Can Someone Explain Program Changes?

Hey I've searched around but i can't find anything about it.

I know a program change is meant to switch the presets on sound modules and shit, I just wanna know how they work. Is it supposed to be a way to get the mpc to load your presets for you?

How do i get my other gear to recognize the changes?

any help?

Originally posted by DJ Trebul:

Is it supposed to be a way to get the mpc to load your presets for you?

Yes, precisely.

Program change is a midi message that your MPC sends to another synth or sound module. Depending on the configuration of the respected external hardware (synth or sound module), the program change message sent on the MPC will be received by the external synth on a specified midi channel on its connected midi port and the sound module or synth would interpret the received program change value as a patch number and call up the appropriate patch based on the program change value. This means you can call up specific patches on your external synth from your MPC without touching the external hardware by simply specifying the midi channel, MSB/LSB (patch bank), and program change value.

When you create a sequence on the MPC with MIDI tracks using specified patches on specified midi channels and save the sequences before powering down the MPC, the same patches will be called when the sequence is reloaded and played back. This means your sequences will sound correctly every time as long as the synth is connected to the same midi port and the synth is configured the same.

I hope this explanation helps you to better understand how program change works.