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The Winners of the 2026 MIDI Innovation Awards

Athan Billias

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The results are in. The winners of the 2026 MIDI Innovation Awards were announced on November 13, 2026 in a video hosted by musician and video creator Andrew Huang, who spent time with all eighteen finalists and demonstrated them on camera.

How the winners were chosen

The MIDI Innovation Awards are open to anyone: individuals, artists and companies enter on the same terms. This year the public voted from September 8 to September 22, and that vote narrowed each category to three finalists. A panel of judges then chose the winner in each category.

The 2026 judges were Michele Darling, Toby Pitman, Moldover, Lucas Cantor Santiago and Michael Strickland. As Andrew says in the video, “they really put a lot of thought and care into what they thought should be highlighted, and what was best for musicians and for the industry.”

The 2026 winners

Commercial Hardware Products: Faderpunk

Faderpunk

Faderpunk from ATOV is an open source 16 channel MIDI and CV modulator. Each channel has a fader, a button and a jack, and each can be configured to run its own app: LFOs, envelopes, clock dividers, sequencers, MIDI to CV conversion, scale quantizers and more. It is USB-C powered in its own metal enclosure and also fits a Eurorack case. Andrew called it “a slam dunk of a controller that could be useful in so many different kinds of setups.”

Commercial Software Products: Anukari 3D Physics Synthesizer

Anukari 3D Physics Synthesizer

Anukari is a physical modeling playground. You build instruments out of simulated masses and springs in 3D space, then play them, move them and hear what happens. It runs standalone or as a plugin in a DAW. “Very well deserved, in my opinion,” Andrew said. “It’s such a cool program.”

Best MIDI 2.0 Product: Opti Deko

Opti Deko

Opti Deko from Collet Instruments is the width of one octave on a standard keyboard, and units snap together magnetically to cover as many octaves as you need. Sitting on the back edge of the keys, its optical sensors track finger position and add per-note expression to a keyboard that does not have it. Andrew described it as “a really cool step as far as making MPE-style expressivity available to more people.”

Artistic / Visual Project or Installation: Bionic and the Wires

Bionic and the Wires

Bionic and the Wires turns the bio-signals of plants and fungi into MIDI-driven music and art. The electrical signals from a mushroom trigger robotic arms that hold sticks and play instruments. “It’s so playful and inspiring,” Andrew said.

Prototypes and Non-Commercial Hardware: Dog Paw

Dog Paw

Dog Paw is a standalone instrument built around a grid of durable, curved keys that sense pressure for aftertouch and side-to-side movement for pitch bend. It has a touchscreen, onboard sounds, MIDI in and out, CV in and out, and two expression pedal inputs, and it can control any MPE synth. “I just can’t fully express how ergonomic this instrument is,” Andrew said. “I feel like I can just fly on it.”

Prototypes and Non-Commercial Software: REFLECT

REFLECT

REFLECT is a virtual reality music game for upper limb rehabilitation after events such as a stroke. Arm and hand movements trigger MIDI notes, in guided exercises or free play, and a therapist can customize the movements to build a personal exercise plan. It was designed with medical professionals and stroke survivors. “This is incredible,” Andrew said.

The finalists

Reaching the final three in a public vote is an achievement in itself. Congratulations to every finalist:

Thank you

Thank you to everyone who entered, to everyone who voted, to our judges, and to Andrew Huang for giving every finalist real time on camera. The MIDI Innovation Awards are organized by The MIDI Association with NAMM and Music Hackspace, with Sound On Sound as our media partner.

You can see all of this year’s finalists and learn more about the awards on the MIDI Innovation Awards page.