MIDIOT

[willis]

Hello,
I am a new owner of a 001. I am also unversed in MIDI. I am trying to get my 001,MC-505 and Akai S-950 to "MIDI-up" and work together.Could any of you MIDI guru's out there please give me some advice?

Thanks,Willis

[lwilliam]

Uh, yes...I would suggest reading the manual first.

------------------
LW

[Slovenec]

Now I'll try to give you some constructive advice because that's what this bulletin board is about!!!!

1stly, are you using the 001's midi interface or an external midi interface. If you are only using the 001 as the midi interface you are limited to only 16 midi channels (although that might be plenty for you!).

The way to go about things here is to decide what you are going to use to control your midi equipment- you don't seem to have a midi keyboard (or do you?) so I assume you will use the MC505 to import your midi data. Then hook the MC's midi out to the 001's midi in and the 001's midi in to the MC's midi out (make sure that local is switched 'off' in the MC505). Then hook the midi thru of the MC to the midi in of the S950 and everything should work for you OK- make sure that you assign separate channels for each unit or each part (for example the S950 is 8 part multitimbral I think and you would need each part to be assigned to a seperate midi channel so you have seperate midi data on each midi track in LE).

However, I strongly advise you to read a good book on midi and also read the manual as advised above!

Good Luck!!!!!!!

[willis]

Thanks for the tip! I'm actually using a Roland PC-200 controller. It is going PC-200/out to IN/digi001 to OUT/digi001 to IN/MC-505 to out/thru(it's a shared port,I guess)MC-505 to the IN/S-950.The S-950 triggers when only the MC-505 should be,but vice-versa it works fine. I was unable to determine a device ID for the S-950.Is that crucial? Thanks again....

[Neil Ward]

Hi...

Have you got the 505's midi out port set to 'midi thru'? it is a shared port as you say, but you must set it to either out, or thru in the system setup.
You must set midi thru in the midi pull down menu in PTLE. Also, as Slovenec pointed out you will only be able to use the 16 midi channels of the 001's built in midi port. This means that you cannot share midi channels between your instruments, i.e. you cannot setup a patch or channel 1 on the 505 and also on the S-950... you will hear both instruments when you only want to hear the one... (hope all that made sense)

To echo what the other guys said... go buy a book on midi, lotsa good ones at Amazon etc., and read it from cover to cover and again!
//NW

[AnalogTree]

Don't be a midiot. Understand it's basic. In, Out, Thru, MTC, Midi Channels, Sysex, Control change.

I,O,T Lesson 1: If you're tapping in to a soundmodule to hear it's sounds, whether by controlling it from another little keyboard, or a computer sequencer, or whatever, you're going to literally tap IN to midi IN on that sound module. For using a module (which may be a keyboard, effects unit, or any device with midi) as a midi controller eg. keys, sliders, wheels, sequencer, arpeggio, etc... you must send that info OUT by using the MIDI OUT, the other end of the cable is tapping IN to the module being controlled. Thru will simply give you an extension of the MIDI data coming IN (MIDI IN,) from a controller (sending MIDI OUT.) MIDI THRU connects another module in a chain, THRU to IN. This way, the controller which is sending MIDI OUT will go IN to the first module and control it, and also via the THRU, another cable will go IN to the second module and also be controlled. This chain can go on for about 4 times before a latency known as midi delay begins to occur, causing sluggish timing and response.

MTC, Lesson 2: Midi Time Code is the common timing all your modules will share in sequencing. If your sequencer generates MTC, then it will send it's code to other sequencers and lock up into syncronization with them. It can also be used for syncing LFO rates, panning, and whatever else that has capability of recieving MTC.

Midi Channels, Sysex, Control change. Lesson 3: Midi ch. are the lanes that carry the midi data back and forth from controller module to slave. The data is able to send and recieve only when the modules interacting are set to the same midi channel. Sysex, is a codified method of tranfering data to control modules by commands in the form of strings of letters and numbers. Some sequencers let you see these commands for you to edit if neccesary. Sysex is an exclusive code understood only by a particular module, and is not a universal language to all other modules. C.C. or control change, on the other hand is universal according to a standard, and refers to extra midi channels called C.C. messages. These are extra midi lanes which are program specific to certain commands, such as volume, pan, tremelo, etc... If you are able to designate a midi C.C. # for your slider or bender for instance, to send MIDI OUT to a module, then it will control whatever C.C. message (volume, pan, tremelo, etc.)that has the same C.C. #.

This may be too basic, of course, so I suggest going to HARMONY CENTRAL to learn more about midi. Also try SYNTH ZONE. SysEx isn't as important to understand at first, since a lot can be done with C.C. But as you experiment and demand more from midi, you will enter into SysEx. Hands on by using your gear and manuals will teach you everything you need to know

Cheers!

------------------
-AT
Beethoven can write music, thank God, but he can do nothing else on earth.~ Ludwig Van Beethoven