# CLAP Instrument Plugins

A CLAP instrument is a CLAP Plugin that can convert MIDI messages to audio. You can select a CLAP instrument by clicking the instrument slot's down arrow. The CLAP instrument plugins appear in the list's Plugins section.

CLAP instrument windows have a Channel selector (top right). This is not only the channel used for recording, as with the built-in instruments, it is also the channel on which MIDI data is sent to the plugin. Some plugins respond to all MIDI channels in the same way, in which case the channel setting does not matter. Sometimes you can set a plugin to Omni mode to achieve this. Other plugins, especially multitimbral plugins that can produce a different sound per channel, require that the Channel setting be the same as the channel used by the plugin.

CLAP instruments respond to all the streams in the track's MIDI file. However, in most cases, it will be easier to use multiple tracks (each using an instance of the CLAP instrument) instead.

### MIDI 2.0 / MPE

CLAP instruments can use MIDI 2.0 protocol messages, CLAP note expressions, or MPE. CLAP note expressions support per-note Pitch Bend, Volume, Pan, Expression, Brightness, Vibrato Depth, and Aftertouch.
It is up to the plugin to tell the host which protocols it supports and which one it prefers to use.

Several MIDI-CI profiles are supported.