Reply to APC40/Axiom 25 w/ Java/C++

Here's the deal: I've built a music visualization software, and I'm working on integrating either an Axiom 25 or (preferably) an APC40 with it so that I can control the visualizer. I've never done MIDI programming before, so I started out by playing with Max, Bome's, and some other tools before deciding on receiving and processing the MIDI signals directly in my software. My software is currently written in Processing (which is a Java framework), but I'm building the next version in C++ with OpenGL. I'm running all of this on a Mac OS X laptop.

Here's the deal... I've been able to get all of the inputs from the Axiom 25, because each button has a unique note, and I (finally) figured out how the knobs send their signals. HOWEVER, I see way more opportunity with the APC40.

:The problem is, on the APC40 each button in a row sends the same note, with the same pitch and velocity, but on different channels. The MIDI libraries I've found for Java (I'm using RWMidi currently) don't address how to find out what channel the note was received on. Can anyone help me?

Where I am right now:

In my Java code, the library sets up the program so that this function called every time a note is received by the computer:

void noteOnReceived(Note n) {
int pitch = n.getPitch();
int vel = n.getVelocity();
// figure out which button was pressed and perform action
}

I want to find a way to have this kind of functionality, but be able to get the channel as well. I also want to know how I can have my program send signals back to the APC40 to light up buttons. Can anyone help me? I've looked everywhere. Java OR C++ solutions are welcome.