When you first turn on your Nova, it should show up on your device as a midi controller. The Nova is a class compliant midi device, which is a fancy way of saying it should just work.
The Nova is a midi controller which means it doesn't make any sounds of it's own. It relies on software (or hardware) that understands midi and translates the keys you press on the Nova into sounds playing from your device.
Typically we can use music software. We just tell it to use the Nova, plug in some speakers, and we are good to go!
Types of Music Software
Music software can be a lot of things. It can be:
- A stand alone player - Takes midi and just plays sounds.
- A DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) - Lets you compose songs, and use a lot of different sounds at the same time. These typically have their own instruments.
- A VST (Windows) or AU (Mac) - A plug in into a DAW, to let you choose from thousands of free and paid types of samplers / synths and classic synth emulations.
Quick Tip: If you are just starting out you may want a stand alone player (Like the free Surge XT).
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