What Is Midi; Midi Connectors; Midi Channels; Main Midi Messages Used By The Jp-8080 - Roland JP-8080 Owner's Manual

What is MIDI?

MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a worldwide standard for exchanging musical data between electronic musi-
cal instruments and computers, etc. MIDI does not handle the "audio" data itself, but instead handles musical performance
data and commands in digital form. The digital signals handled by MIDI are referred to as MIDI messages.

MIDI Connectors

Any devices that have MIDI connectors can be connected
via MIDI cables to exchange musical data, regardless of
their manufacturer or model.
REMOTE KBD IN:
This connector receives MIDI messages from an external
MIDI device. The MIDI messages which are received at this
connector can control RPS or the arpeggiator.
MIDI IN:
This connector receives MIDI messages from an external
MIDI device. RPS and the arpeggiator cannot be controlled
via this connector.
MIDI OUT:
MIDI messages from the JP-8080 are transmitted from this
connector.
Musical data produced by MIDI messages received at
REMOTE KBD IN are also transmitted from this connector.
For example if you play RPS or the arpeggiator, this musical
data will be transmitted.
Also, if MIDI Thru is turned ON (ALL), MIDI messages
received from MIDI IN will be re-transmitted from this con-
nector without change. If MIDI Thru is ON (w/o SysEx),
any exclusive messages will be omitted from the MIDI mes-
sages which are re-transmitted.

MIDI Channels

MIDI is able to transmit many streams of data over a single
cable. This is made possible by the concept of "MIDI chan-
nels." There are 16 MIDI channels: 1–16. MIDI messages
will be received when the channels of the receiving and
transmitting devices match.
On the JP-8080, the MIDI OUT transmit channel and the
MIDI IN receive channel are the same. If you set the MIDI
channel of the Upper and Lower Parts to match the channel
settings of an external MIDI device, MIDI messages can be
transmitted and received on that channel. The REMOTE
KBD IN receive channel is set by the Remote Keyboard
Channel.
168
Main MIDI Messages Used by
the JP-8080
MIDI includes a wide variety of messages that can be used
to convey various types of data. MIDI messages can be
broadly classified into those which are handled separately
by channel (Channel messages) and those which are han-
dled regardless of channel (System messages). The main
types of MIDI message used by the JP-8080 are as follows.

Channel Messages

These messages are used to convey musical performance
operations, and make up the greater part of MIDI messages.
Note-on
This message is transmitted when a key is played. Each
Note-on message includes the following three pieces of
data, which are transmitted as one message.
Note-on: a key was played
Note number: the key (number) that was played
Velocity: how strongly (quickly) it was played
Note numbers are expressed as a number in the range of
0–127, with middle C (C4) as 60.
Note name
C-1 C2 C3
0 36 48
Note number
Note-off
This message is transmitted when a key is released. When
this message is received, the sound for that key will be
turned off. Each Note-off message includes the following
three pieces of data, which are transmitted as one message.
a key was released
Note-off:
Note number: the key (number) that was released
how strongly (quickly) it was released
Velocity:
C4 C5 C6 G9
60 72 84 127