Hi everyone. I'm new. I'm trying to understand MIDI from a keyboardist performer's POV.

I have a really cheap Yamaha. I got it because it's full-size, weighted keys, and a good piano sound. I got it just to practice with at home. But I will be a keyboardist in a band and want to get a module to hook through my full-size... and also another smaller keyboard so I can have a couple different things going on.

Anyway, how does the MIDI relationship work best? What are my options?

If I have a small Roland Fantom keyboard, could I MIDI it to my large Yamaha so I can play voices from the Roland on the Yamaha and still play a different voice on the Roland at the same time?

Or, do I need to get a module exclusively for the Yamaha to play off of, then an additional keyoard to play different voices?

Example: Module to Yamaha to play sounds from the module on my Yamaha and then have an additional keyboard for organ or strings or whatever???

Anyone want to explain the "through" MIDI option?

Thanks

Hi, Chris Lawrence!

Welcome to the Bose L1 forum, where we write about a lot of things music-related, but most of it centered around ... or 'spun-off' from thinking about the effect of ... the Bose L1 Speaker System.

Some of us who frequent this forum may be able to give some info on your questions (see below), but I would encourage you to consider getting an L1 to amplify your keyboards, if you haven't already done so. That will do a number of things for you:

... let you clearly hear the differences in the keyboard voices and module voices as you try them out.
... be heard in the band (as you hinted at in your other note about modules).
... worry less about the amplification and focus more about the music.

At any rate, to your questions:

quote:

... how does the MIDI relationship work best? What are my options?...

MIDI connections are "point-to-point", sort of like telephone calls. You have to have "extra" capabilities to be able to connect more than two devices. However, unlike the telephone, only one device generally the "master" of a single connection. So, typically a keyboard "controls" another device (e.g.: a module). So you connect the keyboard MIDI Out to the module's MIDI In, and the keyboard now can "control" how the module acts and the notes the module "plays" are controlled by the keyboard.

Now, having said that: What I've described applies to one MIDI channel; the MIDI specification actually supports 16 channels, and the "master" does not have to be the same device on each channel -- and that 'mastership' can change at any time. So, you have to be concerned with what channel(s) are the devices transmitting and receiving on.

Most MIDI devices have both a MIDI In and a MIDI Out. While it is device-dependent, most of the time the MIDI Out consists of either the "control commands" from that device (e.g.: note commands from a keyboard) -- or -- whatever commands it receives on the MIDI In connection. So (particularly if the command comes in on a channel the device is not "listening" to), the MIDI Out can serve as a "daisy-chain" for connecting more than two devices together.

Which leads us to:

quote:

Anyone want to explain the "through" MIDI option?

A MIDI "Thru" connection basically passes on EVERYTHING which comes from the MIDI In. The MIDI Out, by way of contrast, may contain something different. So, the intent of the "Thru" is to allow you to connect "A"-out --> "B"-in --> "B"-thru --> "C"-in ... and have reasonable confidence that "A" and "C" can converse on channel 3 without any interference from device "B", while "A" and "B" could simultaneously use channel 1.

In practice, one can often use the MIDI Out and Thru as interchangeable ... i.e.: as an "output splitter" ... but it sometimes depends on that specific device.

quote:

If I have a small Roland Fantom keyboard, could I MIDI it to my large Yamaha so I can play voices from the Roland on the Yamaha and still play a different voice on the Roland at the same time? ... Or, do I need to get a module exclusively for the Yamaha to play off of, then an additional keyboard to play different voices?...

If you connect two keyboards together (let's call them F and Y) with "F-Out" --> "Y-In" and "Y-Out" to "F-In", then you can play keyboard "F" play any of the MIDI-accessible voices on "Y" ... and the reverse.

However, when playing keyboard "F", if you have both "F" & "Y"s audio outputs connected to a speaker system (such as an L1) -- what will you hear? Well, it depends on a lot of specifics about the two devices and how they might be configured ... and that's way too much to get into here. In general, you would hear the currently selected voice on "F" and the same note with the voice selected on "Y" ... if you want the voice on "Y" to be different from the voice you get by playing on "Y"s keyboard, then you typically have to configure the devices to communicate on different channels than the "default" channel.

In a sense, (unless you know you have a "keyboard-only" device) a "keyboard" really has two parts to it: a "controller" (the keyboard) which can generate MIDI commands, and a "voice module" which listens to and acts on MIDI commands -- with an internal connection between the two that you may or may not be able to change. The external MIDI-Out comes from that "controller", while the "voice module" listens to that external MIDI-In -- and also the internal Controller (by default, at least).

Beyond this point you'll need to delve into the specifics of your devices and the options they have available for configuring the MIDI channels and voice selections.

You can start to see why many folks have a computer involved in a multi-device MIDI setup so a MIDI program on the computer can help sort all this out!

I've taken you this far, because most of this may be useful to any L1 owner who has MIDI devices.

If you really need to get deeper into your specific keyboards and their MIDI capabilities, you are probably best to (A) read the keyboard's manual, and (B) find a forum specific to that keyboard (e.g.: manufacturer's forum, if they have one) to find out what it can or cannot do.

I hope I haven't confused you (and other readers) too much!

(Edit to correct an incorrect word usage.)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dan Cornett,

That helped out a lot. I appreciate it...

And believe me, I had no idea what the L1 was when I signed up here, but after checking it out and seeing the amazing prices, I have no problem introducing my band to it...

Thanks again,


Chris Lawrence