Rodgers Allegiant 657, Owner'S Manual

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Saving a MIDI Sound in a Combination Piston
Once a MIDI sound has been selected for a MIDI coupler tab, the same Program Change
and Bank Select messages are sent each time the coupler piston is activated. A selected
MIDI sound on a MIDI coupler tab can be saved on a General or Divisional combination
piston for immediate recall.
To save a MIDI sound on a combination piston:
1. Select a MIDI sound on the desired MIDI coupler, using the procedure above.
2. Press and hold the SET piston, then press the combination piston where the
MIDI sound is to be saved.
3. Release both pistons.
This will save the MIDI sound into the combination piston. If desired, you can also save
organ registrations with MIDI sounds by activating stops and couplers between steps 1
and 2 above.
More about MSB and LSB Messages
As stated above, ‘ MSB ’ and ‘ LSB ’ are “Bank Select” messages; they are acronyms for
“ M ost S ignificant B it” and “ L east S ignificant B it.” They are typically used to select
variations of sounds. The reason that both are supported in the 657/677 is that some
manufacturers use MSB for Bank Select while others use LSB.
The GS Format, for example, uses MSB for Bank Select. The General MIDI, or GM,
standard uses Program Changes only; no Bank Select messages are used.
Consult the owner’s manual for your particular MIDI sound module if you have
questions about what messages are used to select sounds.
General MIDI and GS Format
In the past, most MIDI sound modules provided a maximum of 128 sounds. These were
selected by using MIDI Program Change messages. Unfortunately, there were no
standard sound assignments for those messages. For example, one sound module may
have had a Trumpet on Program Change #39, yet another sound module would have
Chimes on #39.
With the creation of General MIDI (GM), a standard list of 128 sounds was defined, each
of which corresponds to one of the 128 available Program Change messages.
The GS Standard honors that same standard list of GM sounds, but also allows access to
more than those 128 sounds through the use of Bank Select messages (using the MSB
commands). The GS Standard adds the ability to select up to 128 “Variations” of each of
the 128 standard GM sounds, expanding the total number of possible sounds to 16,384.
For example, Program Change #1 in a GM module specifies Piano 1 . A GS module will
also have Piano 1 for Program Change #1 but, in addition, can have 127 other variations
of that particular sound.
The GM instruments are often referred to as “Bank 0” sounds; the GS variations of that
sound will be in other Banks: Bank 8, Bank 16, etc.