. Turn the instrument on and put it in pairing mode (check its manual).
2. Make sure Bluetooth is enabled on your phone or tablet.
3. Open MIDI Setup. Praxis scans automatically; the device appears under Available Devices once it's discovered.
4. Tap the device to connect, then play a note to confirm the Test Input panel responds.

Playing sounds through another app

Praxis listens to your MIDI notes for feedback but doesn't voice them itself. To hear a rich instrument sound, run a synth app such as GarageBand or Respiro alongside Praxis (enable its background-audio option). Praxis keeps giving feedback while the other app produces the sound. See the Sound Setup Guide link on the MIDI Setup screen.

Transposition: written vs. concert pitch

Saxophones are transposing instruments. The note you read on the page isn't the same pitch that comes out of the horn:

• On an Alto (E♭) sax, a written C sounds as a concert E♭.
• On a Tenor (B♭) sax, a written C sounds as a concert B♭.

Praxis handles this for you. It knows which saxophone you play from your profile, so it shows notes in written pitch — what you'd read on your music — while tracking the actual concert pitch underneath. In the Test Input panel you'll see both: the written note you're reading, with the concert note shown below it.

Record digital sax

Record digital sax (in Studio) records a freeform take on your MIDI instrument and reads it back to you as engraved notation — a score generated from exactly what you played. Because it reads MIDI note data directly, the transcription is note-perfect — exact pitches, rhythm, and timing.

Record a take

1. Connect a MIDI device — tap Set up your digital sax if you haven't already (see above).
2. Open Record digital sax from Studio. Once a device is connected you're ready to play — there's no metronome and no target notes to follow.
3. Tap record and play whatever you want, up to a set number of minutes or notes.
4. Optionally turn on Stop on silence (2s) to end the take automatically after a short pause, handy for grabbing a quick idea in one gesture — or tap Stop yourself.
5. Review the engraved take, then save it. Saved takes are listed on the same screen so you can reopen and replay any of them.

Why this is MIDI-only

Recording works only with a MIDI instrument — there is no microphone-based version, and that's deliberate. Perfect transcription depends on the exact note data that only MIDI delivers. Detecting pitch and rhythm from an acoustic microphone signal is never 100% reliable, so audio-based capture is intentionally not offered.