DigiDesign Digidesign Pro Tools 8.0, Reference Manual

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Pro Tools Reference Guide 596
Patch Select (Program and
Bank Changes)
Each MIDI and Instrument track can have a de-
fault program change that is sent each time the
track plays. Additional program changes can be
inserted at any point within the track.
About Program and Bank Changes
The MIDI protocol lets you choose from a range
of 128 programs (0–127). However, most MIDI
instruments have several banks of 128 pro-
grams. To specify a bank, a
bank select message
must be sent. Some instruments use Controller 0
to switch the bank while others use Controller
32; some use a combination of the two. The
Patch Select dialog in Pro Tools lets you use ei-
ther of these bank select messages when insert-
ing a program change event. Check the manu-
facturer’s documentation for your MIDI device
to see which Controller value it uses.
Default Program Change
The default program change for each MIDI track
is specified by clicking on the Patch Select but-
ton, from either the Mix or Edit window. Once
specified, the default program change message is
sent to your instrument when playing the track.
To set the default program change for a MIDI or
Instrument track:
1
From the Mix or Edit window, click the Patch
Select button.
Program changes are sent to external MIDI
devices. Instrument plug-ins in Pro Tools do
not respond to program change informa-
tion.
If you do not know what bank select com-
mand your instrument uses, you can record
MIDI to Pro Tools while making a bank
change from the instrument. Then review
the bank select information your instrument
has recorded into Pro Tools in the MIDI
Event List.
Some older MIDI devices (such as the Kurz-
weil K1000) use a program change instead
of a Bank Select message to switch banks.
For these devices you may find it necessary
to send two program change messages to ac-
cess a particular program, where the first
sets the bank and the second sets the pro-
gram.
Patch Select button
Patch Select button,
(Edit window)
Patch Select button,
(Mix window)