A mapping confusion. PlZ help.

[AMD]

Well, a strange question that might represent my lack of musical background, So sorry for troubling you. The question is; Should the zone maping of the midi keyboard match the zones of the virtual piano roll/or the midi editor? Actually I'm haviong a terrble time maping my sampled sounds. The sample zone in the host doesn't match that of the midi keyboard Example C1 in the midi editor of the host isn't C1 in the midi keyboard!

Thanks for any help.

[MrM]

Well, a strange question that might represent my lack of musical background, So sorry for troubling you. The question is; Should the zone maping of the midi keyboard match the zones of the virtual piano roll/or the midi editor? Actually I'm haviong a terrble time maping my sampled sounds. The sample zone in the host doesn't match that of the midi keyboard Example C1 in the midi editor of the host isn't C1 in the midi keyboard!

Thanks for any help.

I have a Roland keyboard with 5 octaves (61 keys).
My lowest key, C, is MIDI note 36.
I assign the first sample to this key.

Middle C on the Roland, is MIDI note 60.

Here is a short list with MIDI notes:

Code: Select all

C1 C#1 D1 D#1 E1 F1 F#1 G1 G#1 A1 A#1 B1 C2 C#2 D2 D#2 E0 F2 F#2  
24 25  26 27  28 29 30  31 32  33 34  35 36 37  38 39  40 41  42 

When I map samples into an SoundFont, I go from this list (you can extend it).
Kick drums are always note 36, a snare note 38 and hihat open on 46, half closed at 44 and full closed at 42.
It is some kind of standard.

The reason yor host changes; you play a C3 on your keyboard and host thinks it is a C4, is a matter of notation and choice of middle C.

This is not a full answer, but I hope it will help you enough to know what to do

[AMD]

M

y lowest key, C, is MIDI note 36.
I assign the first sample to this key.

Sorry, still confused; but is the note number (36) written underneeth the your midi keyboard, or you are talking about something else?

My lowest key, C, is MIDI note 36.
I assign the first sample to this key.

Also according to the list you provide in your post note 36 is midi note (C2) and not (C)


Thanks.

[MrM]

-I've edited my original post to make it a bit less complicated-

It is confusing stuff indeed.

It has to do a lot with how the sequencer notates the incoming MIDI.
You can have it that Middle C (note 60) is notated as C3 or not.

My hardware keyboard, the Roland, has a lowest note. That lowest note is C2, or MIDI note 36. This is a fact!
However, the way the sequencer or host notates it, is dependend on a preference. You can choose to have all MIDI notated as with the Yamaha standard, or not.
My host has a transport bar, and on that bar the actual incoming MIDI note is displayed, albeit it is displayed according to the before mentioned setting in the preferences.

Some keyboards have 1 or 2 octaves lower, so they start at C1 or C0 (C zero).
Some instruments are notated an octave above, like guitar; the A string is A2.
A standard electric guitar ouputs note E2 on the low string, this is the E above C2 (note 36). So A is still in this second octave, and therefor we can call it A2, the C above this A2 is C3, or as we also call it Middle C.
But guitar notation is notated so that it will sound an octave lower then notated.

Which host are you using?

[chickeneps]

Notating notes as "C2" or "F#5" and the like is confusing if you are using multiple systems.

This is because certain systems call MIDDLE C as C4 and some call it C3.

For example, GigaStudio, Ensoniq (and many US systems, but not all) call C4 as middle C. Kontakt, HALion, and many non-US systems (again, but not all)call it C3.

The bottom note on a 61-note unaltered/modifed keyboard is ALWAYS MIDI note 36. However, per the above, some systems call it C2, some call it C1.

Middle C is the 3rd C from the bottom on a 61-note keyboard.

I believe Roland all the time uses C4 as Middle C. I don't have my reference chart here, but I just looked at my XV-5080 now and it's C4 as Middle C.

Confusing? You bet! Just be glad there's no metric system for this. =)

SO that list Mr. M is not always correct.

Try to use the numerical system as much as possible. If you have to reference or notate in "note form" keep a list of what systems use what (I have a chart by my desk for this).

[erick815]

Garth is on the right path here, but he missed a couple small points. The MIDI spec says that notes can have any number between 0 and 127 (for a total of 128 notes). The spec also defines middle C as being note number 60. Unfortunately, it never designates what the names of octaves should be. So, different software and hardware manufacturers made this decision on their own.

Thus, you will find middle C labeled as C3, C4, or C5 depending on what hardware or software you are using. For example, C3 is middle C in GarageBand. (this makes the first octave have a label of -2, yes, negative 2.) If you have middle C labeled as C5, then the first octave label is 0 (zero). And as Garth mentioned, Ensoniq (and others) used C4.

The reason that different manufacturers used different standards (besides the fact that none was spelled out in the MIDI spec) was because (a) some used an 88 piano keyboard as a foundation for the numbering, (b) some used the MIDI spec of 0-127 (thus, C5=middle C), and (c) a couple other reasons. The only way to know which notes you're talking about for certain is to look at the note number, as Garth suggested. This also explains why most software has a preference setting as to how to mark octaves.

Hope this helps.