| Title: | * * Computer Music, MIDI, and Related Topics * * |
| Notice: | Conference has been write-locked. Use new version. |
| Moderator: | DYPSS1::SCHAFER |
| Created: | Thu Feb 20 1986 |
| Last Modified: | Mon Aug 29 1994 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 2852 |
| Total number of notes: | 33157 |
After just a few months of screwing around with my CZ, I've begun
to see where another synth or two would be useful, so I've been
out looking around at various expander modules like the FB-01, MT-32,
etc.
One thing I've noticed is the problem of sending patch changes out to
external boxes. My CZ-5000 has 64 patch locations, eight banks of
eight patches each, starting at patch 00 and going to 3F (hex). Now
some other machines have more than 64 patches; look at the new
Oberheim, it has 1000!!!, the FB-01 has 336 and a number of synths have
192. Even some synths with few patches pose problems; the little
CZ-101 has three 16-patch banks (or six banks of eight, maybe), lying
at 00-0F (presets), 20-2F (user memory) and 40-4F (cartridge).
Obviously, the last sixteen patches cannot be switched from a CZ-5000.
Now my home application makes patch switching at startup time an
annoyance, but not fatal. However, I can see where it could get
old fast. You folks with fancy sequencers can probably send just
about any kind of patch change message a synth might need, but what
are you supposed to do for real-time applications? What sort of
solutions and work-arounds have noters come up with?
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1315.1 | dedicate channels ... | MIZZOU::SHERMAN | Baron of Graymatter | Wed Apr 13 1988 12:27 | 8 |
Mostly, the problem is solved by making each box only respond to
patch changes on specific channels. I suppose that if you have
a situation where two boxes respond to the same channels after power-up
(no battery backup or whatever) and they come from different
manufacturers you should be able to have a sequencer send some sysex
messages to them to reconfigure them.
Steve
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| 1315.2 | More Is Less? | AQUA::ROST | Bimbo, Limbo, Spam | Wed Apr 13 1988 12:42 | 3 |
No the problem I mean is when you have slaves that have *more* patch
locations than your controller can get at in real time.
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| 1315.3 | AKOV68::EATOND | Where is he when the music stops? | Wed Apr 13 1988 12:59 | 22 | |
Well, I'm not sure if this answers the question, but I just wanted to
mention that some synths (I'm thinking of the TZ right now) have the ability
to re-map patch change messages to any patch in the instrument. So you send a
change message for a patch on your master keyboard and the slave synth responds
not with the default corresponding patch, but with the one you have specified
in a memory location set apart for that purpose.
I know the TZ does it, I'm not sure what others have this ability. I
ran into this very problem last night when I wanted to send a patch change to
the TZ and my Roland can only access 128 patches. This time around I simply
copied the 'out-of-range' patch into a lower number location. I'm sure I won't
be able to do this all the time, especially when I really begin exploiting the
instrument and building up a decent library of patches.
I'm under the impression that the TZ will allow re-mapping to either
single voices AND to configuration settings (in other words, it treats them
the same in the re-mapping). This is a relief because I would have a tendancy
to want to use both, and would hate to have to remember to toggle between the
two in a performance. Am I right about this ability of the re-map utility?
Dan
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| 1315.4 | NIMBUS::DAVIS | Wed Apr 13 1988 13:12 | 24 | ||
RE: .3
Yes, I believe the TZ does include both single and performance patches
in the same map. The re-mapping ability is really a nice feature,
saves you from having to buy a fancy controller in a small setup.
In general, the problem of selecting multiple patches from one place,
requires this kind of "mapping" function. Either all the receiving
synths have it (not likely), or you can do it with the keyboard
controller (like a KX88) or you get a dedicated MIDI controller
box (friend of mine just bought the VOYCE, looks like a nice piece
of hardware. Also, as .0 mentioned, you can use a sequencer to do
this. I play in a small group with two other synth players, and
we have a sequence for every tune we do, even if the sequence is
nothing more than a patch change it's easier to hit one button on
the sequencer than us to change five different synths.
I don't think the CZ-5000 is going to cut it as a controller. Don't
get me wrong, my only synth is a 101, which I love, but the CZs
just don't have the right features for use as a "controller". Getting
a TZ as a second synth sounds like a good idea, since it has the
mapping built in.
Rob
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