Pitchbent

Pitchbend, sometimes written pitch bend, is a musical control that continuously shifts the pitch of a note up or down rather than stepping it by semitone increments. It is commonly used in electronic and digital music to create slides, vibrato, or expressive pitch sweeps, and it can mimic the effect of portamento between notes.

In MIDI systems, pitch bend is transmitted as a dedicated control message. The standard uses a 14-bit value split into two 7-bit parts (least significant bits and most significant bits). A midpoint value typically represents no bend, meaning no pitch change. The amount of bend is interpreted by the receiving device according to a bend range, usually measured in semitones; common defaults are ±2 semitones, but devices and software can be configured for larger or smaller ranges. Some synthesizers also support fine-grained microtonal bending beyond standard semitones.

Control methods vary. On keyboards, the pitch bend wheel or lever is used; other hardware options include joysticks and ribbon controllers. In software, pitch bending can be driven by automation curves, MIDI CC messages, or modulation sources. Combinations with other controllers allow complex effects, such as slow vibrato or rapid glissando, and can be applied to single notes or entire phrases.

Pitchbent effects are widely used across genres to add expressiveness, from subtle tuning fluctuations to dramatic, song-wide pitch shifts. The term pitchbend is the most common designation, while pitchbent may appear as a descriptive or stylized form in some interfaces.