This page is read from MIDI Instrument Definitions, a Python library used in the author's other projects, in which every number is traced to a document its maker published. Its source is on GitHub.

Waldorf MicroWave II/XT/XTk MIDI implementation

The MIDI implementation of the Waldorf MicroWave II/XT/XTk: what it answers to, and the 198 controls it offers, on firmware 2.28.

At a glance

Firmware

This page describes firmware 2.28.

MIDI channel

Any one of 1 to 16.

Modes

Sound mode: the mode it ships in.
Multi mode: the controls on the base MIDI channel do not answer in it.

Parts

Instrument, 8 of them: each on a MIDI channel of its own, taking notes, controls, and program changes, in Multi mode only.

Voices

10, shared by the parts that play notes.

Note range

0 to 127: C-1 to G9, counting middle C as C4.

Velocity

Sent and received. Release velocity is received.

Aftertouch

Channel pressure and polyphonic, each answered. It sends aftertouch too.

Pitch bend

How far it bends is not recorded, and the range can be changed.

Program change

Received, with 256 presets.

MIDI clock

Sent and received.

Start and stop

Sent and received.

Control change

Assigned by the player, apart from the 198 controls below.

NRPN

None.

System exclusive

Supported.

Controls

In the order the definition gives them, by part and group. Under each control is the name a program calls it by, once pymidiinstrumentdefs.load("waldorf/microwave_ii_xt_xtk") has loaded them.

On the base MIDI channel

These answer in Sound mode, and not in Multi mode.

Controllers

Glide

Oscillator 1

Oscillator 2

Mixer

Wave 1

Wave 2

Filter 1

Filter 2

Amplifier

Pan

Filter envelope

Amplifier envelope

Free envelope

Trigger

LFO 1

LFO 2

Modulation matrix

Arpeggiator

Instrument

In Multi mode only.

Controllers

Glide

Oscillator 1

Oscillator 2

Mixer

Wave 1

Wave 2

Filter 1

Filter 2

Amplifier

Pan

Filter envelope

Amplifier envelope

Free envelope

Trigger

LFO 1

LFO 2

Modulation matrix

Arpeggiator

Where these facts come from

Source documents

• User's Manual MicroWave II, MicroWave XT, XTk, MWII/XT/XTk Manual 2.3 E, dated 25 October 1999, its user manual, read on 13 October 2026 (the file read).
• Waldorf Microwave 2/XT Controller Number Assignment, Software release 2.09, its MIDI implementation, read on 13 October 2026 (the file read).
• Legacy Microwave II / XT / XTk Series – Waldorf Music, its download page, read on 13 October 2026 (the file read).

How they were read

WALDORF'S OWN MANUAL, FROM ITS LEGACY PAGE. The page for these instruments lists Audio Demos, Documentation, Sounds, System and Tools under "Microwave II Downloads" (legacy_page). The second is one archive of three files: a user's manual of 126 pages for all three models, a controller list of three pages for software 2.09, and a system exclusive specification of 26 pages for software 2.16. The manual carries later issues of both, and its own MIDI implementation chart, so it is what this file is read from. The older list is cited for what changed; the older specification is not cited.

THREE MODELS, AND THE MAKER DOCUMENTS THEM AS ONE. "The MicroWave XT features the same controls and connectors as the MicroWave II. In addition it offers individual controls for the most parameters." (manual p. 8), and "The XTk features the same controls and connectors as the MicroWave XT. In addition it offers a 4 octave keyboard, a pitchbend and a modulation wheel, as well as numeric keys and a select button for easy program access." (manual p. 9). The chart is headed for all three (manual p. 122), and so is the controller list: "Waldorf Microwave 2/XT/XTk Controller Number Assignment" (manual p. 103). Of the software the manual says, where it describes sending the system to another unit: "You can also update an XT/XTk using a MWII or any other combination because the operating system is the same for all devices." (manual p. 98). The XT has more than the controls: an input, "Analog In jack for processing external audio signals" (manual p. 8), which the XTk has as well (manual p. 15), and three effect types the II's column of the effects table lacks, Delay, Pan Delay and Mod Delay (manual p. 60). The list has no row for the input's level, External (manual p. 48), and none for the Effect page's type or its three parameters (manual p. 60); the Chorus on 12 is the switch on the Amplifier page, off / on: "Enables the chorus effect." (manual p. 59). So one definition covers the three, and what only the XTk does is said in words where it arises: its keys, its two wheels, its pedal sockets and the aftertouch of its keyboard.

THE SOFTWARE IS 2.28, THE CHART IS OF 2.18, AND WALDORF SERVES 2.33. The manual's file is titled MWII/XT/XTk Manual 2.3 E and its foreword is dated: "Revision Date: 25.10.99" (manual p. 10). Its controller list is headed "Software release 2.28" (manual p. 103), and its system exclusive specification the same (manual p. 106). Its chart is older: Date: 16.08.99 and Version: 2.18 (manual p. 122), which is also the version on the power-up display the manual pictures (manual p. 23). Of the XTk the manual says "Software version 2.1.8 or later is required for the XTk model." (manual p. 100), read here as the chart's 2.18 written another way; no page says the two are one number. No page says what changed between 2.18 and 2.28. Every row of the chart is carried where the list and the prose do not say otherwise, and the places where they do are set out below. Waldorf's System archive, read for its file names alone, holds mw2_xt_xtk_sys_v233.mid beside fifty older systems, among them mw2v228.mid and mw2v229.mid. Nothing in the archive was opened or run, and no document Waldorf serves describes 2.29 or 2.33, so firmware is the release the list is headed for.

TWO MODES, AND SOUND MODE WHEN FIRST POWERED UP. The memory holds "256 Sound programs (Program A001…B128)" (manual p. 23) and "128 Multi programs (Program 001…128)" (manual p. 23). "When the MicroWave II/XT/XTk is first powered up, Sound mode is selected." (manual p. 24). The system exclusive data have a global setting for what a unit starts in, Startup Soundbank or 2:Multi Mode with the values A,B,Multi (manual p. 115), which no page of the prose describes; factory below is the first power-up's. A Multi program plays several sounds at once: "In Multi mode, you can combine up to 8 sounds. Each sound in a Multi program is called an Instrument because it has some additional settings that belong to the Multi and therefore are not stored in the Sound program itself." (manual p. 20).

CHANNELS 1 TO 16, OR OMNI, AND NO mode IS CARRIED. The global Channel is omni / 1…16: "Sets the basic send and receive channel for the MicroWave II/XT/XTk." (manual p. 93), and "If omni is selected, the MicroWave II/XT/XTk sends on channel 1 and receives on all channels." (manual p. 93). The Quick Start chapter gives the factory setting: "When you power up for the very first time, channel 1 is selected." (manual p. 16), which is the chart's default channel too, 1 both ways, beside a changed range of 1 to 16 (manual p. 122). The chart crosses all three rows of Mode: Default, Messages and Altered are x as recognised (manual p. 122). So omni is off as shipped, by the Quick Start page; the chart names no mode; and whether a sound plays polyphonically is the sound's own setting, Poly / Mono (manual p. 67). mode is left out.

AN INSTRUMENT'S CHANNEL IS ITS OWN, THE GLOBAL ONE, OR OMNI. Its Channel is global / omni / 1…16: "Determines the MIDI receive channel for the instrument." (manual p. 88), with "If global is selected, the MIDI channel defined in the global parameters is used." (manual p. 88). Two Instruments may share one: "Both Instruments 2 and 3 now receive on MIDI channel 2 and therefore two Sound programs are played when you use this MIDI channel." (manual p. 22). An initialised Multi spreads them out: "Each Instrument is assigned to Sound program A001 and its MIDI receive channel is set to the same value as the Instrument no." (manual p. 21), and "As default, only Instrument 1 is active after initializing." (manual p. 21).

CONTROLLERS GO TO THE INSTRUMENT'S CHANNEL IN MULTI MODE, SO EVERY CONTROL IS WRITTEN TWICE. "All controller messages are sent and received via the channel defined in the global parameters or, if in Multi mode, selected for the corresponding Instrument." (manual p. 97). So a control naming no part is Sound mode's, on the global channel, and its twin keyed instrument_ is an Instrument's, on that Instrument's channel; Multi mode is unparted: false. An Instrument whose Channel is global sits on the global channel all the same, which the format has no word for. The list is one list and says nothing of modes, so that every row reaches an Instrument is that sentence's word and not a row-by-row statement. Effects are narrower than the sentence: "Please note that only Instruments 1…3 of a Multi program can use effects." (manual p. 60). No page says whether that takes in the Chorus switch on controller 12.

A PARAMETER MOVED AT THE PANEL IS SENT, AND TWO SETTINGS GOVERN BOTH WAYS. "Every important parameter is assigned a controller number through which the parameter can be changed. If a parameter is changed at the device, then this change is sent along with the appropriate controller number via MIDI." (manual p. 97). Sending has four settings, off / Ctl only / SysEx / Ctl+SysEx: "If Ctl only is selected, only controller messages are sent. Parameters without dedicated controller assignment are not sent at all." (manual p. 94). Receiving has two: "Enables or disables the receiving of parameter control messages via MIDI. These messages include controller and system exclusive data." (manual p. 94). No page gives either a factory setting in words; the display pictured for them reads Ctl+SysEx and on (manual p. 93), which is a picture and not a statement. So the sound parameters below travel both ways, and whether a given unit sends or answers them is its owner's setting.

THE LIST HAS 102 ROWS AND 99 ARE CONTROLS. It runs from 1 to 123 over three pages (manual pp. 103-105). Three rows are channel mode messages, which belong to the MIDI specification and not to this instrument: All Sound Off on 120, Reset All Controllers on 121 and All notes off on 123 (manual p. 105). The other 99 are below, each under the name the list prints. Bank select on 32 is among them, as bank select is wherever a maker numbers it. The list gives every row a range and most a list of values; the ranges are carried, all but those of the three rows set out below, and the value names are left in the list. No row names a fine half, and the older list's MSB after the first three names is gone from this one.

THE CHART NAMES SEVEN OF THEM AND MARKS THREE AS NOT SENT. Its Control Change rows are 1 Modwheel, 2 Breath Control, 5 Portamento Time, 7 Master Volume, 10 Panning, 32 Bank Select and 64 Sustain Pedal, all seven o as recognised; as transmitted, 1, 5, 10 and 64 are o and 2, 7 and 32 are x (manual p. 122), with the note "*Note: See MIDI Controller Assignments for more information." (manual p. 122). So breath, volume and bank select are direction: receives. The foot controller on 4 is received as well and not on the chart: the table of modulation sources has "MIDI foot control (controller #4)" (manual p. 81). That it is not sent is a reading. The XTk's two sockets are "for connecting foot controllers or analog voltages" (manual p. 9); the one use a page gives either of them is the sustain pedal's, at Pedal / CV In 1 (manual p. 95); and no page says a socket sends controller 4, and none says it does not. So it is receives too, on that silence. The same table has "MIDI modulation wheel (controller #1)" (manual p. 81), "MIDI sustain pedal (controller #64)" (manual p. 81) and "MIDI breath control (controller #2)" (manual p. 81). The chart calls 5 Portamento Time and 7 Master Volume where the list has Glide Time and Channel Volume; the labels below are the list's. Only the XTk has a wheel or a pedal socket. Its page shows both wheels and the Pedal / CV In jacks under "The items labeled on this page indicate special features that are available on the XTk only." (manual p. 9), and the technical data give Pedal and CV In as n/a for the II and the XT (manual p. 102). No page says in words that the wheel's or the pedal's movement is sent: the chart's o beside 1 and 64 as transmitted, printed for all three models together, is what says so.

THREE ROWS PRINT A RANGE THEIR OWN VALUES OUTRUN. TWO FOLLOW THE VALUES, AND THE FILTER TYPE'S RANGE IS NOT KNOWN. Filter 1 Type on 54 is printed 0…5 beside ten named types, 0 to 9 (manual p. 104), and the manual's own system exclusive list has the same parameter at 0-9 (manual p. 111), with a table of ten types numbered 0 to 9 (manual p. 114). The parameter's own page has thirteen settings. After the ten come 24dBNotch, 12dBNotch and Band Stop (manual p. 54), each described in its turn (manual p. 56), and the section on Filter 1 opens by allowing for more: "Further types might be added in the future." (manual p. 52). Neither issue of the list gives any of the three a number, and nor does the system exclusive data's table, so no page says which values select them. That is three figures for the top of one setting, 5, 9 and a list of thirteen, and none of them can be carried as its range: the control says range: unknown, and 0 to 9 are the ten values the pages do number. Osc 1 Pitchbend Scale on 36 and Osc 2 Pitchbend Scale on 42 are printed 0…121 beside 0…120:semitones 121:harmonic 122:global (manual pp. 103-104), and the system exclusive list has 0-122 (manual p. 111). The oscillators' own pages call the setting Pitchbend Range and give it as 0...120 / harmonic / global (manual pp. 40-41), which is 123 settings, as many as the row's values 0 to 122. So [0, 122]: there the parameter's own page agrees with the values named beside the row, where the filter type's outruns them. LFO 1 Sync on 112 and LFO 2 Sync on 115 are 0…3 with 0, 1 and 3 named, 0:off 1:on 3:Clock (manual p. 105); the system exclusive list reads off/on/on/Clock (manual p. 112), so 2 is on again and the range stands. The manual's page for LFO 2 gives its Sync off / on alone (manual p. 80), where LFO 1's has off / on / Clock (manual p. 78); the list and the system exclusive data give Clock to both. The older list had 0..9 for the filter type, the same 0..121 beside a 122 for both scales, and 0..1 for both syncs (controller_list pp. 1-3).

THE VALUE NAMES ARE LEFT IN THE LIST, AND ONE ROW'S ARE IN A DOUBTED ORDER. Glide Type on 22 is 0:portamento 1:fingered port. 2:glissando 3:fingered gliss. in both issues of the list (manual p. 103), where the parameter's own page has porta / glissando / fingered / f.gliss (manual p. 65) and the system exclusive data porta,gliss,fp.,fg. (manual p. 111). No value name is carried below, so nothing here rests on which is right. The system exclusive data also give some of the same parameters other scales, the oscillators' octaves 16-112 and their keytrack 0-76 among them (manual p. 111); those are that message's and not the controllers'.

AGAINST THE LIST FOR 2.09. The older list has 100 rows. This one adds FM Amount on 13 and Mod 1 Amount and Mod 2 Amount on 94 and 95, and drops "Sostenuto Switch" (controller_list p. 2) on 66. It renumbers two scales: the octaves of both oscillators were 16..112 in steps of 12 and are 0…8, and their semitones were 56..76 and are 0…24. And 65, Glide on/off here, was "Portamento Switch" (controller_list p. 2). So the two issues give those four controllers different numbers for the same settings, and no page says what this software does with the older ones.

control_change IS learned, FOR FOUR NUMBERS THE OWNER SETS. Control W, X, Y and Z are 0…120: "These parameters are used to define modulation sources that are freely definable MIDI controllers. Each value represents a MIDI controller number that is used when you assign its parameter as modulation source in the Modifiers or the Modulation Matrix." (manual p. 95). A Multi program has four of its own, 0…120 / global (manual p. 87). The MIDI chapter gives the range another way, "X…Z stands for definable controller numbers 1…120." (manual p. 97), leaving out both W and 0; the parameter's own page is followed. No page prints a factory number for any of the four: the displays pictured read 004, 008, 011 and 012 (manual pp. 87, 93), which are pictures. A number an owner assigns is not a property of the model, so the four are not controls, as waldorf/blofeld and waldorf/microwave treat their own.

PROGRAM CHANGE AND BANK SELECT, RECEIVED AND NOT SENT. "As the device contains 128 programs in each bank, it recognizes program number 0…127." (manual p. 97), with "Bank 0 contains Sound Programs A001…A128" (manual p. 97) and "Bank 1 contains Sound Programs B001…B128" (manual p. 97); the list puts the bank on controller 32, 0:Bank A 1:Bank B (manual p. 103). The chart marks program change and bank select x as transmitted and o as recognised (manual p. 122). presets is the 256 Sound programs. The glossary counts from 1, "Program numbers 1 through 128 can be changed via program change messages." (manual p. 120), where the chart and the MIDI chapter count from 0. In Multi mode a global setting, sound / multi / combined, says what a program change does: "If multi is selected, the whole Multi program is switched by program changes, that are received on the basic channel set above." (manual p. 94), and "If combined is selected, Instrument programs can be changed by using the Instrument’s channel, the Multi can be changed by using the basic channel." (manual p. 94). So an Instrument takes program changes at two of the three settings, and at two of the three the basic channel takes them for the Multi program itself.

CLOCK BOTH WAYS, AND TRANSPORT ON THE CHART ALONE. The chart marks Clock o in both columns and Commands o in both, with the remark Start, Stop, Continue (manual p. 122). Clock is used by the arpeggiator and the LFOs: "The arpeggiator can be used as a master as well as a slave via the MIDI clock" (manual p. 69), and "If Clock is selected, the LFO is synchronised to an incoming MIDI Clock signal." (manual p. 78). It is sent only when asked: "Enables or disables the sending of MIDI clock." (manual p. 94). No sentence in the manual says what a start, a stop or a continue does, or when one is sent; transport: both is the chart's two marks. Song position is marked recognised and not transmitted (manual p. 122), and of the arpeggiator as a slave the manual says "In this mode, the MIDI Song Position Pointer is also recognized." (manual p. 69).

TEN VOICES, AND THIRTY WITH AN EXPANSION THE MANUAL NAMES ONLY IN A TABLE OF CODES. "if you play just one note, all 10 voices of the MicroWave II/XT/XTk are used for this note." (manual p. 67), said of the unisono setting. The system exclusive specification's device inquiry lists family members, among them one with ten voices on an expandable board and one expanded to thirty (manual p. 115); no other page mentions an expansion, and polyphony is the ten the prose gives. No page says how the Instruments of a Multi divide the voices. polyphony_shared is a reading: the count is given once, for the instrument, and nothing gives an Instrument voices of its own.

NOTES 0 TO 127 BOTH WAYS ON THE CHART. Note Number is 0 - 127 as transmitted and as recognised, and True Voice 0 - 127 (manual p. 122). What transmits notes is the XTk's keyboard, "that can be used to play internal sounds as well as to generate MIDI notes for external devices" (manual p. 32), over four octaves that two buttons shift by one either way (manual p. 32), and the arpeggiator, whose notes "can be used to control other devices" (manual p. 69). By their names, two settings decide whether and where the arpeggiator's notes leave the instrument, and only the system exclusive data show them: Arpeggiator Note out Channel, off/Chnl1-16, among the global parameters (manual p. 115), and Arpeggiator Notes out, off/Ch1-16/Inst/global, among an Instrument's (manual p. 114). No page of the prose describes either. The keyboard has a send channel of its own, off / 1…16: "Sets the MIDI send channel for the XTk keyboard." (manual p. 95). In Multi mode a Multi's MIDI Send is global / specific, and two pages say two things of global: "If global is selected, notes are sent on the basic channel selected in the global parameters section." (manual p. 87), and that it is "the global channel set by this parameter" (manual p. 95), the keyboard's own. With specific, "notes are sent according to the settings of the specific instruments." (manual p. 87): each Instrument of an XTk has a MIDI Send of its own, off / on, and "If set to on, this instrument will send notes on the instrument’s selected MIDI channel." (manual p. 89). An Instrument of an XTk can be told to hear the keys, MIDI or both: "On the XTk, you can determine whether the selected instrument is played from the internal keyboard, incoming MIDI notes or both." (manual p. 89).

VELOCITY BOTH WAYS, AND RELEASE VELOCITY RECEIVED. The chart marks Note ON velocity o in both columns and Note OFF x as transmitted and o as recognised (manual p. 122). The sources a sound can use include "MIDI note velocity" (manual p. 81) and "MIDI note release velocity" (manual p. 81). What sends velocity is the XTk's keyboard, which has a curve for it (manual p. 95). The manual has the XTk send release velocity too, which the chart of 2.18 crosses: with the keyboard's release curve off, "a '90' message is sent for 'Note off' instead of the '80' message that is sent if release velocity is enabled." (manual p. 95). The field below is what is received, so the two do not meet in it.

BOTH KINDS OF AFTERTOUCH RECEIVED, AND CHANNEL PRESSURE SENT. Key's is x as transmitted and o as recognised, and Ch's is o in both columns (manual p. 122). Both are sources: "MIDI aftertouch" (manual p. 81) and "MIDI polyphonic pressure" (manual p. 81). What can send it is the XTk's keyboard, the only keys among the three, which has a curve of its own for pressure: "Determines the dynamic response of the XTk’s keyboard aftertouch." (manual p. 95). No page says in words that it is sent; the chart's mark is what says so.

PITCH BEND IS RECEIVED, ITS RANGE IS THE SOUND'S, AND THE CHART SAYS IT IS NOT SENT. Each oscillator has a Pitchbend Range of 0...120 / harmonic / global: "Determines the intensity of the pitchbend via MIDI Pitchbend messages in semitones." (manual p. 40), and global hands it to a global setting, BendRange, of 0…120 / harmonic (manual p. 94). No page gives either a factory value, so the range is programmable and no figure is recorded. The XTk has a pitchbend wheel and the chart marks Pitch Bender x as transmitted (manual p. 122). No page says the wheel's movement is sent, and none says it is not; the chart is older than the manual and is what there is.

THE PANIC FUNCTION IS SAID TO SEND WHAT THE CHART SAYS IS NOT SENT. "The Panic function sends and executes an 'All Notes Off' command." (manual p. 30), and the chart marks All Notes Off x as transmitted and o as recognised (manual p. 122). It is a channel mode message and no control here either way.

NO NRPN. No page of the manual, of the older list or of the older specification names a registered or a non-registered parameter: neither word is in any of the three, and the letters rpn are nowhere as a run, only inside Arp Note Order once its spaces are taken out. A parameter with no controller is reached by system exclusive: "All parameters of the MicroWave II/XT/XTk can be controlled by system exclusive data." (manual p. 97).

SYSTEM EXCLUSIVE, UNDER A DEVICE NUMBER. The chart marks it both ways (manual p. 122). The specification gives the identifiers, "Waldorf MIDI ID = 3Eh" (manual p. 106) and "Equipment ID = 0Eh for MicroWave 2" (manual p. 106), and the device number, "00h to 7Eh, 7Fh = broadcast" (manual p. 106), which the manual sets as Device ID, 0…126: "Device ID 127 is a so-called broadcast ID that addresses all connected MicroWave II/XT/XTks." (manual p. 94).

WHERE THE MANUAL DISAGREES WITH ITSELF. The chart against the prose, three times: release velocity sent, All Notes Off sent, and a pitchbend wheel beside a crossed Pitch Bender. The range of Control W to Z, from 0 on its own page and from 1 in the MIDI chapter. Three rows of the list whose range is smaller than the values named beside it, and one whose value names are in another order elsewhere. The filter types, ten in the list and thirteen on their own page. What global means for the XTk keyboard's send channel in a Multi. And program numbers, from 0 or from 1. Each is set out above.

NOT RECORDED:

• mode, which the chart crosses;
• a single bend range;
• the four controllers an owner assigns;
• a factory setting for the two parameter control settings;
• how the voices are divided between Instruments;
• which values select the three filter types the list does not number;
• what the XTk's other pedal socket does, read here as the technical data's CV In;
• whether the XTk's wheel sends pitch bend;
• and anything about software 2.29 or 2.33.