Developer Releases Free Tool to Bridge Bluetooth LE MIDI Keyboards to Windows DAWs
March 2025 — A solo developer has released a free, open-source application that solves a long-standing Bluetooth MIDI connectivity problem on Windows 11, allowing digital audio workstations (DAWs) and web MIDI apps to seamlessly communicate with wireless keyboards.
The tool, called Perfect Bluetooth MIDI for Windows, was created by Erwin, a developer and pianist frustrated by the inability of his Roland FP-90X piano to work with his DAW over Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) MIDI.
“After a regrettable number of evenings, I’d separated this into three independent bugs stacked on top of each other,” Erwin told reporters. “Nothing worked out of the box — my DAW couldn’t see the keyboard, and sending notes from the PC produced only silence.”
The utility is available immediately as a single, self-contained 21 MB executable under the MIT license, with no installer, telemetry, or account required.
Download and screenshots are available on the project site.
Background: The Bluetooth MIDI Gap on Windows
Windows 11 natively pairs with BLE MIDI devices, but the operating system exposes them only through the WinRT API — a protocol almost no DAW polls. As a result, even successful pairings leave musicians unable to use their wireless keyboards in studio software.
Existing workarounds, such as combining MIDIberry and loopMIDI, often prove unreliable. Erwin’s tool takes a different approach: it leverages the new Windows MIDI Services (WMS) stack, which includes loopback endpoints. Any data written to one endpoint emerges from the other, and any winMM, WinRT, or WMS app can detect them as standard MIDI ports.
The application reads BLE MIDI from the keyboard via the WinRT API and sends it to a WMS loopback output, effectively bridging the gap.
The Second Bug: Wrong MIDI Channel
When Erwin tested the PC-to-piano direction, notes were reaching the piano at the GATT layer (the bytes were acknowledged), but the synth engine remained silent. After eliminating pairing, encryption, write modes, and proprietary characteristics, he discovered the root cause: the Roland FP-90X receives only on MIDI channel 4 — a fixed setting that cannot be changed via the panel.
“Notes I sent on channel 1 were being GATT-acked and silently dropped at the synth engine,” Erwin explained. “Zero feedback at any layer. The fix had to live up at the application layer.”
He added a Detect button that plays ascending test notes on channels 1 through 16; the user counts the audible notes to determine the receive channel. The setting is saved per Bluetooth MAC address and takes about 75 seconds — a one-time configuration for each piano.
What This Means for Musicians and Producers
This utility effectively eliminates a major friction point for Windows users who want to use wireless MIDI keyboards without switching operating systems or investing in dongles. By providing a free, clean bridge into WMS, it enables direct integration with any DAW that supports the Windows MIDI Services stack, as well as web MIDI apps running in modern browsers.
Pete from the Microsoft Windows MIDI Services team described the BLE integration as “positive,” noting the community-driven nature of the fix. The tool supports any BLE MIDI keyboard, not just Roland models, and the detect feature may work for other instruments with fixed receive channels.
The developer has shared the source code on GitHub under the MIT license, encouraging contributions. The tech stack includes .NET 10, Avalonia (portable UI), and the official Microsoft.Windows.Devices.Midi2 packages.
Impact: For Windows-based music producers, this tool turns Bluetooth capability from a frustrating novelty into a usable feature. It may also spur further development of Windows MIDI Services adoption.
Availability
- Platform: Windows 10/11 (BLE MIDI side Windows-only; UI layer portable)
- License: MIT — free, open-source
- File size: ~21 MB single executable, no installer required
- Privacy: No telemetry, no account, no internet connection needed
For musicians struggling with Bluetooth MIDI on Windows, this tool may be the solution they have been waiting for. Further details, including setup guides, are available on the project’s official site.