Fix X|V Channels - FFXIV Channel Fixer

The Fix X|V Channels tool provides a one-click, deterministic channel fixer that sets up the complete MidiBard2 channel mapping for FFXIV Bard Performance. It requires no AI calls, no API key, and works fully offline.

💡 Find it in: Toolbar button Fix X|V or menu Tools → Fix X|V Channels

How It Works

The fixer analyzes your MIDI file by track name, auto-detects the best mode, and applies a 6-step algorithm to set up all channel assignments and program changes. The entire operation is wrapped in a single undo action.

1️⃣ Analyze

Scans all tracks and identifies FFXIV instruments by track name. Counts existing program changes and guitar variants.

2️⃣ Clean

Removes existing program_change events. Rebuild mode removes all; Preserve mode removes only guitar channels.

3️⃣ Migrate

Assigns each track a unique MIDI channel (T0→CH0, T1→CH1, etc.). Percussion goes to CH9. Guitar tracks get 5 channels for variant switching.

4️⃣ Program

Inserts correct program_change events at tick 0 for every channel on every track. Preserve mode also detects mid-song guitar variant switches and inserts PCs at switch points.

5️⃣ Report

Shows a rich HTML result summary with channel mapping table, removed/inserted program changes, track renames, and undo hint.

Two Modes

When you click Fix X|V Channels, a confirmation dialog appears with two modes. The tool auto-detects the best mode based on your file, but you can override the selection.

Mode selection dialog - auto-detects Rebuild or Preserve based on file analysis

Mode	What It Does	Best For
🔄 Rebuild (Full Reassignment)	Maps every track to a fresh channel (T0→CH0, T1→CH1, …) Percussion tracks → CH9 (Timpani stays on track index - it's tonal) Removes all existing program changes and non-essential events (CC, PitchBend, SysEx) Moves all events to the correct channel Reserves channels for all 5 guitar variants, even if only 1-2 are present as tracks Inserts `program_change` at tick 0 for every instrument on every track Reserves channels for all 5 guitar variants - preparing the file for guitar variant switching in subsequent Preserve runs Normalizes all note velocities to 127 (FFXIV has no dynamics)	New or unconfigured MIDI files, files exported from a DAW, files with scrambled channels
🛡️ Preserve (Minimal Changes)	Keeps all existing channel assignments (uses `assignedChannel()`) Non-guitar channels completely untouched - no PCs removed, no events moved Recognizes reserved guitar channels from a previous Rebuild (e.g. CH5, CH6 for unused variants) Refreshes guitar program changes at tick 0 + inserts switch PCs at variant change points Auto-renames guitar tracks if first note sits on a different variant's channel Normalizes all note velocities to 127 (FFXIV has no dynamics)	Already configured files needing a guitar touch-up, files after manual note editing, files partially fixed by MidiPilot AI

Auto-Detection Logic

The tool auto-selects the mode based on these criteria:

Rebuild is selected when the file has FFXIV instrument names but no existing guitar program changes
Preserve is selected when guitar program changes already exist, or when guitar tracks have notes spread across multiple channels (indicating a pre-configured file)

Result Summary

After the fix completes, a structured result popup shows exactly what was changed:

Result summary - channel mapping table, program change statistics, and undo hint

The result includes:

Mode used - Rebuild or Preserve
Channel mapping table - Track → Instrument → Channel → Program number
Removed program changes - how many old PCs were cleaned up
Guitar switches - how many mid-song variant switches were inserted
Velocity normalization - how many notes were set to maximum velocity
Track renames - any guitar tracks auto-renamed to match their actual variant

Before & After

Left: channels and programs unconfigured • Right: MidiBard2 mapping applied

Rebuild Mode Demo

Rebuild - full channel reassignment from scratch

Preserve Mode Demo

Preserve - minimal changes, only refreshes guitar channels

Supported Instruments

The fixer recognizes all FFXIV Bard Performance instruments by track name. Track names must match exactly (case-sensitive). Octave suffixes like +1 or -2 are automatically stripped.

Category	Instrument	GM Program	Channel Rule
Keyboard	Piano	0	Track index
Keyboard	Harp	46	Track index
Wind	Fife	72	Track index
	Flute	73	Track index
	Oboe	68	Track index
	Panpipes	75	Track index
Reed	Clarinet	71	Track index
Reed	Saxophone	65	Track index
Brass	Trumpet	56	Track index
	Trombone	57	Track index
	Horn	60	Track index
	Tuba	58	Track index
Strings	Violin	40	Track index
	Viola	41	Track index
	Cello	42	Track index
	Double Bass	43	Track index
	Fiddle	45	Track index
Plucked	Lute	24	Track index
Guitar	ElectricGuitarClean	27	5 shared channels with mid-song variant switching
	ElectricGuitarMuted	28
	ElectricGuitarOverdriven	29
	ElectricGuitarPowerChords	30
	ElectricGuitarSpecial	31
Percussion	Timpani	47	Track index (tonal)
	Snare Drum	115	CH9
	Bass Drum	117	CH9
	Cymbal	127	CH9
	Bongo	116	CH9

Guitar Variant Switching

FFXIV electric guitar supports 5 tonal variants that share channels via program_change events. The fixer handles this automatically:

5 channels reserved - Rebuild mode ensures all 5 guitar variants get a channel, even if your file only uses 1-2 variants. These reserved channels persist across saves and are recognized by Preserve mode.
Reserved channels visible in Preserve - when you manually place notes on a reserved guitar channel (e.g. Guitar harmonics on CH6), Preserve mode detects them for auto-rename and switch-point insertion.
Mid-song switches - when notes jump between guitar channels, a program_change is inserted at the switch point
Auto-rename - in Preserve mode, if a guitar track's first note is on a different variant's channel, the track is automatically renamed to match

Validation

After applying the fix, you can use MidiPilot's validate_ffxiv tool (via Agent mode with FFXIV enabled) to confirm all tracks pass FFXIV Bard Performance rules:

AI validation confirms all tracks pass FFXIV Bard Performance rules

Undo

The entire Fix X|V Channels operation is wrapped in a single undo action. Press Ctrl+Z to revert all channel assignments, program changes, and track renames at once.

Tips

Name your tracks correctly - the fixer identifies instruments purely by track name. Use the exact FFXIV instrument names listed above
Run Rebuild first - for fresh files, always start with Rebuild mode to get a clean baseline
Use Preserve for touch-ups - if you only need to fix guitar variants after manual editing, Preserve keeps everything else intact
Combine with MidiPilot - use "Convert this for FFXIV Bard performance" in Agent mode to compose, then Fix X|V to clean up channels
Check with validate_ffxiv - after fixing, ask MidiPilot to validate for complete FFXIV rule compliance