This week, I was working with Moog on a synth tuning issue and realized that Sonar's Piano Roll view wasn't jiving with the conversation.  When I play A4, Sonar calls it "A5."  Same with the Event View, etc.
 
According to the MIDI spec, MIDI note #69 (45h) must trigger A4 / 440 Hz - that is, the "A" above Middle C.  And this complies with the Scientific Pitch Notation (SPN) system.  When I play A4 on my 88-note keyboard controller, MIDI note #69 is indeed sent and recorded, but Sonar displays it as A5.  To put it another way, I've always understood my keyboard (or any piano) to span A0 to C8.  But Sonar labels the same notes A1 to C9.
 
Not that it ever bothered me before (or will again), but I'm curios to know what's going on.  Is it a bug?  Is there a configuration option somewhere?  Is my understanding of music notation/theory woefully inadequate? 
 
Any input is appreciated.

Set with "Base Octave for Pitches" see http://www.cakewalk.com/D...age=3&help=0x22B06

There was confusion about what "middle C" was in the early days of MIDI, and that still persists because today's software has to support legacy gear.

scook
Set with "Base Octave for Pitches" see http://www.cakewalk.com/D...age=3&help=0x22B06

Nice one - it's always bugged me that I have to adjust my brain's octave happy place when using Sonar! Now I know how to match it to what I expect. Thanks.

Grum.

Anderton
There was confusion about what "middle C" was in the early days of MIDI, and that still persists because today's software has to support legacy gear.

I thought part of the issue is that as well as disagreeing about what pitch middle C is, some manufacturers decided to call the lowest C note C0 and others C1, in a similar way to how 7 bit MIDI is implemented as 0-127 or 1-128. Though 0-127 seems pretty standard these days an old book I have somewhere or other about understanding MIDI from when MIDI was new states MIDI goes 1-128.

Just to add more confusion to the pot, I had an old Yamaha module that started at -C2 then -C1 then -C0 then C1 etc. with middle C being C3.

You can imagine the fun that caused.

Wookiee
Just to add more confusion to the pot, I had an old Yamaha module that started at -C2 then -C1 then -C0 then C1 etc. with middle C being C3.

You can imagine the fun that caused.

I'm comfortable with C3 being middle C. That's what I expect to see.

Grum.

Midi does not specify pitch notation e.g. C3, C4 etc.

rabeach
Midi does not specify pitch notation e.g. C3, C4 etc.

 
I am pretty sure that the MIDI specification does define standard note numbers and pitches, at least relative to the definition of middle C. Middle C (C4 in scientific pitch notation, 261.625 HZ at A4 = 440) is defined as MIDI note number 60. The confusion comes from the fact that the MIDI note range can represent more notes than are present on the piano keyboard and in fact more than are actually audible. Thus if A4=440 Hz, MIDI note number 12, C0=16.35 Hz using scientific (aka American standard, aka international) pitch notation is inaudible, and MIDI note 0 is even lower at C-1=8.176 Hz. Apparently the negative standard octave number necessitated by the need to cover a range of 0-127 note numbers was more than some designers could handle, so they decided to have their instruments respond to MIDI note # 0 as C0, thus pushing middle C up to C5 in their systems. The designation of C3 for middle C in a lot of MIDI keyboards is probably due to the fact that most such keyboards are short (less than 88 keys) and thus their designers wanted the octave numbers they use to better match the center of the keyboard. 
 
If there is an inconsistency, it is not with the MIDI standard, but with the designers of DAW's and instruments failing to adhere to the most widely accepted standard musical octave notation. The fact is that there exist other inconsistent notation standards, but the use of an arabic numeral following the note letter pretty much commits you to reading it as scientific pitch notation (C4=middle C=about 260 Hz), as other traditional systems use other ways to designate the octave. Apparently Cakewalk, like many others, decided to just make up their own to avoid the troubling negative octave number.  In any event, if the instrument you are sending MIDI messages to, or the DAW you are sending it from, uses a notation system in a different octave you are going to need to fix it somewhere. Sonar provides a method to fix this, and most keyboard and other controllers have an octave-shift control that does the same thing. But it is possible that you will need to actually transpose the MIDI tracks to accommodate a variety of different non-standards adopted by various instrument designers. 

The Scientific Pitch Notation is the American Standard Pitch Notation. The USA has not even adopted the International System of Units (SI) so I wonder by what authority is the American Standard Pitch Notation being referred to as the Scientific Pitch Notation.:-)
 
Scientific Pitch Notation is not a part of the midi specification. Midi specifies frequency by addressing five octaves below and above middle C and assigning midi note 60 to middle C. Nowhere is C4 specified as the pitch notation for midi note 60 or is the Scientific Pitch Notation adopted in the standard.