[linux-audio-user] midi note numbers

[Chuck Martin]

On Wed, Mar 29, 2006 at 10:58:57AM -0800, Brad Fuller brad-at-sonaural.com |LAU| wrote:
> That's right. According to the MIDI Detailed Spec (version 4.2) on page 
> 10, MIDI note 60 is Middle C.
> This is the fourth C on the piano, and traditionally known as C4 (261Hz) 
> on the piano. However, I've seen apps refer to middle C as C3, C4, and C5.
> Crazy.

I believe it depends on the instrument.  On the piano, C1 is the first
C, which makes middle C C4.  On a pipe organ, however, which generally
has 61 notes on each keyboard, C1 is the first C on the keyboard, which
puts middle C at C3 which an 8' stop, which is the standard footage
when counting notes.  I guess from what others have said, Yamaha uses
the pipe organ numbering (which makes sense on most synthesizers with
five octave keyboards), while others are using the piano numbering.

Chuck