<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< Setting Up A MIDI System A Modernz Presentation By Skyewalker opyright May 20th, 1992 <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< What Is MIDI? MIDI, is the acronym for Musical Instrument Digital Interface, a standard set up by a group of manufacturers to solve the most annoying problem in using musical keyboards and drum machines, how to make them sync with each other. The original MIDI set up consisted of only a cord that connected two instruments, either keyboard, drum machine, or guitar usually, together and made it so by pressing a key on keyboard, or a pad on the drum machine, or a string on a guitar, it would in turn, trigger that same note on all of the other instruments in the MIDI chain. From there onward, MIDI evolved into what it has become today, the manufacturers added onto the specifications for it, and added such things as Computer Control, and MIDI Controlers, thus ending all the standardization problems in the past. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< What does the basic MIDI setup consist of? Nowadays you can get a "MIDI setup" by just buying two MIDI instruments, whether it be Drums, guitar, keyboard, or even a MIDI Sax, and connecting them together with a MIDI cord, that can cost anywhere from $5.00 to $20.00 depending on the length of it. A more practical setup, and far more interesting is that which involves the use of a computer. Unfortunately for us PC users, the Mac has, for along time, claimed the number one spot in MIDI products, but the IBM isn't too far behind, to start out in getting a Computer MIDI setup, you will need these four basic parts: MIDI Interface: For IBM, the safest way to go is still a card compatible with the Roland MPU-401 (Midi Processing Unit) it will say this on the box of the card somewhere. This way, you are assured compatibility with most MIDI sequencers, which leads me to the next part. MIDI Sequencer: This is the heart of the setup, it is the computer program that controls the entire MIDI system. With the sequencer, you will be able to record songs, change settings on any instrument in the MIDI chain, and control a wealth of other features, depending on what Sequencer you get. The main one's for the IBM are the Sequencer Plus line, (from $90.00 to around $350) and Cakewalk, and Cakewalk Pro ($150, $299), these are not rich in graphics, but are respected workhorses as Sequencers go. Master Tracks Pro for Windows is a high priced sequencer package richly filled with graphics going for around $400. For the Mac, the main series of Sequencers are by Opcode, and Mark Of The Unicorn, they range in price from $100, to over $700! But for your first sequencer and set up, I would choose one in the $150 range, seeing as they will have all the features you are ever likely to use, unless you go professional! Then apart from the sequencer, there is the main part of the setup, the instrument itself, which requires close attention to avoid buying the wrong thing! MIDI Keyboards: Now you can get a Keyboard with MIDI In and Out on it, for only a little over $100, while this looks good, you will sacrifice allot for buying a low price keyboard. For instance, when I first bought my MIDI keyboard, I found out I could only play one instrument on it, only have one track and only use it for one sound, so in essence I could have just hooked it up to a tape recorder and it would have done the same job (almost). The thing I learned, and you should do, is ask to see the instruction booklet of the instrument, in there you will find a chart called a "MIDI Implementation Chart" Yes you've guessed it, there are many levels of MIDI specifications, as in, the more you pay, the better you get. In the chart, there are things you should look for, the chart looks complex, but is infact, very basic, but first you need to know some terms in the MIDI Language. - MIDI Channels - Just like your TV set, MIDI uses channels to send and receive data, there are 16 of them, the more you get the better off you will be. Each channel can carry one track of data, one sound on it, so lets say, you could record a piano on one track, and a bass on another. You make Piano channel one, and Bass channel two, that way your keyboard will be able to divide up the data coming in, and assign the appropriate sound, to the appropriate notes coming down the cord. There is of course allot more to this, but this is supposed to be a basic file, so I'm sticking to the basics. Make sure your Instrument has as many channels as possible on it, my Yamaha PSS-790 has 16 channels, and cost only $300. - Multi Timbral - Probably the most important thing you should look for on the MIDI Implementation Sheet, this simply means that your Keyboard will be able to play more than one sound at the same time, for instance, you could have a Piano, a Bass and a Sax all playing at the same time, but only if the instrument is Multi Timbral, and trust me, there are keyboards out there that are NOT Multi Timbral, make sure yours is! - Program Change Command - Make SURE your keyboard responds to this message, seeing as it is essential to have in a MIDI setup, I've never seen a keyboard without it, but there maybe, who knows!! This basically makes it, so the sequencer on the computer, can send a message to the keyboard, or all instruments in the chain, to change the sound (patch) to a new one, it will do that by number, lets say number 75 is Strings, on your keyboard, and also is in MIDI mode, by sending Program Change 75 to your keyboard (by changing the sound on the keyboard itself, or through the sequencer) it will change the sound to Strings, as you can see this is rather important. - Extra things to look for - Of course, there are MANY more things you may want on your keyboard, such as, a Pitch Bender, this is like a whammy Bar for the keyboard, it's a little wheel usually on the left side of the keyboard, just before the keys start, by bending this wheel up and down, the note will slide up and down along with it, it's good for strange effects, and of course can be recorded by the sequencer and make other MIDI keyboards bend there notes the same way. MIDI Controlers would also be a plus, there are MANY of them, and you can assign each on it's own number, from 1 to 127, they are such things as Reverb (sounds like your playing in a big hall) and Vibrato (makes the notes increasingly wavy) and many more, but I'll stick to the basic things. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< After seeing those things above, make sure the ones I outlined are included in your keyboard, otherwise you will soon loose interest in MIDI. Anyway the sheet will look something like this. ------------------------------------------------------------- Function Transmitted Received Remarks Program Change X X Note On-Off X X Chan 1-16 Velocity X O Control Change 91 X O Reverb 64 O O Sustain 7 X X Volume ------------------------------------------------------------- The above chart is just an example, but most will look just like it. If you haven't guessed, the X means you are able to use the feature, and the O means your keyboard hasn't got it, or won't respond to it. The Transmit line, means the features your Keyboard sends to other Keyboards, or the sequencer or both, in the MIDI chain, for example, it could send a Note On command to the sequencer, which would record it as a key being pressed on, at whatever note it is, (recorded as a number, called MIDI Note Number) and however loud it is (if your keyboard supports that feature) and when it receives the Note Off command, it will stop recording that note, quite simple really! The Receive of course, is what your keyboard can understand when other keyboards send it data, for example, if you use the pitch bender on another keyboard, and your keyboard in the chain doesn't have it, then the note played on the keyboard that doesn't have it, will be strait through, with no bending, like the one's that do understand that command will. An easy rule of thumb is, the more X's you have, the better off you are! <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< Understanding the MIDI Language This is a complex subject to understand, but with some reading, and playing with your keyboards, it will become very simple to understand. The MIDI Language is a very primitive one, with not many commands at all. All the language is basically, is a series of terms dealing with things the Keyboard can do, and respond too. I will handle these terms in different parts. - Part One, Channel Voice Messages - These are messages relating to the Sound (or voice) your keyboard is playing, as in degree of pitch bend, volume, and so on. - Note On This command turns a note on the keyboard on, and sends three pieces of data. 1- The Channel Number, 1-16 where the note should be turned on at 2- The key number of the note 0-127 (0 is the lowest note 127 the highest) 3- The key velocity 1-127 (The Volume of the note) on keyboards that don't respond to Velocity (non-velocity keyboards) whatever the maker wants the default to be, usually 127 - Note Off This simply does the reverse of the Note On, by turning the note off, sending the same three bits of data with it, except the Release value of each - Key Pressure This is the overall pressure of the note, some keyboards can send values to the sequencer on how hard the note was hit, thus determining how loud the sound is, it is also called Polyphonic Key Pressure, or Aftertouch. Three bits of data are also sent. 1- The Channel Number, 1-16 of what channel the pressure data should be sent 2- The Channel Pressure Value, 0-127 (0 being no pressure, and 127 being the maximum) - Part Two Channel Mode Messages These affect the channels mode of operation. - All Notes Off This simply sends a message to shut off all notes being played throughout the MIDI chain of keyboards/other instruments. Three data bits are also sent: 1- Channel Number the message should be sent on 1-16 2- Controller Number (123) that sends the All Notes Off command 3- A "Dummy" byte, simply to pad out the length of the bits to three, thus making programming easier. There are a few more things in the Channel mode messages section, but none that are important to the beginner, or average MIDI user. - Part Three System Common Messages (all channels) - Song Position Pointer This is a command, that a sequencer uses to keep track of how many beats (up to 16,384) have been played since the song (sequence) has been started, thus finding out where it is in a song. A simple application is this: Placing a song position pointer message at a certain place in a song, makes it so the sequencer and lets say a drum machine could start from any point in the song together. Without this, it would be necessary to start from the beginning of the song each time! - Song Select Simply sends a message to select a song to play, 1-128 (usually 0-127) Suppose a drum machines tracks had been combined to make a complete song, and it is numbered with a certain number, lets say 21. The Song Select message would be sent on a channel 1-16, and if number 21 was sent, that song, number 21 would be selected by the drum machine, and ready to play. Not all Instruments can receive this command, or set there song numbers up the same way. - Tune Request Simply makes all instruments in the chain, autotune to A440 Hertz, it only tells the instruments to tune themselves, not actually tunes them, so they are not garenteed to be in tune with each other, just with themselves. - System Exclusive This is a way of linking up two of the same maufacturers keyboards, and sending data between them, but they HAVE to be of the same make, otherwise one keyboard lets say made by Yamaha, won't understand data coming from an EM-U. - Part 4 System Real-Time Messages (all channels) - System Reset Command This simply resets all the MIDI devices in the chain, setting them back to there original default settings. - Timing Clock This command establishes a good synchronization between the instrument used to time (usually a Drum Machine) and all the other instruments in the chain (the slaves) and makes sure they are all in time with it, only one master clock should be used in the chain so all devices have a common timing reference. - Start From First Measure This command does what it states, starts the sequencer and keyboards from the first measure of the song that is to be played. - Continue Start This command resumes playing from where it left off if a Stop command had been received previously. - Stop This stops all MIDI devices in the chain from playing whatever song they were playing, it can be restarted with the Start Command, or Continue Started from where it left off, with the Continue Start command. - Active Sensing Not all instruments use this, but it is a system designed to stop stuck open notes, the instrument constantly scans the MIDI line for activity, whenever there is none, it will send out a message called Active Sensing, this will check for activity, and if there is none, or someone removes the MIDI cord plugged into the machine while a note is playing, it will automatically shut the note off. Simply designed to make sure things don't mess up when playing live. And Finally... There you have it, about all the MIDI terms useful to know, and there aren't many more than the above mentioned ones either! Of course this file only touches on MIDI, and what to get and what not to get, just look for all the terms above in the MIDI sheet in the Keyboards instruction book, and try to shop around and get as many as you can for the best price, the Yamaha PSS-790 and 795 are around $300, and come with Note On, Off, Program Change, All Note Off, Active Sensing, Velocity Receive, and a few other useful commands, and they opperate on all 16 channels, which is a major surprise at that price level, and are of course Multi Timbral, so whatever setup you choose to get, make sure it's the best for your money, any computer will do, even an IBM XT is suitable for running quite a few Sequencers, and MIDI prices have gone down allot in a few short years. There will be a few more MIDI Text Files, on more complex subjects such as MIDI Controlers, MIDI Hex Editing, and more indepth looks at these features already mentioned here. The best thing to do is go out and find a good book on MIDI, something basic, the best one I have found, and used somewhat for the writing of this text file, is: MIDI For Musicians by Craig Anderton Published by Amsco in 1986. This book is very well written for people who don't understand computers, let alone music or MIDI, so go out, get a good book, and enjoy your future MIDI setup, there fun, and interesting to learn as I have found! <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> ******************************************************************************* The Modernz can be contacted at: MATRIX BBS WOK-NOW! World of Kaos NOW! World of Knowledge NOW! St. Dismis Institute - Sysops: Wintermute Digital-demon (908) 905-6691 (908) WOK-NOW! 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