MIDI Output

Tabbal generates MIDI — it does not produce audio. The MIDI output needs to be routed to a drum instrument (sampler, drum machine, synthesizer, etc.) to produce sound.

MIDI OUT Selector

A dropdown in the top-left corner of the grid, labeled “MIDI OUT”. It offers two routing modes:

DAW: Tabbal (default) — MIDI stays on the plugin’s internal bus. The host DAW receives the MIDI output directly, just like any other MIDI-generating plugin. Route Tabbal’s output to your drum instrument using your DAW’s standard MIDI routing.

External MIDI device — select any available system MIDI output (IAC Driver, hardware MIDI interface, virtual ports, etc.) from the dropdown. MIDI is sent directly to the selected device with sample-accurate timing, bypassing the DAW’s MIDI routing.

The dropdown refreshes the available device list each time it is opened, so newly connected devices appear immediately.

Timing

• Internal (DAW bus): MIDI events carry sample-accurate positions within the audio buffer, matching the DAW’s audio clock
• External device: MIDI is sent using timestamped scheduling, where each message’s sample offset is converted to wall-clock time for sub-block timing resolution