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Modernz 53
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Setting Up A MIDI System
A Modernz Presentation
By Skyewalker
<C>opyright May 20th, 1992
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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!
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