Conference napalm::commusic_v1

    Don't know about the MMT-8, but the MC500 (for considerably more
    $) does all this and gobs more.  The PR100, which is the MC500's
    baby brother, may have similar capabilities.  In addition, ROland
    is bringing out three new disks of MC500 software, including a patch
    librarian, a performance package (chained songs, no editing but
    humongous onboard song capacity), and one other whose function escapes
    me just now.
    
    I know, I know, I know, it costs an arm and a leg ($1200), but boy
    is it neat.
    
    len.
    

RE: .1

   Len - do you find that the MC500 is more useful than a "software"
   based sequencer (ie, one that runs on the MAC, ST, Amiga, etc)?

   Have you done any comparisons along these lines?  I'd like the think
   the MC500 is a nice unit ... but I've used it a couple times, and just
   can't get the grasp of it. 

RE: .0

   That kind of note capacity is great, but unless you have a LOOONNNGGG
   time to fool with tape backups (or have a MIDI disk), the unit will be
   darn annoying.  The ESQ-1 has a real slick sequencer, but no means of
   backing up what you've done.  After not having the ability to do quick
   backups (ie to computer/disk) for years, then suddenly having the
   ability, I will NEVER go back to tape.  Maybe you should check into a
   Y-word MIDIdisk as well. 

   I hate to say it, but I think John/Len/whoever_the_sage_is 's rule
   applies here ... wait until you can afford what you really want.  The
   only thing the MMT-8 gives you over your current unit (other than some
   editing functions) is more memory.  Using the thing for anything other
   than fiddling at home will be a royal hassle.  (Obvious opinion here.)

   Oh yeah - I suspect the MMT-8 has 32K RAM ... the old seq cartridge
   for the ESQ is 32K, and is also rated at "10,000 NOTE capacity".
   Another thing I haven't heard, and you will NEED if you decide to go
   with the MMT ... make sure you can tell how much memory is left. 

brad

RE < Note 1093.1 by DRUMS::FEHSKENS >

	The key here, as iterated, is the bang/buck ratio.  As I said, I
know of no sequencer in anywhere's near the price range that can do the
stuff previously described.  Can someone prove me wrong?  Any QX5ers out
there?

	From speaking briefly with someone about the PR100, they say it has
no editing feature to speak of.  What that means, I don't know for sure.  I
got the idea they meant it acts pretty much like a recorder and only a 
recorder.  I would find it hard to believe that Roland would put something out
now that would do *less* than my MSQ-100, but hey, stranger things have 
happened (though none come to mind right away).

	From what I can see, the current contenders for the low-end dedicated 
sequencer market are:

	Yamaha QX-5 (don't know much about this one)
	MIDI DJ (getting outdated, technologically, say some)
	PR-100
	Alesis MMT-8

	With the info I have, the MMT-8 seems to come out ahead.

	Dan

RE < Note 1093.2 by DYO780::SCHAFER "Resist." >

	Well, Brad, I'll have to refer to something you said in a note today
(concerning the MAC/ATARI decision).  A sequencer in the hand (and the implied
working use of it) is worth a lotta knowledge of specs (on something you don't 
have/are waiting to become affordable).  I cannot justify spending $1000 on a 
sequencer at present in any way, no matter how slick it is - and I believe you 
all when you say an MC500 is slick.  When it get's down in the $300 range, I'll 
jump (I'll even roll over and go fetch!).

	I'm looking to get a set's worth of material (consisting of sequenced 
and non-sequenced) down into a machine.  If I can find a unit with a disk drive 
for the amount of money available, wunnaful.  I doubt, though, that a machine 
with as much editing available as the MMT seems to have that *also* has a disk
drive is available for my price range.  I'd be glad to have someone prove me
wrong.  Really!

	The 'Y-word MIDIdisk' has been discussed 'roun' these parts before.  It
seemed to me that the concensus was it wasn't worth it.  I was, at that time,
looking into using it to load and save sequences for my MSQ-100 as you are now
suggesting.  Do you think you can look over that note again (at your leisure)
and tell me whether I misunderstood and should reconsider?  I'll do the same.

	Brad, I lost it in the point about the 32K RAM.  Are you saying that
I should check into how much the operating system takes up, and how much
room, subsequently, is left?  Is that kind of info easily available?  The guy
said that there's 25,000 MIDI events available for memory.  Does that answer
the question?

	Dan

    re .2 - There are a few things some of the software sequencers do
    that the MC500 doesn't, but I have written Roland a wish list of
    things I'd like to see them add.  As the MC500 is a software based
    sequencer itself (it boots from a disk), it's substantially extensible,
    and because of the dedicated hardware support, it's very capable.
    Some things I'd like to see it do (don't know if any software
    sequencers currently do these sorts of things):
    
    	bulk edits of articulation (e.g., shorten every note from here
    	to there by 10%)
    
    	chord edits (all the single event operations applicable to all
    	the notes of a chord)
    
    	dynamics templates (e.g., for every bar from here to there, increase
    	the velocity on the downbeat by 10%)
    
    	etc.  (There's a complete list in the MC500 note somewhere -
    	Notes 393 and 482)
    
    re .3 - Yes, it's clearly a bang for the bucks issue.  I had more
    bucks (but it's still a *lot* cheaper than a Mac and the equivalent
    software), and went for the bigger bang.  Haven't regretted it for
    a moment.  The QX5 is a lot like an MC500 without a disk.  It's
    still more than an MMT-8, but I think it may do a lot more.  Where's
    Wockin' Won when we need him?  (I think he owns one).
                      
    len.  
    
    

    Well, after scanning this topic, I can say that so far I don't see
    much (if any) advantage of the new sequencer over my QX5.  The
    features of the QX5 have been well-covered in these notes, so I
    won't go into detail.  The thing is a solid, little, easy (for me)
    to use mule.  I have no complaints.
    
    Steve

RE: .4

   Gee, I am inconsistent today, aren't I? 

   The 25K events is probably a guesstimation.  The ESQ is supposed to
   handle "10K notes".  But what does that really mean, in terms of
   actual RAM?  RAMs seem to come in standard sizes these days (aka 32K
   RAM), so I suspect that's the amount of physical memory in the
   machine. 

   In other words, it sounds like the ESQ sequencer without the ESQ. 

   Forget everything else I've said. 

8-(

    
    Er as you might have seen elsewhere this is right where I am at
    the moment.                                          
    
    The Qx5 will do all the  things you suggested including a good single
    event edit interface. Plus one or 2 other bits which are extremely
     useful. You would find macro's interesting if you  are  after
    econnomic use of memory.      
                                                                
    I will be replacing my much loved qx5 shortly for a system with
    a disc. I have had a mc500 or a week and it was o.k. But an Atari
    based system looks he most likely at the moment.
    It's a shame it is 240 volts we coulda had a deal.
    
    						Paul.  
                           
     
                            

    Couldn't ya just run it at 1/2 tempo???
    
    Edd

	Well, it appears that the QX-5 and the MMT-8 are showing up as
almost equal contenders.  The differences I see are as follows:

	- The MMT-8 has slightly less memory than the QX-5,

	- The QX-5 has 'macros' (haven't heard anything like this on the MMT),

	- The QX-5 has been around long enough to show it is not bug-laden, the
		MMT is too new to tell, (although Alesis has made some blunders
		in the recent past - the MIDIVERB I and wasn't Dave Orin having
		continuous bad luck with one of the newer 'verbs?)

	- The MMT has a $200 list price break over the QX-5 (what's the QX-5's
		best price from the discounters?)

	It's a pretty 'across-the-board' give-and-take, so it seems.

	On a different vein, are there any long-haul users of the MIDI DJ out 
there?  I thought it was kinda curious that KEYBOARD magazine would review this
unit this month when it's been on the market for quite some time.  I wonder how 
much companies pay KEYBOARD to post a review of their product?  Is it Nat'l
Logic's last stand?

	Dan

    
    re .9                                                             
    
    
    Dan you missed out one thing. Some people have actualy seen a Qx5
                                                        
                                         Paul.
    

RE < Note 1093.11 by MINDER::KENT "But there's no hole in the middle" >

	There's MMT's in the store now, Paul, at least here in MA.

    

    
    re .-1
    
    In that case it's a straight bang for nuch issue. I have to say
    any allesis gear I have owned has alway been reliable and good.
    I have a MV1 and a Micro-Enhancer and both have given no trouble.
    
    					Paul.

    
    re. -1
    
    Sorry I still can't spell. I did of course mean bang for buck. Or
    as it is put locally. Sound as a Pound!

    FWIW - I paid Shane about $445 for my QX5 (total cost) some time
    back.  I, too, was curious about the KEYBOARD review.  I think they
    sold themselves.  It's the sam machine it was year(s) ago.  And,
    the best thing I they could rave about was the quick loading of
    sequences from disk.  It's like they turned blind to other sequencers.
    By the way, I have so far found no bugs with my QX5 and have been
    using most of its features.  It does have fewer buttons than the
    Alesis, but I have been able to access most functions very quickly.
    Numeric entry has not been difficult because it steps through numbers
    and quickly increases the speed of the step if you hold the button
    down.  The thing looks smaller than the Alesis.  I have my TR-505
    sitting comfortably on top of it and have the unit sitting just
    in back of my CZ-101.  Programming is quick and I can do most stuff
    without really thinking.
    
    Steve

    

	I just spoke with a guy at E.U.W. in Beantown - he says the MMT-8 
canNOT enter sequences in step time!  Egads!!!  I called another store to
confirm.  They said they're still searching the manual to verify it.  In
the very least its a poorly documented feature.  I suppose it can be gotten
around by using step edit...

	It appears that the QX-5 is gaining ground.  Best price so far: $430.

	Dan

    Hmmmmm, while it does sound like a MAJOR oversight (and probably
    the death knell if true), Alesis does promote the unit as a MIDI
    *recorder*, expounding the virtues of it's multi-track-tape-
    recorder-like interface....
    
    How could they...?
    
    Edd

    paul,
     can you give us a bit of a review on the micro enhancer???
    
    dave

	A little more info...

	It appears to run like a drum machine - has 100 patterns that are 
chained together into songs.  That'd be nice in my current configuration, but
really - no step time entry?

	Yo, Edd, throw me down the stairs my MMT-8!

	Dan

	Uh, that's the sequencer, not the enhancer, BTW.

                                                                       
    Re.18 (It didn't seem worth a whole new topic Dan)                 
                                                                       
    The Micro-Enhancer is an "aural exciter" equivelant which costs    
    about half the price and takes up one third the space (this is becoming
    a very significant issue in my loft). I did have an aphex out on   
    loan once but found that whilst it worked well, it did seem to add  
    hiss to what is already a noisy mixing desk (Tascam m216) (ask Len).
                                                                       
    The Alesis seems to work as well as the aphex. It is true stereo   
    format but with only one set of controls. "MIX", "BANDWIDTH", and  
    "DRIVE"(or something equivelent to how much signal you put into    
    the thing.                                                         
                                                                       
    It certainly works O.K. (I haven't paid for it yet). It ads that   
    nice little sizzle to mixes that I have been yearning for for some 
    time but without adding any hiss at all. The blurb say's that this 
    is because the circuit is only activated when there is high frequency
    signal to issue so any hiss created is hidden by the music content.
                                                   
    If you are after some sort of sizzle creator i suggest you give
    it a listen.
    
    					Paul.                                               
                                                   

    Yes, 216s are hissy.
    
    Grumble grumble grumble.
    
    And MIDIBasses are hummy.
    
    Grumble grumble grumble.
    
    And my RCE-10s pick up clock noise from the MPG-80 Super Jupiter
    Programmer.
    
    Grumble grumble grumble.
    
    Bah Humbug.
    
    len.
    

    Noide Ga.
    
    Right.
    
    It's French, dincha know?
    
    len.
    

    I bought an MMT-8 over the weekend & really like it. The documentation
    sucks eggs, but with a bit of swearing & poking around at the buttons,
    it actually does pretty well. I've tranferred most of my drum patterns
    over to it & can use it with the MT-32's Rythm section. This sounds
    quite nice.  I spent most of sunday entering a song, just to see
    how the machine handles things. It's not really all that much like
    the Drum machines (TR-606 as a point of referance), but, quite usable.
    
    The biggest problems that I have is logically organizing (in my
    mind) the most effective use of my equipment. I saw lots of
    similarities between the MMT-8 and the the Sequencers in the
    Ensoniqs (I like these), and also in the MC500. I can live without
    a disk drive for the moment, since I plan to tie in a Macintosh
    by this summer (I'm still seeking information on hardware issues
    with the Mac). But, I have to figure out how to deal with how the
    sequencers operate. 
    
    I've been building up quite a library of drum sequences (it's so
    nice to enter the patterns with the editing functions - I've also
    entered a few rolls from my CZ-101's keyboard). So far, other than
    the documentation being mediocre, It seems quite effective for the
    $299.00 price. It's hard to pick things these days, since there
    is simply so much to choose from. This looks like a good deal, no
    matter how I look at it.
    							Jens

	Jens,

	Can you confirm that it has no step time entry?

	Dan

    From what I can tell in the documentation, the answer is no, it
    doesn't appear to, but, based on my weekend of use, and the many
    things that I discovered to be missing from the documentation (but
    it was able to do anyway), I suspect that it may be in there. I
    was planning on calling Alesis to question a few of the oddities
    that I noticed in the manual. I just got a good deal on a 2.8"
    quick loading disk which I would like to use, however, the
    documentation seems mysteriously lacking in areas which would concern
    this sort of action. The editing mode will allow you to enter parts
    one step at a time (sort of) while you are playing. This is not
    a mode that I would use that often (I am not a keyboard player as
    such, but, I can play reasonably well, as long as I can control
    how I record). I really like the editing functions, in that I can
    slide stuff around very easily (handly for moving drum rolls to
    random places in the song). The 2.8" drive was only $225.00, (the disks
    are expensive, however) so, with a total expenditure of a bit over
    $525.00, I think that I can do some slick stuff.
    
    As I said, the users manual is not spectacular, and step time might
    be in there (I can tell why none of the dealers are sure either).
    
    							Jens

    Well, the documentation on midi dumps  to devices like the drive
    are possible (even shown in the manual, altho they don't tell you
    what they are attempting to do at the time).
    
    The Alesis Service Department says that the only way to do step
    time is:
    
    Go into part edit and munge, or add data as you need it. In actuallity,
    this is not the same thing, but It might be close enough for your
    use. 
    
    So far (other than the irritation that the manual has given me),
    I find the interface logical, and pretty easy to use. You can name
    everything with alpha characters (parts & songs) & you can control
    all sorts of parameters directly by editing each note (I really
    like the editing facilities - beats the tar out of the QX7 - but
    then that's not too hard). Too bad you live a few thousand miles
    away, otherwise we could get together & you could try this.
    
    Also (the manual never tells you this) it is 25000 midi events,
    and the activity is queued up, so, you are not wasting space by
    unused notes. My guess (since each midi event seems to be 3 things,
    you get around 10000 actual notes - looks like 3 to 8 full length
    songs, depending on how fancy you want to get  - I tend to be fancy.
    
                                                	Jens

    
>    Also (the manual never tells you this) it is 25000 midi events,
>    and the activity is queued up, so, you are not wasting space by
>    unused notes.
   
    Explain please? Unused notes?
    
    Edd
    

    One sequencer that I've used (a built in unit on the Yamaha SHS-10)
    considers each beat a midi event, and stores that nothing has occurred.
    Sort of stupid, but, then again the SHS-10 was only $150.00 & is
    a varient on the DX100, so it's not too bad for the money. The
    statement about queuing up & not wasting notes is nearly a direct
    quote from the support person at Alesis. Being that I've little
    experiance with other sequencers (gag me with a QX7), I wasn't sure
    if it was important or not, so, I included it.
    
    I was able to do MIDI dumps to the Yamaha Midi Filer (2.8" floppy)
    from the MMT-8 and re-load the entire MMT-8 in just about 5 seconds.
    
    I like the built in MIDI merge (works well during recording &
    playback), as well as the transpose capability (midi channel) in
    the same fashion. With the Floppy, this system is quite usable
    for live work (very important to me).
                             
    							Jens

    re .29 et prev. - yeah, storing events that way is pretty dumb,
    assuming that most music is not densely textured.
    
    Most halfway smart implementations store a list of event (e.g.,
    note on) times and durations.  That's why the "wasting notes" comment
    was met quizzically.  I'm surprised the folks at Alesis thought
    this worth mentioning.  Kinda scary if that's their idea of a big
    deal.
    
    len.
     

    Just for the masses who are considering the MMT-8. There are a few
    'bugs' in the current software. I'll be talking to thier support
    people concerning this shortly. For example:
    
    1) Losing Notes on data output: If you select a part to play, and you
       set it up to loop back & forth between 2 parts. It sounds right
       the first time thru, but some notes are missing the next time
       thru the first or second part. If you move the tracks around
       (ie, swap track 4 with track 8, or what ever, but not changing
       the data in any way), the problem goes away.
    
    2) Not playing certain tracks: Occasionally, if you select a track
       to play, during a PART for a song, it doesn't output anything,
       however, if you repeat that part, in exactly the same way, as
       the next PART of a song, it plays the missing part. This is
       also corrected by swapping tracks around (no logic to this!!).
    
    3) Can't accept 'fast' input (ie 32nd notes - found this out with
       an OCTAPAD, and Drum Rolls) - but, can output them. Some sort
       weird quantizing goes on when you do this (there is definately
       a pattern to it).
    
    4) If you hit the STOP/CONTINUE button, instead of the START button
       (you can't do this with a foot switch), to start a programmed
       sequence, the MMT-8 is in a state of minor confusion, and the
       first measure of what it plays may be some other PART (looks
       like the first part of SONG 00), until it re-sync's itself.
       not a major problem, but a surprize none the less.
    
    The MMT-8 will be used all this week (Tuesday thru Saturday) at
    a local club & I'll have some different opinions abut things by
    that time.
    
    In general, it works very well for playback & I've had little trouble
    telling it what I wanted to do. Since you can use the MMT-8 to take
    apart sequences (it will let you read in a MIDI stream, then move
    all MIDI channel 3 events to a different track, and so on), it's
    been useful for me to manually transpose other tunes (from other
    peoples efforts - & sequencers) to meaningful data for the MT-32.
    
    I also like being able to adjust percussion levels on a per event basis,
    it allows stting things up so that they approximate a more natural
    sound. 
    
    I've also discovered that I don't like to quantize very much of
    anything. Tiny delays in events don't always seem to line up at
    any particular interval.
    
    							Jens
                          

    After a short discussion with the service dept at Alesis, they suspect
    a problem with the Micro-Processor (it's one of those with built
    in RAM on the uP chip). The Losing notes issue, where moving things
    between tracks shouldn't happen. The hitting CONTINUE where it starts
    up with some random pattern, before things re-sync, is not considered
    a bug, and it won't happen if you hit STOP/CONTINUE in the middle
    of an executing song, but it does start at some random place if
    you are editing a SONG, and you press continue (I guess that it
    has no point of reference). After this week is up, I'll get it serviced
    (I still will use it this week). They think that munged drum patterns
    (from too fast of note entry) may be related.  I'll follow up.
    
    Also, for those of you who would like to know how much memory is
    left (available), press LENGTH and RECORD at the same time & a
    percentage value, indicating how much space is left is displayed.
    This isn't in my MMT-8 manual anywhere.
    
    								Jens 

    The % of memory remaining command is explained in the HR-16 section
    of the manual.
    
    I ran the HR-16 outta memory last week, the display said...
    
                             "BUMMER, DUDE
                              OUTTA MEMORY"
    
    Edd

    Sorta gives the warm & fuzzies doesn't it?  From all the discussion
    in the HR-16 note, I should have suspected that the software was
    a bit on the lean side. However, most of the gripes that I have
    heard concerning the HR-16 don't seem to relate to the MMT-8. Maybe
    they were passing out different drugs to the 2 different development
    teams (probably 2 different people, with 6 months to get everything
    to work).
    								Jens

    I found that my second MMT-8 (the first one had hardware problems),
    was occasionally resetting itself when you hit the RECORD button
    (not my favorite thing to have happen). It turned out that the keyboard
    was missing some screws that held it in place & it was flexing when
    you pressed that region of the key board. I took 4 screws out of
    one of my BOSS stomp boxes (they looked exactly the same as the
    ones inside the MMT-8) & added the missing screws. The problem is
    now gone. I put other screws back into the stomp box.
    
    For those of you who are interested in whats in an MMT-8, there
    ain't much. There is basically an INTEL 8751, 2 16K x 8 bit RAM
    chips, a ROM chip (all on sockets), and a few interface chips to
    the keyboard and display. Some descrete circuitry for the MIDI ports,
    and jacks & thats about it.
    
    If anyone else out there has an MMT-8, or an MT-32 & would like
    to swap sequences & Drum Patterns, please contact me thru Email.
    
    						Jens

    the Alesis Mtt-8 is not an 8 track sequencer. It has 8 workspaces
    which can be merged for capacity of hundreds of tracks. Unfortunately,
    one will get the nasty message "bummer dude,out of memory" if one
    records like a trackhog.

    > the Alesis Mtt-8 [sic] is not an 8 track sequencer.
    
    Following this logic, one could say that any sequencer with a merge
    facility had an 'infinite' number of tracks. For that matter, any
    teape deck with bounce capability would also have an infinite number
    of tracks and no chance of the dreaded "bummer dude..." message.
    
    As the technology changes, so do the definitions.               
    
    Edd

    Speaking of bummers, my MMT-8 has a particularly aggravating trait
    when the user is in the middle of a tricky musical maneouver. It
    does an unscheduled program change, then stops, leaving at least
    one note-on that you have to step back through the sequence to get
    rid of. 
    
    I find punching it suarely in the keypad works wonders for me,
    if not for the MMT-8.
    
    Richard.

>    Following this logic, one could say that any sequencer with a merge
>    facility had an 'infinite' number of tracks.
    
    To me, the claim is only true if this merging preserves the 
    properties and flexibilities that un-merged sequencer tracks
    have.  Note the the sequencer notion of a "track" is a direct
    derivation of the tape recorder notion of "track".
    
    That is, if I can have a sampler playing a flute patch, and a synth
    playing a bass patch, and merge them such that the sampler doesn't
    play the bass part, and the synth doesn't play the flute part, THEN
    it's a "track", according to the original sense of "track" that is
    derived from the "tracks" you get on a tape recorder.
    
    If the MMT-8 preserves that sense of "track", then the claim is valid.
    Otherwise, I think it's not properly described as "an infinite
    number of tracks".
    
    	db

    re: .41
    
    Yup, that's what it does. (Still not infinite, of course, since you're
    bound to hit the 'bummer' message if you keep merging long enough).
                                                             
    And like a tape recorder, you can't un-merge 'em.
    
    Richard.

    What a bunch of hype.  If that's the case, it sounds like this thing is
    no different than the little QX-7/21 units from Yamaha.  Not as much
    memory, but at least they don't display valley girl error messages. 

    As an aside, I used to "unmerge" tracks on the QX by plugging MIDI in
    to MIDI out on, setting the record channel to the channel I wanted to
    unmerge, then putting the thing in record while monitoring the master
    track.  Worked like a champ.  (I think Edd mentioned this somewhere in
    ancient history.) 

-b

    That scheme didn't work for me. What it did do was convert all the
    info from one channel to another. Apparently it was designed with
    the old 1 channel DX-7s in mind...
    
    Edd

    For comparison, the QX5 can extract data from tracks by note
    range, midi channel number, control range (I think), and so forth 
    (don't have my manual handy for all the details).  The data can either be
    discarded or stuffed into another channel.  And, it can merge
    tracks.
    
    Steve

    re: .41
    
    So what your saying is that the MIDI channel information is recorded
    with the EVENT (within the track), *NOT* the track?
    
    If so, I'd imagine you'd run into the "outa memory, bummer man" message
    fairly often (or at least more often than other sequencers with the
    same amount of memory).
    
    I really think that's a bad idea, although I do understand the
    intention behind it.
    
    Think I'll keep using my SQ-80's sequencer.
    
    	db
    
    P.S., BTW, there are similar techniques for getting 'extra tracks'
          on sequencers that do NOT store the channel with the event
    	  using keyboard splits.

    I get about 4 'real songs' on my MMT-8. It's used heavily & as of late,
    it appears to be fairly reliable (damn those push buttons!!!). I had
    a problem with mine where it would occasionally reset itself (a
    wonderful feature) while I was working on a complex set of tracks. It
    turned out that there were a few screws missing on the keyboard. My
    reset problem happened when I hit the record button. To fix this
    (or test for it), un-do the 4 screws that hold the top on, and
    gently open the box up. There are 3 ribbon cables going from the
    keyboard section to the PC board that is mounted in the bottom. Check
    for holes that look like they should have screws in them. I was missing
    4 in mine.

    I don't hit the 'outa memmory' message often (but, I have to constantly
    check the amount of memory free, since my Yamaha Quick Disk won't hold
    more than 85% of the capacity of the MMT-8 anyway.

    Another note, You can seperate MIDI channel information out of a track.
    If you have data for channel 2 and channel 2 on the same track, you
    can move either of the channels (one at a time) to aother track, so,
    in a sense, you can un-merge tracks.

    One thing that I don't like about the quantize function is that it
    moves the start time of the note event, but not the end time.
    For instance, if you have a note on that occurs at 2.88 and a note
    off at 3.01, when you quantize the note up to 3.00, the note off
    is still at 3.01 (makes for lots of editing to return the original
    desired effect).

    I still like keeping my sequencer as a seperate part of the MIDI
    network. I find that having it embedded into a synth means that I have
    to keep the synth forever. The Ensoniq's sequencers have much in common
    with the MMT-8, so, I do understand why you like it.

							    Jens

    re .46 - that's the way the MC-500 works - any track (4 of them
    on the mark I, 8 on the mark II) can contain data for any number
    of MIDI channels.  Once two tracks of data on the same channel have
    been merged to a single track, they can't be unmerged (at least by
    channel number, and the MC-500 software doesn't support any other
    form of extract (yet)).
    
    I have yet to run out of memory on my MC-500, and I haven't gotten
    the memory upgrade that increases its capacity by a factor of 4.
                         
    len.
    

    RE .47
    
    I thought the 'keep duration' option on quantize shifted note-off
    along with note-on?
    
    Richard.

    I suppose that this is possible - I just looked in my Handy Dandy
    MMT-8 documentation & you are correct. You can have the quantize
    function maintain consistancy (I guess that I'm brain damaged, or maybe
    that the documentation has proven so irritating that I stopped looking
    at it as a referance - naa, I'm brain damaged).

						Jens

    I entered a reply elsewhere about my MMT8's lack of memory backup.
    When I switch it off, it forgets its sequences. I peeped inside,
    and saw a lithium six million year life battery, which was installed
    in May. So I was puzzled.
    
    I rang Alesis, and they said 'oh yeah, probably not the battery'
    (thank God I thought, thinking of all the pacemaker wearers that
    depend on them), 'probably a connection to the battery'.
    
    So it has to go in for service. 
    
    Incidentally, latest software rev is 1-08. Free upgrade if you send
    it in.
    
    Richard.

    Send what in?? I use my MMT8 at least 4 days a week, so I can't
    casually send it in for service. Did they mention any other ways
    to get the newer ROM??

							Jens

    Nope -- send it in. Even the battery is not user-installable --
    it's soldered in. But it's a free replacement, so I'm sure if pushed
    they would stick it in the post. (Are they erasable -- they may
    want you then to send them the old one back).
    
    Richard.

    I'm on 1.07 (so, it's probably not a major improvement). Does anyone
    know what they might have fixed??


    I've discovered that space allocation on the MMT-8 is lower when you
    have fewer PARTs defined. I'm not really sure why this is. I would
    suspect that the device wouldn't use up space needlessly, maybe it
    has to create a whole bunch of internal structures when you allocate
    a unique part.

    I'd like to be able to switch tempos in the middle of a song & I
    haven't quite figured out how to do it, for instance:

	Song 1    -> Saved Tempo 100
	  Part 0  -> Set up patch changes/volume levels/count down (4
	             closed cymbols on even intervals - 1/00, 2/00, 3/00
		     and 4/00.

	  Part 1  -> Intro
	  Part 2  -> Verse
	  Part 3  -> Break
	  Part 2  -> Verse (increase tempo to 110)
	  Part 3  -> Break
	  Part 2  -> Verse (increase tempo to 120)
	  Part 4  -> End

    Currently, I just reach over & hit the TEMPO button & hit the + button
    up until things move to where I want them. But, Since I'm also trying
    to play guitar at the same time, this becomes rather inconvienent. The
    documentation mentions saving speeds for parts (but this doesn't seem
    to work, besides I want to play the same part over again, just increase
    the speed.

    Any thoughts??
							    Jens
							    

    I don't think you can store tempo per part, only per song.
    
    How about getting an old cassette recorder and puuting a pot on
    the motor. Then sync the sequencer to it, and tweek the tape speed
    at appropriate moments while recording the sync tone! 
    
    O.K., well the only other method I can think of is saving the 
    parts as songs at different tempos, then playing a sequence of songs.
    
    Unless 1-08 fixes it -- you never know. The HR16 does step time
    by holding town part and record (I think), so I'm waiting for them
    to implement this on the MMT8.
    
    Richard.

    Just got my sequencer back from Alesis service in the UK -- very
    quick (1 week), plus when I rang to make sure they'd received it,
    they located it and told me what was wrong/when they'd be shipping
    it back.
    
    Haven't discovered anything new about V1-08 yet.  
    
    Richard.
    
    (Kind of a wasted note, eh?)

    Does anyone know how to shift a track(s) forwards or back on this
    mother to get that sought-after *humanized* feeling?. I know it's
    capable..........rich
    

    I think you shift events in this way by editing in song mode, and
    using the quantize button. I'll check in the book tonight, if you
    haven't got a difinite answer by then. (It's in the book somewhere,
    if you have it).
    
    Richard.
    

    Thanks, but thats not it. The original critique in E.M. stated it
    would do this on playback only, yet didn't mention how. The manual
    says nada about it. Any help is greatly appreciated!
.........rich
                                         

    Yes..It is the quantize button in song mode.Thanks...Rich
    

    A quick query to find out if anyone knows what's going on.
    
    I'm PLAYing a part, and I switch tracks on and off a bit. 
    Then I STOP. When I PLAY again, one track seems to be transposed
    a few semitones until it's played through on complete time, then
    it's o.k. again. 
    
    How can this happen? I mean, a note number is a note number. Seems
    like something to do with the sequencer, or a general MIDI problem,
    as it happens with both SGUs. 
    
    Richard.

    Are you using pitch bend at all (this eats up too much memory on my
    MMT-8 to ever do)?? Maybe this relates to the problem. I do what you
    are talking about frequently - hit STOP then hit CONTINUE & it has never
    done anything like this to me.

							    Jens

    
    Yes -- that's it. I use pitchbend on the track in question, and
    it gets stuck at the bent value until next time round.
    
    I suppose there's no way round this; if it reset the value, it could
    be just as wrong.
    
    Richard.

    My MMT-8 just died....sob...
    The evil device started making clicking noises every 1 or two minutes
    by itself with the click turned off in play mode. Ten minutes later
    the midi echo would'nt work. I can't pass a midi signal thru the
    beast, even though the sequences in it still play.
    Oh well......it's going back to Alesis through Rogue Music, where
    I bought it used.

    Did you try going through the reset sequence (I think it's mentioned
    in an obscure place in the manual)?
    
    I assume you went through the usual routine of punching it, throwing
    it out of the window and immersing it in a bucket of water.
    
    Richard.

    
    I'm not that familiar with what is available on the market, but
    it seems like everybody would want to do this but I can't figure
    out how.
    
    I want to be able to create a part and have it loop while I record
    lead on another voice.   Any ideas about how to do this?
    
    Adam    

    re: .66
    
    I think you need to describe what you want with a little more
    detail.
    
    What do you want to happen when you've recorded the lead and
    it's about to "loop" back to the beginning.
    
    There's a million reasonable but mutually exclusive things you
    might want to happen:
    
    	1) Stop and ask if it should "keep" that one or try again
    
    	2) Loop back immediately and record another lead and keep
    	   storing them and let you pick the one that you like best
    
    	3) Merge what you play with what you played last time through
    	   the "part".  You might use it this way to buid up the
    	   lead one "phrase" at a time.
    
    	4) Other...
    
    Basically I don't really understand what it is that you are looking
    to do.  By the way, I think what you refer to as a "part" is normally
    referred to in MIDI-speak as a "sequence" and what you refer to
    as a lead is referred to as a "part" or a "track".
    
    	db
    

    
    re .66
    
    The MMT8 does what DB suggests in 1) -- after one loop in record mode,
    it switches to play. This means you can hear what you just played, and
    maybe keep it (perhaps muted out) while you have another go on another 
    track. Continuous record mode while looping isn't an option on the
    MMT8.
    
    Richard.

    
    
    Pro-24 for the Atari Does all of the options 1 thru 3.
    
    It probably does 4 as well.
    
    				Paul.

    
    ...but Pro24 only does one song at a time!
    
    Stuff it! HA!
    
    Richard.

    THe Ensoniq SQ-80 and ESQ-1 sequencers do (1).
    
    At the end of the take, they stop and you have 4 options:
    
    	1) Play new track
    	2) Play old track (to compare with the new one)
    	3) Keep new track
    	4) Keep old track
    
    If you didn't like the take, it takes only about 1 second (two
    buttons) to get going on another take.  That's one of the things
    I really like about it, it doesn't introduce any impediment to
    doing another take.  I have done this so often, I don't even think 
    about it.
    
    	db

RE: soft sequencers and only one song.

Untrue!  It all depends on the sequencer and how it is set up.  Besides, with a
3 meg RAM disk all your songs can be called up in a second.  :-)

Chad

    
    re .67
    
    Ok, sorry for the lack of clarity.  I'm trying to accomplish
    (2) in .67.  That is I want to be have a sequence play while
    I am recording a lead.  Then when the sequence repeats I want
    to record another lead on another track.  That way I can erase
    parts of the lead that I don't like, or play them all
    if I want.
    
    Is that possible?
    
    Adam

    What is a *reasonable* price for a used (good condition) MMT8 ?
    
    For that matter, how much are they *brand new* ?
    
           [If posted elsewhere, was unable to find it...]
    
    /doug

    
    List is $300, so you figure.  I have yet to see one new or used
    for under $200 yet.
    
    

    You can get a new MMT-8 for approx. $240. I bought mine used about
    8 months ago, when they were going for $280 new, for $240.
    Right now, the SOB is at Alesis, getting repaired!.

    **********************************************************************

    I may have left out a few odds & ends, but, this should summarize the
    capabilities of the MMT-8 sequencer. List Price as of 4/3/89 is
    $299.00 (Cost to the dealer is somewhere around $210.00)

								Jens
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------

    MMT-8   Alesis Sequencer	Features/Capabilities

    Software version 1.08	25,000 MIDI events

    Typically there is enough space for 4 to 6 complete songs (assuming
    an average cover of an average R&R, Country or Blues tune)

    DOCUMENTATION	- Mediocre at best. Its also the same manual as
			  for the HR-16 (I never read the HR-16 part as
			  I don't own one).
			  
			  The information written on the top flap (part of
			  the case) is easier to understand than that in
			  the printed manual.
    
    DATA STORAGE	- Internal only (battery backed up). You need
			  either cassette tape or a MIDI disk file system
			  to backup the internal memory. Saving/Loading to
			  Cassette takes from 3 to 4 minutes. To MIDI
			  Disk filer (Yamaha MDF-1) it takes about 15
    			  seconds.

    POWER SUPPLY	- 9 Volt AC wall bug.

    DISPLAY		- 2 lines of 16 characters - Alpha-Numeric
			  characters.

    PUSH BUTTONS	- Mediocre. They suffer from bad key de-bouncing
			  problems within the software. Sometimes you enter
			  data & get something that you don't expect.
    
    GENERAL CONSTRUCTION - Flimsy. Must be well protected if it is expected to
			travel outside of a studio.


    MY PERSONAL RATING	- Good deal for the price. Reliable once you have
		          used it for a while (lots of infant mortality has
			  been noted on the ALESIS HR-16 and MMT-8
			  products). I wish it were rack mountable. 
			  Add on DISK will cost about $250.00 to $400.00
			  
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
    Functions:
            
    LOOP		- Loops either a PART or complete song over & over
			  until stopped manually.

    START/STOP Jack	- Can be controlled by either the front panel or a
    			  foot switch.

    CLICK OUT Jack	- You can have a CLICK track go to an audio input.

    MIDI IN/OUT/THRU	- THRU can be merged to OUT by selecting MIDI ECHO
			  (a button on the front panel)
    
    8 tracks		- There are 8 separate recording tracks (like a
			  tape deck might have). Each track can be any
			  length from 1 beat to 682 beats. Each track may
			  contain data from any MIDI channel. Each track
			  may be edited to adjust NOTE ON beat position,
			  Duration (NOTE OFF) and VELOCITY. Any of the 8
			  tracks can be selected to play during a part.

    MIDI SYSEX		- You may dump to another MIDI device (pressing
			  buttons on the front panel allows you to dump the
			  entire contents of the MMT-8 to another MIDI
			  device (such as a MIDI DISK filer or a PC). You
			  cannot dump selected parts or songs with this
			  method, it is all or nothing. Each MIDI dump
			  dumps the entire contents of the MMT-8's actively
			  used memory. If you only use 10%, that is all
			  that is sent. If you used 85%, that is what is sent.
    
    TAPE IN/OUT	        - Used to backup files to and from tapes. Also
		          useful for moving parts of a song or an entire
			  song into another sequence (not possible using
			  MIDI SYSEX).

    MIDI FILTER		- You can ignore selected MIDI signals (such as
			  NOTES, PITCH BEND, AFTER TOUCH, CONTROLLERS,
			  PROGRAM CHANGE, SYSEX and specific MIDI
			  CHANNELS). Since many of the functions use quite
			  a bit of memory, you may disable the ones that
			  you don't want recorded.

    TEMPO		- You may define the songs START tempo. It cannot
			  be programmatically changed once the song has
			  started playing (ie. start at 120, then next
			  verse is 130 etc.) you may change it manually
			  at any time before starting or during play time.
			  It is useful when you want to re-speed a song for
			  your intended audience. 
			  
    NAME		- You can name (14 ASCII text characters) any song
			  or any part.

    PART		- A piece of a song or a whole song if you desire.
			  The part may contain data on any of the 8 tracks.
			  Commonly, you would put variations on alternate
			  parts, for example:

			    PART 19	"XYZ VERSE"
			    TRACK 1:	Normal Drums for verse
			    TRACK 2:    Hi-Hat to complement TRACK 1
			    TRACK 3:    Ride Cymbal to complement TRACK 1
			    TRACK 4:	Unused
			    TRACK 5:    Bass guitar part for normal verse
			    TRACK 6:	Alternate Bass guitar part
			    TRACK 7:	Chorale (synth vocal stuff)
			    TRACK 8:	Hammond Organ part for verse

			  This would allow you to re-use a single part for
			  many verses when you compose a SONG. You may
			  store PROGRAM CHANGE and CONTROLLER information
			  within any of the parts. For example, you might
			  select MIDI channel 2 to have a PROGRAM CHANGE
			  set to 65 (assuming that 65 has some sound that
			  you wanted), and set CONTROLLER 007 (volume) for
			  MIDI channel 2 to 100 (range 0 to 127), then
			  wanted to set CONTROLLER 010 (left/right pan) to
			  64 (range 0 to 127 - 64 is in the middle).
			  Normally I have a separate part of track to do
			  this, but occasionally, I like to change that
			  sound of a single note within a song (usually the
			  Bass instrument benefits from a sharp slap
			  occasionally but sounds better when not so
			  pronounced during the rest of the song). It is
			  also interesting to sway an instrument back &
			  forth (like a clarinet player might do -
			  CONTROLLER 10 allows this - in a stereo mix). 
    
    SONG		- SONGs are a collection of PARTs. For example, if
			  you were to use PART 19, as described above, the
			  SONG might look like:

			    SONG 01	"XYZ"
			    STEP 001	PART 10	    Tracks selected: 1,2,5,8
			    STEP 002	PART 10	    Tracks selected: 1,2,6,8
			    STEP 003	PART 10	    Tracks selected: 1,2,5,8
			    STEP 004	PART 10	    Tracks selected: 1,3,6,7,8

    
    COPY		- You can COPY any part, or single track in a part
			  to another part as needed. You may use copy to
			  append 2 parts together as needed. You may also
			  use copy to COPY song definitions to another
			  SONG. This allows you to have multiple variations
			  on a SONG if needed (such as a short version, a
			  regular length version and a long version, or if
			  you play in a DUO, a regular instrumentation
			  version, but also play as a SINGLE, a version
			  that plays the instrumentation that the other
			  member might play). You may copy MIDI data
			  relating to a single MIDI channel to another
			  track or part (used for separating parts that
			  were MERGED together).

    EDIT		- You may EDIT any MIDI event in a PART or EDIT the
			  song definition. You may change the NOTE ON time,
			  duration or velocity. You can change the order of
			  a song (or insert a few extra verses as needed).
			  You may move backwards or forwards thru any TRACK
			  PART or SONG to edit events.

    QUANTIZE		- You can QUANTIZE a recorded track in any of:
			  1/2, 1/4, 1/6, 1/8, 1/12. 1/16, 1/24, 1/32 or
			  1/64 notes. You may choose to QUANTIZE only the
			  start of notes, start & end of notes, end of
			  notes or just the start & maintain the current
			  duration.

    TRANSPOSE		- You may move an entire part or single track's
			  notes up or down in even steps of semitones. For
			  example, if you have recorded you song in E, but
			  find that you want to play it in G, you can move
			  you song to the key of G by adjusting the parts
			  that are in the wrong key (you would not want to
			  tweek the drum parts, as they are already playing
			  the correct notes). I also tend to copy a Bass
			  guitar track to an open track, then set it up or
			  down an octave, then merge tracks together again.
			  This gives me a punchier Bass track in many
			  cases.

    MERGE		- You may merge any 2 tracks of a part together.
			  This allows you to build up a part and merge the
			  pieces together as needed. For example, if you
			  desire to QUANTIZE your Bass guitar line, but you
			  play a run of 3 notes that are in 1/24 notes,
			  while the rest is in 1/16 notes (I do this
			  frequently), I would play the main part on one
			  track, the the short 3 note run on another,
			  QUANTIZE each appropriately, then merge them
			  together onto one track. I also use this to build
			  up drum parts, using a keyboard. One track might
			  be Bass Drum and Snare, the next open/closed
			  Hi-Hat, the next Crash cymbal. Once I'm happy
			  with the way it sounds, I'll merge the Crash into
			  the Hi-Hat, then Merge the Hi-Hat into the Bass
			  Drum/Snare & erase the unneeded 2 tracks. You can
			  merge everything (any MIDI channel or MIDI data)
			  into one track if you desire.

    ERASE		- Lets you erase a whole PART, single tracks, SONG
			  or SONG step as needed.

    RECORD		- You can record in real time and play the whole
			  part, or you can PUNCH IN (like you might on a
			  tape deck) and only re-do the part you need. In
			  general splitting the task up between one or more
			  tracks is easier, but if you don't have 2 tracks
			  available (the rest being filled with data), it
			  is possible to do. RECORDing is only done in
			  real time. NOTE: The MMT-8 often makes subtle
			  timing errors while recording, and I often
			  QUANTIZE to correct some major errors that it
			  makes. Once I figured out that it was the MMT-8
			  and not me (it doesn't happen on the ESQ-1
			  sequencer when I use it to record in the same
			  manner) I started quantizing quite a bit more.
    
    COUNTDOWN CLICK	- You can have the sequencer count down before it
			  starts recording track data. This can be enabled
			  or disabled as needed. You can select various
			  amounts of clicks for the count down. 4 seems to
			  be what I use for everything. The CLICK stays on
			  only while the part is being recorded.

    MIDI CLOCK		- The MMT-8 can either be a CONTROLLER or a SLAVE.
			  This is done by enabling of disabling the MIDI
			  clock on the sequencer.
			  
    PLAY		- Plays a PART or a SONG from the beginning.

    STOP/CONTINUE	- STOPs a PART or a SONG at any time, or plays a
			  PART or a SONG from where-ever it was previously
			  stopped (unique things can happen when you
			  continue especially if you had a pitch bend that
			  was not reset when you stopped things).

    MEMORY LEFT		- Press LENGTH and then RECORD while in PART mode.
			  This is noted in the HR-16 part of the manual,
			  but not in the MMT-8 part (oversight I guess).
			  The number is displayed as a percentage of space
			  used (ie. 15%, 55%, 85% etc.)

    
    
    	Good work Jens!.
    
      One minor note. The Erase key can also be used to selectively
    erase (1) notes only
          (2) pitch bend only
          (3) controller info only
          (4) and program changes only...........from any given track(s).
    
    
    					Rich
    
    
    

    I'll post an analogous summary of the MC-500/S-MRC's capabilities
    somewhere (here or in the MC-500 notes).  Either you left a lot
    of MMT-8 functionality out or the MC-500/S-MRC combination totally
    blows it away, admittedly at about three times the price.
    
    len.
    

    When I looked at the stock MC-500, it looked like it had less features
    (not counting the S-MRC software, as I saw that as an additional cost
    very close in price to the MMT-8) than the MMT-8. If you do a
    comparison, start with .the stock MC-500, and list the S-MRC
    seperately. I don't know what they go for now, but when I was looking,
    the stock MC-500 was $1200.00, and the MMT-8 was $299.00. The S-MRC
    software was $200.00 to $300.00 (I don't recall exactly). That would
    but it up there at  4 to 5 times the price (not counting the memory
    upgrade that I recall is considered useful if running the S-MRC
    software). Time has changed the Roland models somewhat & I'm sure that
    the prices have changed also.
    
    So far, except for the cheaper than I really like packaging & the
    mediocre switches, it appears to be a good unit for the price.

								Jens

    Even the "stock" MC-500, running the MRC software, does considerably
    more than your description of the MMT-8.  I will provide comparisons
    of both software versions.  The memory upgrade (or MC-500 Mk II)
    is more than "useful" for running the S-MRC software, it is virtually
    required.  MC-500 "Mk I"s are going for about $800 - $900 these
    days, and you can run the MRC software on an MC-300 (price unknown,
    but less than an MC-500 "Mk I").
    
    I guess if you have the money the MC-500/S-MRC's cost is not an issue,
    but the MMT-8 doesn't do enough for me to make it worthwhile investing
    in at any price, even if I didn't already have an MC-500.  The MMT-8
    appears to do a bit more than my old MSQ-700, but it has more storage
    capacity.
    
    len.
    

    I think we're missing a MAJOR point for many noters: if you need
    steptime, the MMT8 don't got it. I never use step time, and I'm 
    delighted with my MMT8; if I did use step time, I would have wasted 
    300 pounds!
    
    Richard.
    
    P.S. The MMT8 interface is very quick and intuitive for 'real time'
    composition. Apart from button bounce on record, which can be annoying.
    
    

    Lets not get hostile about this. I own both Roland and Alesis gear. I
    think that the Roland gear is excellent; none has ever failed me.
    Alesis gear is not as bullet-proof. I have no doubt that the MC-500 can
    do great things, but I thought that it was too expensive when I looked
    at it. It's cheaper now and I'd really rather have a features
    comparison than mud wrestling matches over which is the best. I like my
    MMT-8 & don't plan to retire it for a while. Tell me about the MC-500
    series.

								Jens

    I'm working on it.  The problem is there's so much stuff in the
    MC-500/MRC-500/S-MRC that it will take a while to get it all
    documented, even in cursory form.
    
    But there *are* things that the MMT-8 can do that the S-MRC can't!
    
    len.
    

    A few things that I left out of the MMT-8 functional description:

	SYSEX	-   You can build your own SYSEX messages (of course, this
		    assumes that you can make sense out of the
		    documentation about it)

	TAPES	-   You can output a stream of FSK (I think it's FSK format
		    data)  signals to a tape recorder (for example, a
		    4 track deck) & record it on one of the channels. Then
		    playback the channel into the TAPE in & sync sequences
		    with it. This is useful when you want to use the same
		    synth for multiple parts on different recording tracks.
		    You can also verify data sent to tapes (when you have
		    saved files to them).
    
	MIDI	-   Can be internal, external or come from tape.
	CLOCK


	SHIFT	-   Allows you to move a set of MIDI events forward or
	TIME	    backward in time (I've never used this). This effects
		    the whole track that it is associated with. It is used
		    to adjust for MIDI delays in the system. You can, for
		    example, advance a track to compensate for the
		    instrument being 7 MIDI THRU's away from the original
		    MIDI transmission. Of course, this can't work if you
		    try to advance beyond the first beat of the first
		    PART of a song, but that is supposed to be the only
		    limitation to it's operation.


	CLEAR	-   You can 'empty' the memory from programs (handy when
	MEMORY	    trash is loaded via SYSEX).


	DISPLAY	-   Text can be Upper Case/Lower Case/Numbers/Punctuation/
		    Some strange looking symbols (like arrows).


							Jens

    Here's what happened.
    
    On Sunday, during song play mode, the Alesis 'stuck' on a beat and
    held all notes until continue was pressed.
    
    On Sunday night, I erased a lot of old parts that I wasn't using.
    All the parts and songs that I wanted still worked.
    
    On Monday night,  the display went wacky when I turned it on.  A
    lot of wierd characters when I used the - key to step through the
    parts, but everything ok when I used the + key to step through the
    parts. (Step as in Part1, part2, etc..).
    I shut the system off, turned it back on and.....
    	All My Parts and Songs were gone!  100% memory free!
    
    
    Has anyone seen this happen?  Do I need to send it back?  On a more
    proactive side... What can I buy for a disk to attach to the Alesis
    so that I can back these things up.  I have very poor luck with
    tape backups.
    
    
    				Chris

    
    It is possible to pause the thing before note offs are sent -- this
    would produce the hanging notes you mention. Clearly though, this
    shouldn't happen spontaneously.
    
    I had the display problem, but I fixed it by opening up and taking
    off/pushing on the many connectors inside. 
    
    If the memory problem reoccurs (which it may not when you've firmed up
    the connections), it will probably have to go back. When mine suffered
    from this, I rang Alesis and they told me it was very unlikely to be
    the battery (which they reckon lasts for many years). I sent it in,
    and they fixed it (duff connection on the board). I haven't had any
    trouble backing up to a cheap cassette recorder.
    
    Richard.

    Mine used to occasionally like to reset itself when I hit the record
    button. Not enough to send it back, but once a month was more often
    than I cared for. Here is what I did:

	1) Statically Discharged myself after I sat down (touching a grounded
	   outlet will do this for you).

	2) Took out the 4 screws that hold the top cover in place &
	   carefully Removed the cover. There are 2 or 3 ribbon cables
	   connecting the upper keyboard to the bottom mother board. I
	   stuck some masking tape with numbers written on it (so I could
	   match up the cables if I got confused). I disconnected the
	   ribbon cables.

	3) I noticed that there were 4 screw holes at the lower part of the
	   keyboard, that appeared to be designed to be used to hold the
	   keyboard in place (I also noted that the keyboard flexed quite
	   a bit in this area when I hit the RECORD button). I found 4
	   small sheet metal screws to put here when I re-assembeled the
	   keyboard.

	4) I disassembled the keyboard (the switches in the front are
	   conductive rubber switches) and re-soldered every plate thru
	   (the holes on the board) and any connection (it probably has
	   100 plate thrus, and any one could have been slightly open).

	5) After re-soldering, I cleaned the board with some tape head
	   cleaner & about a dozen Qu-Tips. I took the time to clean
	   where all of the contacts for the conductive rubber contacts
	   would hit the keyboard.

	6) Reassembled the keyboard (adding the additional screws - Just to
	   have them match the other screws inside, I borrowed the screws
	   off of one of my guitar stomp boxes - black with phillips heads).
	   Then I reconnected the cables & started it up again. You have
	   to make sure that the switches are aligned properly when you
	   re-assemble the MMT-8.

	Mine was working properly after that, so all was well. However, if
	need be. you might want to also carefully re-solder all of the
	connections on the mother board too.

	Get a good quality 20 to 30 watt soldering iron for this (nothing
	bigger, or you'll ruin the keyboard or motherboard), and make sure
	that you do not hold the iron on any connection longer than is
	absolutly necessary. Use 60/40 rosin core thin solder (Radio Shack
	sells it).

	I'd suspect that you have a bad solder connection or plate-thru on
	the keyboard. It might be elsewhere, but that would be where I
	would start. If you don't feel good about doing this, you may have
	to take it in for service.

							Jens

    
    
    Re: .87
    
    	Join the club, bud. Mine does the fun reset thang approx. every
    two weeks upon power up or when I'm up to 80% and do something like
    erase all pitch bend from a part.
       My fix?. I backup to tape a lot......
    					Rich
    

    Is this sort of "home maintenance" considered a feature?
    
    Does this void your warrantee?
    
    len (who's never had to resolder anything from Roland).
    

    Of course!. The unit comes with a Lightning rod. You're supposed to
    stand on the roof during a thunderstorm & wave it at the great gods
    of sequencing. When properly struck by lightning, all of the Alsesis
    problems that you are experiancing no longer cause you problems (but,
    the next owner may have to repeat the process during the next thunder
    storm....).

    I can't say that I disagree, My Roland gear is better built by an order
    of magnatude & never does much to cause me not to trust it.


							Jens

    Sometimes I wonder why we Alesis owners (yes, I do got an Alesis
    box) don't void on our warrantees...
    
    len.
    

    Since it appears the Alesis vs. Roland battle has been joined yet
    again:
    
    	1) I have never _had_ to fix my Alesis boxes.  I take them 
    		apart because they are fun to take apart.
    
    	2) I _have_ had to tear apart my Roland box (under time pressure)
    		to fix it (dead pad due to wire pinch on an Octapad).
                                                         
    
    	-Bill

    
    ..and my experience of Alesis service is that it's good and fast
    (Sound Technology in U.K.).
    
    Richard.

    Same here:
    
    I have two Alesis boxes that have performed flawlessly at home and
    at gigs.
    
    I've had several problems with my Roland sampler both hardware and
    software (crashes occur fairly regularly), my Roland JC-120 has 
    developed a loud buzz, and I have even managed to crash my RD-300
    Digital Piano.
    
    The Roland stuff also seems to introduce more noise problems than
    almost anything else I own (with the exception of the Ensoniq
    SQ-80).
    
    I've never had any noise problems with any of the Alesis products
    (MV II and HR-16).
    
    SO THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    
    ;-)

    Guys can't take a joke, huh?  I *REALLY* didn't mean to open this
    running sore again.
    
    len.
    

The MMT-8 software is now at rev 1-09.  I haven't unpacked my unit yet,
I'll report if there's a set of release notes.

	Eirikur, new MMt-8 owner

Latest MMT-8 prices:

The best new price I found was $250 at EU Wurlitzer in Portsmouth, NH 
(and *no* sales tax).

The best used price I found was $219 at Daddy's in Manchester, NH.

I opted for an extra $30 and a new machine.

-Dan (ohmygod, now he's into MIDI!)

    
    
       Geeze...I was just gonna sell mine for $150.
                     
                    I'll have to up it now.   (*^}
    
                            (only kidding...I'll never part with it)
    		
    					Rich
    
    
    

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note 1548.6      The ESQ1 as a MIDI system configuration manager          6 of 6
DYO780::SCHAFER "Brad - boycott hell."                9 lines  28-OCT-1989 09:39
                            -< Moved by Moderator >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note 2149.0                 Down-line-load DX > MMT-8                 No replies
CACIQE::NUNEZ "Edgar Nunez"                           4 lines  27-OCT-1989 14:35
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Can I save my DX7 patches to the MMT-8?????
    
    If so how.
    

You can create a SYSEX message on the MMT-8, however, unless you want to
enter the DX7's SYSEX message manually (including all of the patch parameters
and any other set up info), I doubt that this is a good solution. You can't
just dump DX7 info (or any other non MMT-8 info) via SYSEX to an MMT-8.

You might want to look into one of the available MIDI disks (using Floppies).
On the low end of the scale is the Yamaha MDF-1, a much better choice is the 
IVM MIDI Disk (may be hard to find) or Alesis MIDI Disk. I've had an MDF-1
and currently use an IVM system, and I suggest either the IVM or Alesis,
which ever is easier for you to get, as they can hold on a single 3 1/2 inch
floppy what would take between 10 and 20 MDF-1 2.8 inch quick disks.

								Jens

re: -.1

The IVM Midi Disk is no longer being manufactured. The Alesis Data 
Disk is what I just purchased, and it's perfectly functional at a 
cheap price. ($350) 

-Dan

    Folks,
    
    I am a novice with Sequencers but would like to know which would
    be best for a two-piece band (guitar and 2 X keyboard's) + HR16 so that
    more complex renditions could be performed live. We would prefer
    NOT to use cassette tape for data load due to the "deafening silence"
    in between sets. What would you recommend?
           
    ...Sean       

	While I like my MMT-8, I'd seriously consider the Roland MC-500
	since it has quite a few performance features that you would 
	probably need. I would also avoid the HR-16 and instead look
	at something like a Roland U-110 or D-110 (or D-5, D-10, D-20,
	U-20, MT-32 etc..) As they have very usable drums plus additional 
	sounds built in that you can use. I prefer Multi-timbral units
	(please, lets not argue the specifics of Multi-timbral units
	here). If you decide to go with the MMT-8, you'll need a disk drive
	and Alesis sells a good one. If you stick with the MMT-8, I'll
	be happy to swap sequneces with you. Send me Email for specifics.

							Jens

    Another option you could consider is the Kawai Q-80. I haven't actually
    seen one, but from what I understand it falls somewhere between the
    MMT-8 and MC-500 in terms of price and functionality.
    
    Price:	MMT-8		$250-300
    		Q-80		@ $700
    		MC-500		$1200-1300
    
    Functionality: Like the MMT-8, the Q-80 seems to get by with a lot less
    memory than the MC-500 by providing powerful capabilities for
    "building" songs out of parts. It has 32 tracks, however, compared to 8
    on the MMT-8, which I think is a significant advantage for this kind of
    composing. For example, if I lay down the verse of a song with basic
    bass and snare on one track, hi-hat on another, and ride cymbal on
    another (because during solos I want a ride cymbal instead of hi-hat),
    and I'm going to use that verse four times, I could put in four
    different tracks of drum fills and use a different one each time I
    called up that part. That would use up 7 tracks, almost finishing the
    MMT-8 (I run into this problem a lot). With 32 tracks you have a lot
    more flexibility. The Q-80 also has a built in disk drive (no details),
    so if you add the cost of a drive to the MMT-8 you are getting almost
    up to the cost of a Q-80.
    
    I've heard that the Q-80 is very easy to use (some say even easier than
    the MC-500). At this point the main advantage of the MC-500 is the
    performance mode of operation. Both the MMT-8 and the Q-80 require
    10-15 seconds load time per file (you can put more than one song in a
    file, but it limits your flexibility). The MC-500 with the performance
    software (at least this is what I've been told) can run through a whole
    set almost non-stop.
    
    I think for the kind of setup you described it's worth looking at all
    three of these and deciding for yourself.
    
     - Ram (who's already looked and is trading in his MMT-8 for an MC-500)

    One should be aware of one caveat when using number of tracks as a
    measure of flexibility.
    
    Ram's example of alternative drum tracks is entirely feasable UNTIL
    you reach the event limit of the machine. Once memory is saturated
    the number of tracks you have available becomes moot, you can't put
    anything in them.
    
    If one was looking solely for a performance unit, I'd suggest you
    go for the most memory possible. There are ways around the other issues
    but once the memory is used, you're done.
    
    Edd

    > Ram's example of alternative drum tracks is entirely feasable UNTIL
    > you reach the event limit of the machine. Once memory is saturated
    > the number of tracks you have available becomes moot, you can't put
    > anything in them.
    
    That's absolutely true, but in fairness to the MMT-8, I've never come
    anywhere close to using up the memory when writing my own sequences and
    taking advantage of the part-building capability. The only memory
    limitations I've had with it were when using sequences I got from other
    people that were "linear", that is, did not use parts.
    
    It's worth noting on this subject, however, that you very likely will
    find yourself in the position of using other peoples' sequences, and
    since there is no standard for specifying song structures the "linear"
    form is the lingua franca for exchanging stuff. That's been a problem
    for me with the MMT-8, and one of the main reasons I just upgraded to
    an MC-600 (the other being the load time between songs).
    
    - Ram

    
               RE. -1  MC600???????????
    
                      Know something I don't?.
    
    
    RC
    

    
    I'd like to be able to store timbre info for my D10 along with
    its associated sequence(s) in my MMT8. This would avoid having to set
    up timbre/channel etc assignments for each sequence. 
    
    Any ideas on the best way to include such info as part of a sequence?
    
    Incidentally, I tried to store bulk dumps of sysexe info from the D10
    in the MMt8 and got the old 'bummer dude -- memory full!' message after
    a couple of dumps worth.
    
    Richard.

	You may have to build a SYSEX message if your choices are beyond
	sending out the PATCH CHANGE number. If you have a MIDI disk, you
	should be able to include SYSEX dumps as part of what you send to
	the MMT-8 (I do this to other devices as part of standard load
	procedures before starting a gig, juts to make sure that I have
	no surprises).

	The MMT-8 will let you construct a SYSEX message, but it's a pain
	to do (It's a pain on anything except a computer based sequencer).

	I'd also guess that when you do bulk dumps, you are sending all sorts
	of things that you don't need to send. Is this the case??

								Jens

    My intention was to store the actual sound information (partials, tone, 
    performance data, reverb...) with the sequence, in order to make it
    totally independent of the current configuration of the synth.
    
    You're right; bulk dumps contain absolutely everything, and I don't
    need, for example, the rhythm patches since they never change.
    
    For now, I'll do as you suggest and include a program change number
    as the first spasm of sequence info.
    
    Richard

    	I have a MMT-8 and HR16 hooked up to a Data disk which seems to
    be pretty common these days but there are some problems with having 
    a fixed cable system. My setup is such that ....
    
    	-------------           -------------            -------------
    	|           |		|	    |		 |           |
    	|  HR16     |		| MMT8	    |		 | DATA DISK |
    	|           |		|	    |		 |           |
    	|  in   out |		|  in    out|		 | in     out|
    	-------------           -------------            -------------
    	   |      |                |      |                 |      |
    	   |      ------------------      -------------------      |	
    	   |		    --------------------                   |
    	   _________________| KEYS/EFFECTS ETC |--------------------        
    	                thru-------------------- in
    
    
    	This works fine for downline loading both the mmt8 and the HR16 but
    you cannot save Hr16 info with out moving the MMT8 midi out cable to
    midi thru.  The problem is the MMt8 will not echo sysex info to the midi
    out port. Has anyone worked out an easy and inexpensive way to work
    this set up without unplugging stuff.
    
    
    	BC

    
    I got a question, too. 
    
    I'd like to do as my Roland D10 manual suggests, and store SYSEXE
    info for timbres used in a sequence along with the sequence. This way,
    no matter how the synth's timbres are set up, the sequence will always
    pull in the right sounds.
    
    Is there a better way to do this than simply dumping timbre info to 
    the MMt8, calling it a 'part', then making this the first 'part' of the
    song? (I don't even know if this would work).
    
    Anyone done this?
    
    Richard.

	How do you get SYSEX where you need it?? You could add a few
	DPDT switches (this would be the cheapest), or you consider
	an MX-8. Take a look at my situation.

	I have 4 potential controllers, and a need to do SYSEX to many
	devices at any given time. To say it was a nightmare of wires
	before I bought an MX-8 is an understatement. You may be able to
	get by with a few thru boxes and a MIDI MERGE or 2. Here is my
	current set up (there is actually more than is listed here, but
	as you can see, the MX-8 allows me to randomly re-direct things
	as needed & I have multiple record/performance modes that are
	required). MIDI is a very poorly designed LAN, but I don't think
	that the original intent was for quite the mess that it has evolved
	into.

	================< First Rack >===================================

	+------+
        | MIDI |
        | DISK |<-----------[MX-8]
        +--+---+
	 (out)
           |
	   +--------------->[MX-8]


	+-------+
        | MMT-8 |<----------[MX-8]
	+---+---+
	  (out)
            |
            V
        +-------+
	| 1 in  |----------->[MT-32](thru)------>[FB01](thru)---->patch bay
        | 4 out |----------->[REX-50]
        | MIDI  |----------->[MX-8] (to disk drive or U-110)
        | Thru  |-----+
	+-------+     |
                      |
	+--------+    |  (TR-505 is not in the rack)
        | TR-505 |<---+
	+---+----+
	  (out)
	    |
	    +-------------->[MX-8]

	+-------+
        | ESQ-1 |<----------[MX-8]    (ESQ-1 is not in the rack)
	+---+---+
          (out)    ======< Second Rack >==================================
            |                    +------------+
            +-------------->(in1)| MIDI MERGE |(out)--->[MX-8]
		         +->(in2)|            |(thru1)-----+   [MX-8]
                         |       +------------+            |      | 
	+--------+       |                                 V      V
	| SHS-10 |(out)--+				 (in1)  (in2)
	+--------+					+------------+
							| MIDI MERGE |
	+-------+					+-----+------+
	| U-110 |<------------------------------------------(out)
	+---+---+
         (Thru)
	    +--------------------------[MX-8] (ends up at MIDI disk drive)

	==================================================================

	I need to be able to load both the ESQ-1 and the MMT-8's sequencer
	at a moments notice, as well as be able to save sequences from
	either as needed. The insides of my racks are full of cables &
	wall bugs, but my set up time is only a few minutes, as well as
	the ability to send SYSEX to any device that needs it. Now, if there
	were only 16 more MIDI channels available.

								Jens

    I've just bought an MMT8 but don't actually have it yet. I was also
    going to go out today to buy an ANADEK Pocket Transposer because
    my CZ1 doesn't transpose its MIDI out.
    
    My question is: Can the MMT8 be used as a real time transposer?
    (I noticed that it can do transposing of its sequences and wondered if
    there's some magic that can help me save the $150 bucks for the
    transposer)
    
    Thanks,
    Ron

                   <<< Note 1093.116 by HPSCAD::RFACCENDA >>>
>                           -< Real time transpose? >-

	I'm not sure if it allows this, but, I somehow recall getting this
	to work once when a friend brought over a DX7 (they originally
	only sent on MIDI channel # 1).

	I would hold off on purchasing the transposer (when I think of 
	transposition, I think of moving up or down the scale in semi-tones,
	which is something my MX-8 does, as well as re-routining the MIDI
	channel from one to another) until you can play with the MMT-8 for
	a while. What is it that you are planning to use it for??

								Jens

As an MMT-8 owner (and the beast is a bit cryptic) I don't think you can get it
to do anything to the soft MIDI-THRU.  It doesn't appear to have any options
for that.   Actually, I think that the filter functions are imposed on the soft
thru, causing me to wonder where my aftertouch went upon occasion.


	Eirikur

Check out the Oberheim Perf/X modules.  I've got the Systemizer, and it will
take one MIDI note-on and turn it into umpteen (that's the spec) note-ons,
on umpteen (actually 12) channels, transposed all over the place.  Not to
mention splits, layers, and initialization messages.

It's just the thing, if your controller keyboard is limiting you.

	Eirikur

    
    I just picked up an MMT8 Midi Multitrack Recorder and am a little
    frustrated, currently.  I have a Roland U-20 Keyboard and as much as I
    have read in both the Alesis MMT8 manual as well as the U-20 manual, I
    still don't seem have a firm grasp of the MIDI channel
    setup/assignments.  I believe that the sound patch of the U-20 is made
    up of 6 parts(timbres) and a rhythm part.  I tried assigning each part
    to a separate MIDI channel( i.e. part 1= ch 1, part 2= ch2.... part 6=
    Ch 6....rhythm part=ch 10.  The U-20 manual instructs you to create a
    keyboard patch for all 6 parts + rhythm to correspond to the channels
    of sound patch.  I talked with a sale training guy at Daddy's and he
    knows the U-20 well but had not much experience with the MMT8.
    
    
    If anyone out there can help me get going I would greatly appreciate
    it.
    
    
    
    Regards,
    Joe 
    Who's_not_to_impressed_the_complexities_of_MIDI_sequencing_so_far...
    
    
     
    

    You don't actualy state what the problem is, but what you should be
    doing is:
    
    1) Set up each part on your synth to respond to a particular midi
    channel
    2) Assign a sound/patch to each part
    3) Set the keyboard 'LOCAL OFF', or keyboard transmit to an unused midi
    channel.
    4) Select an MMT-8 TRACK and set its channel to n where n is one of the
    channels you used on the synth
    5) Set midi echo ON on the MMT-8
    6) Press 'RECORD' and start work.
    
    
        Richard.

    Thanks for the information and I'm sorry that I didn't state the
    problem but what was happening was that I was not able to play back the 
    parts that were selected during recording.  I did set up the sound
    patch parts assignments to different MIDI channels but was not certain
    that the MMT8 was selecting the MIDI channels when moving to another
    track/channel assignment.
    
    
     

	I don't know how a U-20 works, but on my U-110, if you define
	what channels are recieving MIDI data, and assign the outputs
	to the desired output jacks, you also have to tell the U-110
	how many notes per output it's allowed to play at one time
	(yep, lots of stuff to set up, and fairly similar to the
	way a Yamaha FB01 does things). I drive a U-110 off my MMT-8
	with no problems (altho I'd say that the U-110 took a while to
	get used to - the manual doesn't give you enough clues in any
	particular area to make the steps obvious & the menu options
	are not exactly self explanitory), as well as an MT-32, FB01
	and a REX-50 (Yamaha).

	To swap output channels on the MMT-8 you can go into PART
	mode and press the MIDI CHAN button, then select the track;
	while holding these down, use the + or - keys to set what
	channel you want things to output on. Of you want to permanently
	assign these to another MIDI channel, use the MERGE button and
	merge the track to another track. The new track will now have
	it's channel changed. You can either delete the old track,
	or, as in my case, I want both my MT-32 and U-110 to play the
	same part, so I merge the tracks together (both playing horns
	for example).

	The MMT-8 manual is not real useful at times, and neither is
	the U-110's manual. You've probably discovered that this is
	common problem within the MIDI equipment arena (ie, hard to
	follow documentation).

							Jens

Another thing to check: What channel is your keyboard SENDING on?  If you are
sending on one channel, but you want the MMT-8 to play back on other channels,
(and this is most likely in your setup), you *must* use the less-than-obvious
MMT-8 feature for setting a MIDI channel for each track.  This then overrides
whatever channel the data was recorded on.

	Eirikur

    Yep -- I've been caught out again and again by the 'hold down the
    midi chan button AND the track button while selecting the chan number'
    routine. Forget to hold down the track button, and you change track
    1.
    
    Richard.

    
    Last night I spent literally 4 to 5 hours in an endeavor to make my
    MMT8 work with my HR16 and U-20 and it was somewhat frustrating again.
    I did what the U-20 manual said to do in conjunction with what everyone
    said to do in this conference.  I was able to finally get it working
    partially but then lost it and didn't know how to get it back.
    
    I have already set up 6 parts within a sound patch and each part is
    on a different MIDI recieve channel (i.e. channel part 1 =channel 2
    .... part 6= channel 6 ,,,etc.).  Now the manual says that I should set
    up several keyboard patches also and that is where I get lost because
    you can take one sound patch and have all of your parts on the U-20 but
    when you think in terms of a keyboard patch to correspond to each part
    of a sound patch, that would require you to have 6 different keyboard
    patches essentially sending on the corressponding MIDI channels of the
    sound patch. (i.e. keyboard patch 1 = channel 1 (TX channel) and part 1
    of sound patch = channel 1 (RX channel)........  keyboard patch 6 =
    channel 6 (TX channel) and part 6 of sound patch = channel 6 (RX
    channel)?????
    
    It is not crystal clear to me how the keyboard patches are supposed to
    be set up?????  I did set the U-20 to "LOCAL OFF" and that worked O.K.
    What play mode should the  U-20 be in  while working on the MMT8???7
    HELP PLEASE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    
    Maybe I should take my MMT8 back to the store and get my money back or
    does the U-20 make life a bit more difficult than normal??
     
    
    
    Joe
     

	Somethings just take time to figure out. I doubt that its the MMT-8
	(I suspect that you'd have this problem with any sequencer).

	I've never used a U-20. Setting up my U-110 was an effort, however,
	if you manuals are anything like mine, you probably have not gotten
	all of the combinations of patch settings right.

	For example, on the U-110, you have performance patches, which define
	what sounds & MIDI channels are to be used. In my case, I set up
	performance patch 64, on midi channel 16 to select the multi-timbral
	mode that I wanted.

	From there, I tell it what sounds that I want it to play, then the
	volume levels. 

	I always have a set up track that usually consists of a 4 count
	click track (F#1 = closed hi-hat for default Roland Drums). So:

	part 00


	Click Track		Setup Track		Track 2
							Actions
	Track 1			Track 2			
	------------------      ------------------     --------------------
	001/00: F#1  100	001/00: PRG CHNG	Select patch #64
	001/00  CHAN 10		063     CHAN 16		Multi-Timbral select

				001/01: PRG CHNG	Set MIDI Channel
				098     CHAN 10		#10 to patch 99

				001/00: PRG CHNG	Set MIDI Channel
				065     CHAN 02		#2 to patch 66

				001/03: PRG CHNG	Set MIDI Channel
				024     CHAN 03		#3 to patch 25

				001/10: CONTRLER	Set Volume Level
				007:115 CHAN 10         of # 10 to 115

				001/12: CONTRLER	Set Volume Level
				007:100 CHAN 02		of # 2 to 100

				001/13: CONTRLER	Set Volume Level
				007:095 CHAN 03		of # 3 to 95

	002/00: F#1  100	
	001/00  CHAN 10		 

				002/02: PCH BEND	Reset Pitch Bend
				0000    CHAN 02		to 0 for # 2

				002/03: PCH BEND	Reset Pitch Bend
				0000    CHAN 03		to 0 for # 3

				002/10: PCH BEND	Reset Pitch Bend
				0000    CHAN 10		to 0 for # 10

	003/00: F#1  100
	001/00  CHAN 10

	004/00: F#1  100
	001/00  CHAN 10


Then part 01 and after is the real song. Notice that I set the proper
performance patch (Midi channel 16, patch # 64) before choosing the other
MIDI sounds. Also note that I set up things so that I could find them again.
I also reset all of the pitch bends (this caused me lots problems in the 
past, so I always reset the pitch bends of any channel that I'm using -
actually, I do all 16, but the example just shows the ones that I'm using).

If this was working well in PART mode, them when you ran it in SONG mode,
it's real possible that you reset a performance patch (not a TIMBRE patch),
and now the U-20 doesn't know about the othe MIDI channels anymore. This
has happened to me before. Standardizing your methodology of song startup
will help you diagnose problems. 

I happen to always put my BASS instrument on MIDI channel # 2, and the drums
are always on MIDI channel # 10 (My MT-32 only allows it to be on channel
10, so this is more of a restriction than logical plan). I overlay the U-110's
drums on top of the MT-32's, so both are on MIDI channel # 10 (The patch
change setting channel # 10 to patch # 99 is what makes sure that I don't
get the U-110 outputing Tubas and the MT-32 Drums playing on the same track).

							Jens

    I have a problem similar to (.126) which I am sure someone out there
    can help with. First of all I am totally new to MIDI and this is
    most likely the main cause but as has been noted earlier the
    documentation with MIDI equipment is very difficult to follow.
    
    Equipment is:	Yamaha DX-21
    			HR-16
    			and obviously MMT-8
    
    If someone has successfully set up this combination then perhaps
    they could post some instructions. I was able to record what was
    played on the DX but when played back it had not stored the selected
    voices.
    
    Also assuming I can get the above fixed how to I play on top of
    the sequenced material?
    
    ...Sean

    I've got almost the same rig...
    
    What do you mean it hadn't "stored the selected voices"?
    
    Let's say you want to play this sequence with whatever patch is stored 
    at position A1. If that patch is always stored there, all you have to
    do is put a "patch change" message at the beginning of your sequence.
    To do this, make sure your XMIT and RCV channels are the same, MIDI 
    CHANNEL MSGS = ON, and SYSTEM =OFF. This will allow you to transmit
    a patch change as part of your sequence.
    
    If you want the actual sys-ex data for the voice as part of your
    sequence, turn SYSTEM=ON. Then when you press A1 (while the sequencer
    is recording) it will send the patch data to the sequencer, which
    will consequently send it back at playback time...
    
    BEWARE!!!!!  The second example above will put this patch into whatever
    memory location is selected at the time, re-writing any patch that was
    there. An erroneous "save" could blow away a patch....
    
    Edd

    > getting to play on top of the sequenced material...
    
    Well, this is easier than it may seem, or downright impossible,
    depending on what you're really trying to do...
    
    Easy: Start the sequencer and play the keyboard. All parts will use
    the same patch. But I'll bet this ain't what you want...
    
    I'm gonna take a wild guess and bet you want to sequence one part
    (piano for instance) and then play another (strings?) "live".
    Using just a DX21 this is gonna be a problem. It only receives on
    one channel at a time, and doesn't support LOCAL OFF. (stupidstupid)
    
    A "work around" solution is to split the keyboard. Send the "piano"
    to the lower half and play the strings on the upper. If you can live
    with a MONO patch (like maybe a bass), you can get 7 voice polyphony
    on the other side of the split. Your only other option is to have
    2 4-voice patches and NO dynamic voice allocation.
    
    Edd

    Thanks Edd....I will try your suggestion in <.129>. Also your "wild
    guess" was correct. I foolishly (it seems) bought the MMT-8 with
    the express desire to do exactly as you observed. Little did I know
    that the DX-21 wouldn't support it. I will try the keyboard split
    but should I consider changing to another synth? If so which one
    would permit what I am after? 
    
    An alternative would also be to add another synth. I wonder which
    route would be best on a tight budget (small 2-piece
    guitar/keyboard/drum_m/c set-up).
           
    ...Sean

    I was in EXACTLY your position 5 years ago. I had a sequencer, a drum
    machine, and a DX21. Let me make a suggestion....
    
    DON'T BUY ANYTHING!!! Not now anyhow. The DX21 has some limitations
    but it's a damn usable synth. (I gigged with mine and used it on
    probably 50% of the songs. I still use it extensively...)
    
    Instead of throwing money at the problem, spend your time learning
    how to get the most out of what you've got. Learn the sys-ex codes.
    Experiment. FIND a way to solve the problem. The experience will
    be well worth the effort. Learn how to program a patch change. Now
    you can have a variety of sounds spring up during the sequence, albeit
    only 2 at any given time.
    
    My rig has grown considerably since I bought the DX, but I certainly
    learned alot about MIDI and being resourceful back then.
    
    ...and you've got this conference to help you out. Probably the BEST
    resource you could ask for, bar none.
    
    Edd

    This conference is incredible.  Can you imagine the response if this
    forum was ever released to the public?  All the best price places, the
    equipment that doesn't work, the best bang for the buck...
    
    Major corporate bru-hah for some synthing companies!!
    
    This place is MY library for electronic information!
    
    Good point, Edddd.  How many d's?
    
    Mike
    

FYI, That particular operation is trivial on a Roland D5, and therefore
presumably on it's more full-featured family members D10 andf D20.

In multi-timbral mode, set keyboard for channel 1, and sequence notes
on 2-7, with drums on 10, (where they're permanantly wired).

    From the Usenet:
    
    Article        16737                                                            
    From: dt@yenta.alb.nm.us (David B. Thomas)                                      
    Subject: secret function on alesis MMT-8                                        
    Date: 15 Oct 90 05:39:36 GMT                                                   
    Organization: yenta unix pc, Rio Rancho, NM                                     
     
    If you have an Alesis MMT-8, try holding down the NAME button and
    pressing
    TEMPO.  Then try holding down NAME and pressing CLICK.
     
    If you don't have one, I'm including the spoiler below, rot-13'ed:
     
    ANZR-GRZCB pnhfrf gur qvfcynl gb ernq "FBSGJNER OL ZNEPHF ELYR"
    ANZR-PYVPX pnhfrf gur qvfcynl gb ernq "UNEQJNER OL XRVGU ONEE"
     
                                            little david

ANZR-GRZCB pnhfrf gur qvfcynl gb ernq "FBSGJNER OL ZNEPHF ELYR"
NAME:TEMPO causes the display to read "SOFTWARE BY MARCUS RYLE"
    
ANZR-PYVPX pnhfrf gur qvfcynl gb ernq "UNEQJNER OL XRVGU ONEE"
NAME:CLICK causes the display to read "HARDWARE BY KEITH BARR"
    

    
    Re: .136, .137
    
    Is there some sort of zen thing going on here?

    
    
      I'm sure performing these little functions will do a shift logical
    right and rotate on your favorite sequence, but that's life, eh?.
                                
      I'll pass.......
    
    
    
    

    
    
    Anyone know what a reasonable price for a used MMT8 is these days?
    
    -Tom

    I've seen them for around $175. I would say somewhere from $150 to
    $225, depending on the condition. I think $150 would be pretty much a
    steal, and you could almost get a new one (maybe you could) for $225.
    Does that help?
    
    - Ram

	In the current Electronic Musician there is a SYSEX translator
	for MMT-8's advertised. I called Alesis, and found that the
	current software runs on the Mac, but there are plans for an
	IBM PC version also. The goal is to allow you to tear apart the
	SYSEX and allow you to edit it with a sequencer program, then
	re-assemble the SYSEX and ship it back out to the MMT-8. I'm all 
	for this capability (since it would allow me to create sequences
	and create MMT-8 SYSEX as needed). This looks like a tool I could 
	use to manage the constant tweeking of sequences that I do (I'm
	often adding gear or chaning levels to make the sequences sound
	better).

	Also, the current release of software for the MMT-8 is 1.11.


								Jens 

    Is it posible to upgrade the sofware version of the MMT8???
    
    If yes where can it be purchase???
    
    I'm experiencing problems when saving sequences to a DataDisk
    sometimes when loading the saved sequence what I get is garbage and all
    data for that sequence is lost. Not a good experience.
    
    

    If you are having trouble with an MMT-8 and a DataDisk, since both are
    Alesis products I would get on the phone with them and *scream* about
    it.  They should be able to explain how to make it work!
    
    						Brian

I recently got V 1.11 of the O/S for the MMT-8 (a chip) from Alesis. I was
running 1.07 on one sequencer and 1.07a on the other. The one with 1.07a
was doing some flaky display things, but otherwise SYSEX dumps were always
reliable (there was a minor hardware change & I think that 1.07a added 
something to allow for this modification - 1.11 works fine with both of mine).

The only times that I had problems were:

	1) Cables weren't MIDI cables (the Radio Shack unsheilded look-alikes).

	2) The MIDI dump was bad (some other inappropriate data in the 
	   middle of the SYSEX dump).

	3) Hardware problems.

	4) Data is being sent too fast.

I just uploaded an IBM PC SYSEX dumper/sender to MIDILIB that most of my
testing occurred with an MMT-8. I have no problems with the SEND/RECIEVE
functions as long as the data is valid.

Is the data always bad, or does it sometimes load correctly?

								Jens

    This problem is very random, like 1 in 10, which is really bad.
    The way I been surviving is by saving the same sequence to several
    diskettes and crossing my fingers and hope one of them is good.
    
    I called Alesis and they are going to send V1.11 upgrade even thou 
    they claim thats not the problem. 
    
    My set includes also a NEXUS Midi Switch which is something that might
    introduce noise or messup the data. 
    
    All my cables are good Midi cables and the version of the MMT8 is 1.02
    (I think I bought the first one in Puerto Rico).
    
    Tonight I'm going to try without the MIDI switch and see what happens.
    
    Thanks all for the information 
    
    Edgar,