MIDI and the MPC1000: basic questions about channels !

my MIDI set up: MPC1000 JJOS2XL (set as master) with 2 handshakes:
out A------------- > in MOPHO keyboard synth
in 1<------------- out MOPHO

out B-------------> in MICRON synth
in 2 <------------ out MICRON

keep in mind, I really am a MIDI newbie, so my questions may look quite naive !!

In the main MPC page, bottom right is the field MIDI (1A, 2A, ....16A, 1B,......16B).
I understand they are all channels (corresponding to tracks), but please explain why on one track I would use say 2A, on another track 3A, etc. ?
do you have to have track number = MIDI channel (ie track 7 needs channel 7A) ?

Is this the "correct" way of using channels ?
MPC track 5-- MOPHO synth program "ABC", I could set for example MPC MIDI channel 9A
MPC track 6-- MOPHO synth program "PQR", I could set for example MPC MIDI channel 11A

But on the MOPHO I can set either one channel (1,2, ...) or all 16 channels at the same time, how would I specify that my MOPHO sends program "ABC" to MPC on channel 9 and program "PQR" on channel 11 ?

converter wrote:But on the MOPHO I can set either one channel (1,2, ...) or all 16 channels at the same time, how would I specify that my MOPHO sends program "ABC" to MPC on channel 9 and program "PQR" on channel 11 ?

The Mopho is mono-timbral, it only plays a single program at a time, so you only send MIDI to it on a single MIDI channel.

The Micron is 8 part multi-timbral, it can play 8 different patches at once, on 8 different MIDI channels.

You would setup the Micron so that each of the programs you want to play, simultaneously, responds to a different MIDI channel, then you setup multiple tracks in the MPC to send MIDI to those different MIDI channels.

When connecting both MIDI in and out of a keyboard to the MPC, you should turn local MIDI off in the keyboard, so that the keyboard only sends MIDI to the MIDI output, it doesn't send MIDI to the internal synth engine. Then the internal synth engine only responds to MIDI coming in from the MPC.

The Mopho and Micron do not send any programs to the MPC, their keyboards send MIDI note on/off messages into the MPC sequencer, and the MPC sequencer sends those messages back out into the keyboard to trigger the synth engine in the keyboard.

Even though the Micron is 8 part multi-timbral, it only has 8 voices of polyphony, meaning it can only play 8 notes at a time, so you can run out of available voices quickly if using multiple parts.

SimonInAustralia wrote:

converter wrote:But on the MOPHO I can set either one channel (1,2, ...) or all 16 channels at the same time, how would I specify that my MOPHO sends program "ABC" to MPC on channel 9 and program "PQR" on channel 11 ?

The Mopho is mono-timbral, it only plays a single program at a time, so you only send MIDI to it on a single MIDI channel.

The Micron is 8 part multi-timbral, it can play 8 different patches at once, on 8 different MIDI channels.

You would setup the Micron so that each of the programs you want to play, simultaneously, responds to a different MIDI channel, then you setup multiple tracks in the MPC to send MIDI to those different MIDI channels.

When connecting both MIDI in and out of a keyboard to the MPC, you should turn local MIDI off in the keyboard, so that the keyboard only sends MIDI to the MIDI output, it doesn't send MIDI to the internal synth engine. Then the internal synth engine only responds to MIDI coming in from the MPC.

The Mopho and Micron do not send any programs to the MPC, their keyboards send MIDI note on/off messages into the MPC sequencer, and the MPC sequencer sends those messages back out into the keyboard to trigger the synth engine in the keyboard.

Even though the Micron is 8 part multi-timbral, it only has 8 voices of polyphony, meaning it can only play 8 notes at a time, so you can run out of available voices quickly if using multiple parts.

Thanks a lot !

suppose I set the micron as 2 voices per note (polyphony 4), and I set the channels on the synth as: voice 1 channel 8, voice 2 channel 9,
Now on the MPC, I could specify MIDI out on track say 3 as B 8 and on track 4 as B 9 on the other track. Is this the "correct" way ??


How important is it to set local control off ? If I set local control off, I won't hear what I record in the MPC, right (wrong ?) ?

Also suppose I do not set local control off after having recorded a sequence in MPC, and then while the recorded sequence is playing, if I press keys on the synth, will these keys sound as well as the recorded sequence (sounds interesting) ?

converter wrote:suppose I set the micron as 2 voices per note (polyphony 4), and I set the channels on the synth as: voice 1 channel 8, voice 2 channel 9,
Now on the MPC, I could specify MIDI out on track say 3 as B 8 and on track 4 as B 9 on the other track. Is this the "correct" way ??

I don't know the Micron well enough, but I think you need to put it into multi-channel mode, and set the MIDI channel for the first part, assign a program to that part, and as you add more parts/programs, each new part uses the next MIDI channel number incrementally...

Micron Reference Manual, page 102 wrote:If the Micron is set to “multi-channel” mode, you will be able to select the MIDI channel for the first part. The channel for each additional part and beat will increment from there. (For instance, if you set the channel to “4,” then Part A will use MIDI channel 4; Part B will use MIDI channel 5; etc.

converter wrote:How important is it to set local control off ?

I think it is important, but that is up to you.

converter wrote:If I set local control off, I won't hear what I record in the MPC, right (wrong ?) ?

Wrong, you will hear what you record into the MPC sequencer. When you press a key on one of the keyboards, a MIDI note on/off message is sent out of the keyboard into the active/displayed track in the MPC sequencer, the MPC then sends that MIDI note on/off message out of the MPC, on whatever MIDI port/channel the active MPC track is set to, which might be back to the keyboard synth engine, and if so, it plays the sound in the keyboard as if local MIDI was on.

converter wrote:Also suppose I do not set local control off after having recorded a sequence in MPC, and then while the recorded sequence is playing, if I press keys on the synth, will these keys sound as well as the recorded sequence (sounds interesting) ?

If you have local MIDI off, and have the active/displayed track MIDI port/channel set to the keyboard that you want to play, it will also play the sounds from the keys as well as the recorded sequence.

The problem with leaving local MIDI on in the keyboard, when using it with a sequencer, like the MPC, is when you press a key it will send MIDI from the keyboard directly to the internal synth engine, and will also send MIDI out of the keyboard into the MPC, and possibly back into the keyboard synth engine from the MPC if the MIDI port/channel is set to do so, thereby each key press triggers the sound twice, halving the available polyphony, so you could only play 4 notes at a time instead of 8.

Thanks Simon !!