How do midi work

There are usually 16 MIDI channels in total. For example, if you have an instrument that creates a great sound, and another that makes a different but equally great sound, you could set the first one to channel 1. Then, you can set the second sound to channel 2, and so on.

Some controllers can transmit the data over multiple channels. A good example would be a MIDI guitar. It has one channel for each string, so the bottom two strings can play a different sound than the upper four. Channels are a must-have for multitimbral hardware and other virtual instruments that can playback multiple sounds simultaneously.

Controller messages numbers prevent the tone generator from becoming confused. It assigns numbers to parameters.

The most common standard default for controller message numbers look something like this:. You can use MIDI mapping to make the changes. So, what is a MIDI map? In other words, it gives people a way to adjust music without staring at a computer screen. With MIDI mapping, you can choose what button or knob will control inside the software. You can even set your own set of custom controls that are unique to your music workflow.

For instance, if you want to focus on mixer controls, then you can set your MIDI map to manage the track volume and panning.

Some people prefer to use MIDI with built-in mapping features. If you want to try and set up MIDI mapping, here are the basic steps:. In some cases, you may use an audio interface, which acts as a hub between the computer and the controller.

The audio interface is mainly used for connecting an instrument or microphone to a computer, but it can function as an external sound card. I have written an article on how to get started with an audio interface.

You can read it here. A simple way to get started is with the incredible Focusrite Scarlett 2i2. This Interface also has phantom power built-in and is a very popular choice.

You can learn all about phantom power and preamps here. If you are unsure what phantom power is you can read my article here. The computer program like Ableton has a preference menu that can be adjusted. Then, look for the section on MIDI ports.

If your MIDI controller is connected, it will show up as an input and output. Go ahead and turn on Track and Remote for both of them. This only needs to be done once. Now your controller is ready for MIDI mapping. Once it is turned on, you can start mapping your controller. When the mapping mode is switched on, you can click on a parameter you want to map, and it will either change color or have a border appear around it.

For example, in Ableton, many things will turn blue when the mapping mode is turned on. That means anything blue can be selected for mapping. This means the mapping has been attached to the parameter on the controller. Ableton is a popular choice among many MIDI users, but there are other programs as well, and their mapping options may vary. Most software and digital interfaces make it easy to save your mapping.

It depends on the software you are using. A good way to save your mapping without starting over is to save the current settings as your default.

Remember—you can set each device to a different channel and use a single stream of MIDI to control them all. There are as many ways to use MIDI as there are musicians. But there are some typical MIDI workflows that most producers should understand. With the help of VST plugins this setup turns your MIDI controller into whatever you want it to be: Millions of different synths, drum machines, guitars, flutes, horns, or pretty much anything else you can dream up.

You can edit sequences in the piano roll and and input notes manually the help of the controller to play your parts. That means you can use all your digital tools and techniques to input and edit notes and play them back with a real synthesizer—or any other MIDI capable device.

This setup is like a mini DAW rig made up of entirely hardware gear. This is how most producers used MIDI before computers were cheap enough to be commonly used in music. The original architects of the protocol did a fantastic job of creating a way for digital instruments to communicate.

For one thing, the power and speed of even the simplest modern digital gear is light years ahead of what designers were working with in the 80s.

All this has led to the development of the all new MIDI 2. MIDI gives you access to every sound you can think of and all the editing power you need to make your music production fast and seamless. Skip to primary navigation Skip to main content. Manufacturers needed a simple way to make their products compatible with those of other brands.

That sheds some light on where MIDI can come into your workflow. Channel messages transmit up to two kinds of data at once. The most important thing to understand about MIDI is that it is based on the idea of message-passing between devices pieces of equipment or software. Imagine a common situation: you have a keyboard synthesizer and would like to record a sequence using the sounds that are in that synthesizer.

You connect the computer and synthesizer so that they can communicate using the MIDI protocol, and start recording. What happens? When you play notes on the synthesizer, all your physical actions except the dance moves are transmitted as MIDI messages to the computer sequencing software, which records the messages.

MIDI messages are brief numeric descriptions of an action. Keys you press, knobs you turn, the joystick you wiggle — all these actions are encoded as MIDI messages.

The computer does not record the sound itself. When you play your recorded sequence, the computer sends MIDI messages back to the synthesizer, which interprets them and creates audio in response. That would not be possible if you were recording the sound that the synthesizer makes. The concept of channels is central to how most MIDI messages work. A channel is an independent path over which messages travel to their destination. The following list shows the standard use for these controller numbers when controlling MIDI hardware.

The controller assignments in bold are the most commonly used. Also known as a "patch change", these messages are commonly used to tell hardware or software to change a patch preset. When using General MIDI, the program change number will be affiliated with a particular type of patch. Most virtual instrument companies will not follow this standard since their sound sets are unique. Here is the list of program changes and what patch they refererence when using the General MIDI standard:.

This allows you to change the patch of multiple virtual instruments or hardware modules, all from the same MIDI controller using channel assignments. Latest Articles. What do I do?