From gos.ukc.ac.uk!harrier.ukc.ac.uk!ukc!mcvax!uunet!husc6!mailrus!cornell!uw-beaver!fluke!dbb Fri Dec 9 18:04:25 GMT 1988 Article 827 of rec.music.synth: Path: gos.ukc.ac.uk!harrier.ukc.ac.uk!ukc!mcvax!uunet!husc6!mailrus!cornell!uw-beaver!fluke!dbb >From: dbb@tc.fluke.COM (Dave Bartley) Newsgroups: rec.music.synth Subject: Addenda to the Midi Primer (was Re: MIDI Specs (LONG)) Message-ID: <6164@fluke.COM> Date: 1 Dec 88 02:59:16 GMT References: <145600054@inmet> <299@rna.UUCP> Sender: news@tc.fluke.COM Organization: Voles R Us Lines: 72 In case anyone out there was using Bob McQueer's excellent article on MIDI as a reference, here is some additional info about topics on which Bob had "?"s. (Disclaimer of sorts: I have no involvement with the MIDI standard other than as an interested user of it) >? I'm not really certain of how "channel" pressure works. Yamaha "Channel pressure" messages are sent (and used) by synths that have "monophonic" aftertouch (e.g. D-50, DX7). "Key pressure" messages are sent (and used) by synths that have individual aftertouch for each key (e.g. EPS and SQ-80's "Poly-Key(tm)" pressure). Aftertouch (pressure) makes it so depressing a key further after the initial attack modifies some aspect of the sound, such as pitch modulation or filter cutoff frequency. Channel pressure messages affect all notes on a given MIDI channel. Key pressure messages affect only one note. Key pressure has some distinct advantages, but is more difficult mechanically and expensive. The Ensoniq synths with key pressure also respond to channel pressure messages and act accordingly. Some synths, such as the Yamaha TX81Z, allow one to map aftertouch messages to breath control. >Controller number 1 IS standardized to be the modulation wheel. >? Are there any other standardizations which are being followed by most > manufacturers? The following table is transcribed from *Music Through MIDI* by Michael Boom, Microsoft Press, 1987. Ones not shown are undefined (or I forgot to type them in): 1 Modulation wheel or lever 2 Breath controller 4 Foot controller 5 Portamento time 6 Data entry MSB 7 Main volume 8 Balance 10 Pan 11 Expression controller 16-19 General purpose controllers 1-4 32-63 LSB (7 bits actually) for controllers 0 to 31 64 Damper pedal (sustain) 65 Portamento 66 Sostenuto 67 Soft pedal 69 Hold 2 80-83 General purpose controllers 5-8 92 Tremolo depth 93 Chorus depth 94 Celeste (detune) depth 95 Phaser depth 96 Data increment 97 Data decrement 98 Non-registered parameter number LSB 99 Non-registered parameter number MSB 100 Registered parameter number LSB 101 Registered parameter number MSB 122 Reserved for channel mode messages *** Bob also enquires if any guitar synthesizers use mode 4, then allow bends of a single note within a chord (each note being on a separate channel). The Roland GM-70 does this -- 6 channels, one per string; some (but not all) others do as well, I believe. This alone increases the usefulness of guitar synthesizers tenfold. Hope this helps somebody out there. Regards, -- Dave Bartley / John Fluke Mfg. / Box C-9090 / Everett, WA +1 206 356 5781 Internet: dbb@tc.fluke.COM UUCP: ...!{uw-beaver,sun,microsoft}!fluke!dbb