Free Music Software: Developer Chris Reed has released a new version of MidiKeys – a free application for Mac OS X that presents a miniature MIDI keyboard onscreen. You can use the computer keyboard to play MIDI notes, or click on the keys with the mouse.

There is also an option to select a MIDI source and see incoming notes played on the keyboard.

MidiKeys does not produce sound on its own. In order to hear a sound when you press keys, you need to connect the MidiKeys output to a synthesizer of some sort. This can be either a softsynth or a hardware synth connected through a MIDI I/O box.

Changes in version 1.8

• MidiKeys is now a universal binary.
• Minimum system is now 10.5.
• Changed ownership to Immo Software.
• New configurable hot key to toggle global hot keys.
• Support for automatic software updates using the Sparkle framework.
• New option to show the key caps on the on-screen keyboard.
• The MIDI channel field has been changed to a pop-up menu.
• The disclosure button to show the destination and listen menus is now a normal button instead of being a repurposed toolbar toggle button.
• Pressed key highlights are drawn with a slight gradient.
• New Global Hot Keys menu item.
• New preferences to control the visibility of overlay notifications.
• It is now possible to have no modifier key for global hot keys, so you only have to press the key corresponding to the note.
• Key maps were extended to use more keys on the keyboard.
• Non-English localisations have been disabled for this release due to the number of UI changes.
• Added a preference to make the keyboard window transparent to mouse clicks when MidiKeys is in the background.
• Made the keyboard window minimizable.
• Reorganized the preferences window with several tabs.
• Added preferences to control software updates.