Operation Manual

Overdub and Replace, which can be selected from the OPTIONS menu.

Overdub: At every recording (run), the recorded events are mixed temporally to the events

recorded during the previous runs.

Replace: The new recorded data replace the previous ones.

HOW TO RECORD A SEQUENCE

Introduction.

There are various ways of recording a sequence starting from an empty sequencer (no initialized

track). How to load sequences from disks (midi files) and how to use the editing functions for

already-recorded sequences are topics that will be discussed in specific paragraphs. Before

describing the recording procedure, here is some general preliminary information about midi

events and about how to deal with them (if you already have this information, you can skip this

sub-paragraph).

Midi Events: The sequencer is capable of recording and playing back events in the midi format.

Every midi event is represented by a small set of data. Each datum is normally called “byte” and

contains coded “musical” information. For example, every note that is transmitted to the sequen-

cer is coded in a set of three bytes, so that parameters such as timbre, volume, pan-pot, amount

of reverb, expression, sustain, etc., are coded. In general, every midi event is made up of 2 or 3

bytes; the first one indicates the type of event and is called STATUS, while the other bytes are

data and have different meanings depending on the STATUS.

STATUS Dati 1st 2nd

NOTA (NOTE ON/OFF) 2 bytes Note, Velocity

CONTROLLO (CONTROL CHANGE) 2 bytes Type, Value

PROGRAMMA (PROGRAM CHANGE) 1 byte Program(timbre)

ALTERAZIONE ALTEZZA (PITCH BEND) 2 bytes Pitch value

PRESSIONE DOPO TOCCO(AFTERTOUCH) 1 byte Key pressure value

SYSTEM MESSAGES or EXCLUSIVE MESSAGES are particularly important; they are made up of

a greater and variable number of data. They contain information (type of effect, lyrics, sound

parameters, etc.) in a format that is typical to the instrument. System messages will be described

in the MASTER TRACK paragraph.

MIDI CHANNEL: Every Note, Control, Program, Pitch bend, Aftertouch event is associated

with information about the midi channel to which the event is directed. There are 16 midi chan-

nels and, thanks to channeling feature, 16 different instruments can be made to play separately.

Example. One normally says “The piano is playing on channel 1”. This means that the change

program relating to a piano timbre has been sent on channel 1; therefore, all the notes sent on

channel 1 will be played with the piano timbre and they will take up the controls (volume,

reverb, etc.) that were previously set for that specific channel. System messages (for example,

exclusive systems) are not associated with a midi channel; in the sequencer, they are memorized

only on the MASTER TRACK. In the NOTE events, the first of the two data bytes contains the

note that was played, while the second one contains information about the speed with which the

key generating the note was pressed. The speed value will determine the musical timbral

response of the instrument; for example, many timbres will play at a higher or lower volume

depending on the speed of the note. In the CONTROL events, the first byte indicates the type of

control, for example, 7 for Volume, 10 for pan-pot, while the second byte normally expresses the

amount of control. A number of controls and related codes are given below (see midi implemen-

tation in the Instructions Handbook for a more detailed list).