Solution 2 Midi Advance System Messages

MIDI Advance Modes

There are several Modes for MIDI Advance System Messages Information.

• OMNI ON.

• OMNI OFF.

• POLY.

• MONO.

It's necessary to use the same MIDI channel if a Master and a Slave are to work together, but there is another way to make the Slave receive the information. This mode is called OMNI ON, MIDI OMNI ON makes the Slave instrument respond to all 16 MIDI channels at the same time. In a simple set-up of one Master and one Slave instrument. This becomes very useful, because the Slave doesn’t care what channel the Master is using, it will receive them all. However, when using a sequencer playing on different MIDI channels, it is impossible to separate the information. Therefore, it will only receive information on the dedicated channel.

There are also POLY and MONO modes in MIDI, which decide whether the information is to be sent as Monophonic information (one note), or Polyphonic information (more than one note). Keyboard instruments such as pianos and synths usually use the POLY mode.

MONO mode is mainly used for MIDI Guitar Controllers. In this mode, the information belonging to each guitar string is sent on separate channel, dividing the sound source into 6 Monophonic synths. Then a basic MIDI channel is set, and the next 5 channels are used for the other strings.

To choose whether to use POLY, MONO, and OMNI.MIDI includes a MODE selector, with 4 possible MODES, 1-4.

MODE 1: OMNI ON, POLY Receives the information on all channels Polyphonic.

MODE 2: OMNI ON, MONO Receives the information on all channels but will only play one note at a time.

MODE 3: OMNI OFF, POLY Receives only on the dedicated MIDI channel Polyphonic, useful with sequencers.

MODE 4: MONI OFF, MONO Receives on specific MIDI channels, will only play one note per channel. Useful with Guitar Controllers.

MIDI Information Contents

MIDI contains many kinds of MIDI Advance System Messages Information, it can use to transmit performance details from the Master to the Slave units. Such things as when each was played or released (note on and note off), damper pedal on and off, etc. In addition, the information is divided into Channel Messages and System Messages.

Channel Messages

These messages are sent via the individual MIDI channels to specific instruments in the system, and therefore only affect those instruments receiving that channel. Channel Messages include note on/off, damper pedal on/off, pitch bend, etc. These Channel Messages are further divided into 2 categories, Voice Messages and Mode Messages.

Voice Messages

Note Information

Note Information is the most basic, it simply says which key was pressed, when it was pressed, and when it was released.

Program Changes

A Program Change is used to cause the Slave to change its sound. Synths, Electronic Pianos, and Sampling Machines have memories full of many sounds. With these Program Changes, the musician can choose which sound to use. It is also possible to switch the memories of MIDI effects devices. That’s if you are limited on outboard MIDI effects on mixdown. Or you can save information in you Sequencer Program.

Control Changes

A Control Changes can add life and feel to a performance, things like Modulation (i.e. Vibrato and Tremolo), hold (damper) pedal, Soft Pedal, and Portamento. These messages are not used in all MIDI Instruments. An electronic piano will send and receive damper pedal information, but it certainly does not require Portamento. Therefore, even if the master instrument has Portamento, the piano will not respond to that information. To find out which controllers a specific instrument will respond to, refer to the MIDI Implementation Chart at the back of the owner’s manual for that instrument.

Pitch Bender

If the Master has a Pitch Bender, usually on the left hand side of the keyboard. The information may be sent via MIDI, the Slave or Sequencer will decide if it wants pitch bend, and how much it wants.

Modulation Wheel

Modulation can control the Wave of a sound, to give those characteristics of Vibrato and Tremolo. Especially on sounds like Rhodes Piano, Synth lead and Strings.

After-Touch

Synths and samplers can control vibrato, brilliance, volume, etc, by simply pressing the key harder after initially playing it. This effect is called After Touch, and can be used to transmit the same effects via MIDI. Of course, the slave instrument must then decide how to use the After-Touch Information it receives.

Mode Messages

As mentioned earlier, MIDI has 4 MODES, and MODE messages are used to switch the MODE of a Slave. Some synths or electronic pianos are in MODE 1 (OMNI ON, POLY) whenever they are switched on, so you will need to switch them to MODE 3 (OMNI OFF, POLY) for use with a sequencer. Because of this, some sequencers will automatically send a mode message to turn the Slaves to MODE 3. Turning the Slaves, power on first, followed by the power of the Master, will often achieve the same result.

To get your MIDI system working correctly first time. You can always turn the Master keyboard on last.

System Messages

System Messages can be sent no matter how the MIDI channels of the Slave or the Master are set, since they are used to control the whole MIDI system, that is, every instrument connected by the MIDI cables.

For example, they can be used to synchronize a Sequencer and a Drum Machine, so that they play exactly in time together, to start and stop the performance, or simply to avoid MIDI system problems.

In addition, there are messages called .System Exclusive Messages, which are messages that are exclusive to a particular manufacturer. So that each manufacturer has an ID Number which their instruments will recognize. Any system exclusive data received with the wrong ID Number will be ignored by that manufacturers machines. With Exclusive Messages, it is possible to transmit sounds between synths, or to change the parameters of a synth with a Software Programme.

Check out the MIDI Implementation Chart below, This chart is a basic manufacturers chart, which should be at the back off the Owner's Manual!

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