Practical Use Of Midi Channels; What To Do When You Have Difficulty Sequencing - Roland GR-33 Owner's Manual

Chapter 9 Connecting to External Sound Generators and Sequencers

Practical Use of MIDI Channels

fig.9-16
Transmitting in Mono Mode
Guitar 1
Mono Mode ch1
MIDIch
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
In use
Transmitting in Poly Mode
Poly Mode ch1 Guitar 1
Poly Mode ch2
MIDIch
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
In use
14 channels remaining available for use

What to do When You Have Difficulty Sequencing

Double-check the MIDI cable connections (OUT
93) and the setting for local control (on or off—p. 94).
When performing playback, be sure to check the MIDI
channel and Bend Range settings (p. 86).
Be sure that the transmitting modes (Mono or Poly)
match up. If only the sound for one string is heard
during playback, you may be sending performance data
to created with transmission in Mono mode a non-
multitimbral sound generator.
If MIDI cannot be sent and recording is impossible for
only a particular string, use the [STRING SELECT]
button to set the COMMON "MIDI [PC]" setting in the
Patch Edit mode to the string's number, and make sure
that the setting is not "Off." (p. 88)
During transmission in Poly mode, pitch changes for
chord play are in semitone steps. If continuous change in
pitch is needed, use single-note playing or transmission
in MIDI Mono mode.
96
Guitar 2
Mono Mode ch7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Only 4 channels
remaining available for use
Guitar 2
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
IN, p.
A single MIDI system has 16 channels, and ordinarily 16
instrument parts can exist.With a guitar synthesizer,
however, each of the six strings takes up one channel.
This means that, for instance, two-part input with the guitar
synth to an ensemble from a 16-part external multitimbral
sound generator would use up 12 channels.
In cases like this, set the System mode setting "BASIC
CHANNEL" (p. 86) to "Poly 1" to "Poly 16" and send input
to the sequencer with Poly mode sending. This lets you
proceed with recording while using up only one channel per
part, as with a keyboard instrument.
One drawback of transmitting in Poly mode is that it is not
possible to send Pitch Bend messages for bending, sliding,
vibratos, and the like when playing chords, but this mode
can help in economical use of channels and parts when used
judiciously separately from Mono mode input while giving
consideration to the tones to be used and to single-note
playing.
If MIDI Bend Range is set to "1" or "2," unpleasant
retriggering of sounds may occur frequently during a
performance with continuous changes in pitch through
bending or the like. When using the same Bend Range
setting for both sending and receiving, make the value as
large as possible. (p. 86)
To achieve faster sound generation and smooth pitch
changes, the GR-33 transmits pitch as a combination of
Note messages and Pitch bend messages. This means
that if the sequencer's microscope (event list) screen
shows only Note messages, what appears on-screen may
differ from what is actually performed. If continuous
pitch change is not required, you can create data that is
displayed more faithfully by setting the sending Bend
Range to "0" (p. 86).