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It is possible to create a MIDI instrument from a Source plug-in if the plug-in understands MIDI messages.

Now the instrument can be referenced as a MIDI target inside a music object (ex: Music Segment).

Sampled instruments can use all Actor-Mixer Hierarchy containers (Blend Containers, Switch Containers, Random Containers, Sequence Containers and Sounds) for their design. The complexity of the implementation will grow with the instrument design complexity. The most simple sampled instrument would be a 1-sample instrument.

	Tip
	You can also Drag & Drop a WAV file on the Actor-Mixer Hierarchy directly.

Now the instrument can be referenced as a MIDI target inside a music object (ex: Music Segment).

	Tip
	Use the Source Editor to trim the imported samples. You normally want to remove any silence at the beginning of the source.

The MIDI note tracking parameters can be found in the MIDI tab of the Property Editor for the Actor-Mixer Hierarchy objects. These parameters determine if, upon reception of a MIDI message, the sound objects are pitch-shifted during playback. If the played sound is pitch-shifted, it is according to the note of the MIDI message, and the note represented by the Actor-Mixer object's source; it's root note.

The note tracking parameters can be specified and/or overridden in any of the instrument's Actor-Mixer Hierarchy objects. For more information about properties in the Actor-Mixer Hierarchy, refer to About properties in the project hierarchy. The MIDI note tracking parameters are:

The MIDI filters can be found in the MIDI tab of the Property Editor for the Actor-Mixer Hierarchy objects. When receiving a MIDI message on a complex object structure, you can use the MIDI filters to select which child object to play.

The MIDI filters define which child object to play will based on:

Because re-sampling has a tendency to create unwanted artifacts as sounds are pitched away from their root notes, you may want to use multiple recorded samples at different root notes to cover the full extent of an instrument. A technique often used that usually provides good results when memory is limited is to use a few different sample root notes per octave and pitch them up and down to cover the full 12 semitones of an octave.

Here's an example for two octaves of an instrument pitching the root notes down by a second and up by a minor second:

The Blend Container simultaneously plays every child when playing the container. The filter however blocks the children that don't match the filter rules.

The MIDI Events properties can be found in the MIDI tab of the Property Editor for the Actor-Mixer Hierarchy objects. When receiving a MIDI message, the MIDI Events properties are used to decide whether the object must be played. The object can be played on either a note-on or note-off event. Note that these properties are only used to start the playback of the object. To stop the object playback, an envelope must be assigned to a property (refer to Working with envelopes).

A typical scenario would be to Play on Note-On.

	Note
	The instrument's looping may be stopped via the Break on Note-Off property. If the property is set, the note-off stops the playback of the looped sound while allowing the current object to finish playing. Remember to set the Loop Start and Loop End cursors in the source editor such that the final loop plays for the desired duration.

Another scenario would be to have a specific sound that is played for the release of an instrument, at Note-Off. For example, this could be used to trigger the string muting sound of a guitar note ending. You would create the following objects and settings:

When you want to add dynamics to your instruments, you can use an Envelope attached to the Voice Volume of the instrument.

To add an Envelope to the Voice Volume, refer to Working with envelopes.

It is possible to use the following MIDI messages to control object property values:

A typical scenario would be to control the Voice Volume of the Instrument with the MIDI Note Velocity.

The MIDI Keymap Editor view can be used to edit all MIDI properties for Actor-Mixer Hierarchy objects.

When designing a MIDI instrument, you can test the instrument with an external MIDI keyboard device.

	Note
	Ensure the Current Selection group is active in the Control Surface toolbar and that you have an object selected in Project Explorer.

After creating the session and the binding, selecting an object in the Project Explorer will automatically load the object for the MIDI instrument, ready to play.

It is possible to route MIDI messages coming from an external application (DAW, or Digital Audio Workstation) to Wwise using a virtual MIDI connector. This can be useful to compose MIDI music in a DAW while using the instruments built in Wwise.

You can author multiple instruments simultaneously by creating a Blend Container containing all instruments, and using the MIDI Channel filter to discriminate the instruments.