About MIDI
MOTIF XF Reference Manual
30
Basic Str
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Basic Oper
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Connections
Basic Section
About MIDI
MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a standard which allows electronic musical instruments to communicate with
each other, by sending and receiving compatible Note, Control Change, Program Change and various other types of MIDI
data, or messages.
This synthesizer can control other MIDI devices by transmitting note related data and various types of controller data. It can
also be controlled by incoming MIDI messages which automatically determine the tone generator mode, select MIDI
channels, voices and effects, change parameter values, and of course play the voices specified for the various Parts.
MIDI channels
MIDI performance data is assigned to one of sixteen MIDI
channels. Using these channels, 1 – 16, the performance
data for sixteen different instrument parts can be
simultaneously sent over one MIDI cable.
Think of the MIDI channels as TV channels. Each TV station
transmits its broadcasts over a specific channel.
Your home TV set receives many different programs
simultaneously from several TV stations and you select the
appropriate channel to watch the desired program.
MIDI operates on the same basic principle.
The transmitting instrument sends MIDI data on a specific
MIDI channel (MIDI Transmit Channel) via a single MIDI
cable to the receiving instrument. If the receiving
instrument’s MIDI channel (MIDI Receive Channel)
matches the Transmit Channel, the receiving instrument will
sound according to the data sent by the transmitting
instrument.
For information on how to set the MIDI transmit channel
and the MIDI receive channel, see page 228.
MIDI messages transmitted/
recognized by this synthesizer
The messages transmitted/received by the MOTIF XF are
shown in the MIDI Data Format and MIDI Implementation
Chart in the separate Data List. The MOTIF XF tone
generator block (indicated “synth. part” in the Data List)
and sequencer block (indicated “seq. part” in the Data
List) handle different MIDI messages. The MIDI messages
which the sequencer block can receive can be recorded to
tracks of a Song/Pattern. On the other hand, the MIDI
messages which the tone generator can receive can affect
the MOTIF XF sound.
This section covers MIDI events, the data format by which
the MIDI messages generated by your keyboard
performance are recorded to a track of a Song/Pattern.
Theses events described below can be edited or inserted
in the displays of the Song Edit/Pattern Edit modes.
Note
These are the events that define notes, making up the
largest portion of all performance data. The note name (C -
2 – G8) defines the pitch. The gate time specifies the
length of the note in beats and clocks. Velocity (1 – 127) is
“how hard” the note is played. The bar graph to the right is
a graphic representation of the value.
Pitch Bend
1
2
2
Weather Report
News
News
MIDI Receive channel 2
MIDI Transmit channel 2
MIDI
c
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MIDI events handled by the MOTIF XF
Note name
Gate time
Velocity
Bar graph
of velocity
Data value
Bar graph of
the data value