OK, so for years, i've just been plugging my usb midi keyboard to my pc and simply using it to trigger soft synths, but since i just got a new toy (MPD24), i'm trying to understand Midi a little further.
First of all, what are MSB and LSB, and how does it help my setup (FLStudio & Live)?
Another thing that confuses me are program changes, and i can't seam to make them work. I would think that what this means is that i can be playing a particular vsti, make a program change, and then be able to trigger a different plugin. Is this right?
Anyway, if anyone can point me in the right direction to learn some basics about this, i'd be very thankful. Everytime i read a manual from a midi controller, it feels like if i was reading chinese.
Cheers,
Bryan
understanding midi
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- KVRAF
- 6937 posts since 4 Jun, 2004 from Utrecht, Holland
Midi message carry data with only 7 bits. So e.g. each controller/fader can only have 128 positions. To increase the resolution you can use two sets of 7 bits: 14 in total. This goes in two seperate messages. One carrying the Most Significant Byte and the other the Least Significant Byte.what are MSB and LSB
Some hosts don't record them by default. Maybe there's a filter, and maybe you can insert them by hand. Look in the manual of your host. Oh, and some VST's don't respond to them.program changes
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We are the KVR collective. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.
We are the KVR collective. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.
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- KVRer
- 13 posts since 7 Sep, 2007
In regards to fruity loops live, as i use to use it, and swear by it, till I started using Ableton Live... anyway... Lets say you wanted to record a knob tweak on a vst, with Fruity, you need to have the VST Plugin window up, and then set to record, but make sure you have the Main Automation track selected... this will record in real time the Knob tweak. In order to map knobs/sliders and buttons to your Keyboard (midi controller) you need to make sure that your Midi options are configured for both sending and receiving... (usb - Midi Out, and in ). Also look up in the Fruity Live manual.. it will outline it step by step...
To learn more about Midi, Google Midi and you will find oodles of resources that will tell you how it works, even down to the Electronics level and how it's processed...
best of luck
Godata99
P.S. it's been a while since i used Fruity, and it was for that reason that i switched to Ableton... With Ableton it has a wizard that lets you map any knob on you keyboard to any knob on a vst (including slider's and Buttons!)
To learn more about Midi, Google Midi and you will find oodles of resources that will tell you how it works, even down to the Electronics level and how it's processed...
best of luck
Godata99
P.S. it's been a while since i used Fruity, and it was for that reason that i switched to Ableton... With Ableton it has a wizard that lets you map any knob on you keyboard to any knob on a vst (including slider's and Buttons!)
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- KVRAF
- 9600 posts since 17 Sep, 2002 from Gothenburg Sweden
Nope. A program change changes the preset on one particular VSTi. You can't remotely change VSTis as far as i know. Note that far from all VSTis support program change. Some do many don't.pascual wrote:Another thing that confuses me are program changes, and i can't seam to make them work. I would think that what this means is that i can be playing a particular vsti, make a program change, and then be able to trigger a different plugin. Is this right?
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- KVRAF
- 12615 posts since 7 Dec, 2004
midi has four types of data transmission.
the first is "polyphonic messages" - like note/velocity, polyphonic after-touch and program change. these messages contain both a channel and note along with some extra control data. they're designed to be applied to individual "voices" or "channels" (sets of voices) at once.
the second type are "global", messages like tempo and sync signals which apply globally, either to a sequencer or synthesizer. there are also a few rarely used messages that you can read about if you look up some detailed midi reference.
the third type are "cc" messages (continuous controller?) which contain a channel value, but not a note/key. they're things like modulation, volume, brightness - these are just a set of suggested uses for generic controllers which can be used to control any types of synth parameters over an entire channel. they come in 7 or 14 bits. this is where the lsb / msb stuff comes in. normally only the "lsb" 7 bit part is sent or listened for. some equipment with higher accuracy uses the full 14 bit values. if your equipment doesnt transmit with enough accuracy, or your instrument doesnt listen for the extra bits, it wont help you at all. in fact, using the full 14 bits will create 2x the latency in the midi stream. attempting to send multiple 14 bit ccs over one midi line can create latencies which are very high - this means midi isnt a practical system to send full sets of real time parameter changes to an instrument from a sequencer.
the fourth are "sysex" or system-specific messages. this provides a plain data transmission interface for instruments to communicate and can allow much more practical real-time transmission of parameters than ccs, however latency is still an issue.
these are all just generic messages without extremely specific definitions. you should just think of midi as a system of sending some numbers over a cable in one direction with a bit of definition, a lot of suggestion, and a little generic space as well.
program change messages might be used as note on/off if you really wanted - but both the controller and the instrument would need to use a common handling of messages to work correctly. that is where the definitions and suggestions for use come in. all instruments follow the definitions fairly well, most instruments follow the suggestions to some degree.
the first is "polyphonic messages" - like note/velocity, polyphonic after-touch and program change. these messages contain both a channel and note along with some extra control data. they're designed to be applied to individual "voices" or "channels" (sets of voices) at once.
the second type are "global", messages like tempo and sync signals which apply globally, either to a sequencer or synthesizer. there are also a few rarely used messages that you can read about if you look up some detailed midi reference.
the third type are "cc" messages (continuous controller?) which contain a channel value, but not a note/key. they're things like modulation, volume, brightness - these are just a set of suggested uses for generic controllers which can be used to control any types of synth parameters over an entire channel. they come in 7 or 14 bits. this is where the lsb / msb stuff comes in. normally only the "lsb" 7 bit part is sent or listened for. some equipment with higher accuracy uses the full 14 bit values. if your equipment doesnt transmit with enough accuracy, or your instrument doesnt listen for the extra bits, it wont help you at all. in fact, using the full 14 bits will create 2x the latency in the midi stream. attempting to send multiple 14 bit ccs over one midi line can create latencies which are very high - this means midi isnt a practical system to send full sets of real time parameter changes to an instrument from a sequencer.
the fourth are "sysex" or system-specific messages. this provides a plain data transmission interface for instruments to communicate and can allow much more practical real-time transmission of parameters than ccs, however latency is still an issue.
these are all just generic messages without extremely specific definitions. you should just think of midi as a system of sending some numbers over a cable in one direction with a bit of definition, a lot of suggestion, and a little generic space as well.
program change messages might be used as note on/off if you really wanted - but both the controller and the instrument would need to use a common handling of messages to work correctly. that is where the definitions and suggestions for use come in. all instruments follow the definitions fairly well, most instruments follow the suggestions to some degree.
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- KVRist
- 214 posts since 29 Dec, 2006
This has everything you need to know, and probably a lot more besides: http://www.borg.com/~jglatt/tech/midispec.htm.
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 535 posts since 15 Jul, 2003 from costa rica / oregon
Godata99 wrote:
To learn more about Midi, Google Midi and you will find oodles of resources that will tell you how it works, even down to the Electronics level and how it's processed...
best of luck
Godata99
P.S. it's been a while since i used Fruity, and it was for that reason that i switched to Ableton... With Ableton it has a wizard that lets you map any knob on you keyboard to any knob on a vst (including slider's and Buttons!)
Actually, linking knobs and sliders to parameters in FLStudio is pretty easy and brilliant as well, and i don't have a problem with that.
What puzzels me most are all this buttons on my E-mu xboard that i never use (patch select, 16 channel, pgm send on recall, etc), and now on the MPD24, i'm having trouble with the padbank buttons, and the program change.
I would like to be able to trigger two different impulse drum machines. One in pad bank a, one in pad bank b...and so on.
But anyway, thanks for the info everyone. I've googled 'midi', and most of the info is pretty old in the net.
cheers, B.
paz por esos mundos
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- KVRAF
- 8644 posts since 2 Oct, 2006 from Leeds, UK
I don't know how the mpd24 works but on the padkontrol all settings are made in each scene.Are the impulses on seperate tracks or in a rack?If on sep tracks is 1 on midi channel 1 and is pad bank a on midi channel 1?I'm not sure how it works but if it's anything like the pk it should be easy to setup 
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