Alesis NanoBass, Reference Manual, Page: 74 / 83

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74
NanoBass Reference Manual
PLEASE NOTE: It’s possible to get confused here, if you don’t pay attention, by
the interaction of the CATEGORY knob and incoming MIDI Program Change
commands.
First, when you send Bank Select and Program Change commands, the front
panel knobs don’t move. This means that you could easily be playing ACID 1 via
MIDI, say, while the two knobs point toward RAP 12. Don’t be fooled.
Secondly, the latest Bank Select command that the NanoBass receives, either
from its front panel or over MIDI, is what it pays attention to. For an example of
this, consider the following situation. Using MIDI, you select Bank 1 and a certain
program you like. Then someone comes along (while you aren’t looking) and
turns the CATEGORY knob to one of the Bank 2 categories. Now Bank 2 is
selected, and if all you send the NanoBass is a Program Change command
(instead of a Bank Select followed by a Program Change) you won’t get the
program you wanted. Instead, you’ll get the same-numbered program in Bank 2.
TIP: Because of this, I suggest that you always send both a Bank Select
command and a Program Change command, together, when controlling your
NanoBass via MIDI.
CONTROLLER 0 vs. CONTROLLER 32: Some sequencers automatically use
Controller 32 commands for selecting banks on an instrument. Please be aware
that the NanoBass does not respond to Controller 32 commands. The only way
to select banks on a NanoBass via MIDI is to use Controller 0.
The Not-So-Basics
I mentioned earlier that using MIDI gives you real-time control over lots more
program parameters than you can adjust from the front panel. Here I’d like to
encourage you to experiment with just that.
Sending Mod Wheel data, for example, does some very neat things in various
programs. In some (like most of the electric pianos) it will adjust tremolo. In
organs it will speed up and slow down the lezlie speaker effect. In other
programs it will open the filter for a nice waaah sound. Try it and see.