CHAPTER 6: THE MIDI MENU

6.1 THE MIDI menu
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Pitch Bend 
If this is ticked, Trackman will accept pitch bend messages.
Click to toggle on or off. Some MIDI guitars use pitch bend for note update
so if you disable this the guitar will behave strangely.

Aftertouch. 
If this is ticked, Trackman will accept aftertouch messages.
Click to toggle on or off. Aftertouch can generate a lot of MIDI data so
switch this off unless you really want it.

Patch Changes. 
If this is ticked, Trackman will accept and transmit patch changes. 
Click to toggle on or off. This filter differs in that it also works on
output data. This is so that recorded patch changes can be disabled when
required.

MIDI Song Select. 
If this is ticked, Trackman will accept MIDI song select
messages and use them to change sequence.

System Exclusive. 
If ticked, Trackman will accept system exclusive data. 
Click to toggle on or off. The ability to record system exclusive data within
a sequence is primarily intended for reasonably small amounts of data, a
single patch dump or parameter change for instance. The dedicated MIDI
send and receive facility is better for large amounts of data. It uses less
memory and is quicker for large blocks. 

Controller Filters: 
allows you to select which MIDI controllers are accepted by Trackman.
The first 64 available numbers are paired (0 and 32, 1 and 33 etc) to form 32
high resolution 14 bit controllers. The others, from 64 up are 7 bit controllers. 
Click to select or deselect a controller, highlighted ones are selected. The
standard controllers are named but for others you should refer to the
relevant synthesizer manual.


Controller Mapping
Controller mapping is also available from the Controller Filters dialog box.
Use the left and right arrows to select the source and destination controllers.

MIDI Echo. If ticked, all accepted incoming MIDI data will be transmitted
on the current base channel. Click to toggle on or off. 

It may be necessary to disable MIDI echo to prevent note doubling when
your keyboard is connected internally to the synthesizer. On some
instruments it is possible to disconnect this. Look in the manual of your
master keyboard for 'Local Control Off'.

Multi Channel Input should be ticked if you want this, otherwise all
incoming MIDI data will be forced to channel 1. Unless you are using a
multi channel controller leave this switched off. It will prevent the
possibility of your master keyboard sending on the wrong channel and
upsetting the MIDI routing which Trackman makes so easy.



Multi-Channel Controllers
Some instruments transmit on more than one MIDI channel. This could be
a split keyboard on two channels or a MIDI guitar controller using six
channels. Which ever you use, set it to transmit on channel 1 and up.
Trackman will combine the incoming channel information with the
channel number in the MIDI mixer in order to determine which channel to
transmit on.

	Output channel = Input channel + Track channel - 1.

If the resulting channel number is greater than 16 then 16 will be
subtracted to force the channel to 'wrap' to a lower one.

So, if the track is set to channel 1 and the MIDI keyboard sends on channel
5 then Trackman transmits on channel 5.



Channel Selects Track
forces events onto the track corresponding to the
channel of the incoming data. The data will also be re-channelled to
channel 1 before being stored. Some practical applications for this are:

1. If your master keyboard has a MIDI transmit channel selector, you can
use this to remotely select which track (and hence synth) you want to
play or record.

2. If you have a MIDI merger you could record two or more instruments at
once, each going to a separate track.

3. You could spread a multi-channel controller over two or more tracks.
Two for a split keyboard, six for a MIDI guitar.

4. Use it to transfer patterns or songs from another sequencer.
Here's how you do it:

a) The MIDI menu:
      	
MIDI Echo 	            Off                       	
MIDI Clock Output	      Off
Channel Selects Track	On
Auto Clock Select      	On
External Record Start	On

b)  The Quantise menu:  Off


c) Make a new sequence of the same time signature as the source but a
few bars longer.

d) Set the other machine to a slow tempo, say 50 BPM, enable MIDI clock
output and start it. Each part will be recorded on a separate track. 

e) After checking the transfer, set up the patch memory and fill in the
Track Sheet before saving.

MIDI Clock Output. 
If ticked, MIDI clocks will be sent from the main MIDI output during play or record. 
If MIDI Clock Output is not ticked Trackman will not send MIDI Start, Continue, 
Song Pointer or Song Select as these commands are a source of trouble when using 
drum machines and keyboard 'workstations' as MIDI expanders.

Auxiliary MIDI output. 
If ticked, set the modem port to output the 16 additional MIDI channels. 
If you wish to leave a modem or serial printer connected instead of using 
auxiliary MIDI then this item should not be ticked. If this is the case 
use Save Preferences to ensure the modem port is unaffected when Trackman is loaded.

All Notes Off 
lets you choose the MIDI message sent to each channel when Trackman stops. 
The messages are:


    	NOTES OFF: The normal 'All Notes Off' message.
 	OMNI OFF: Tell the synth to receive on just one channel.
  	OMNI ON: Tell the synth to receive on any channel.
  	MONO ON: Switch the synthesizer to monophonic mode.
 	POLY ON: Switch the synthesizer to polyphonic mode.
 	LOCAL OFF: Disconnect local keyboard from synthesizer.



The most useful one is generally OMNI OFF as this prevents synthesizers 
receiving on all channels at once. The POLY or MONO settings may be appropriate 
for your setup but if you experience trouble with synthesizers jumping into weird 
modes use OMNI OFF. If a synthesizer still gets upset use NOTES OFF. You may need 
to use LOCAL OFF for your master keyboard so you can use the synth section as if 
it were an expander.

If you get a hanging note by changing MIDI channel whilst playing your keyboard, 
click on STOP and the all notes off code should clear it.

Auto Clock Select 
will use the internal clock when started from the computer or external 
MIDI clocks when a MIDI start or MIDI continue command is received.

External Clock Input. 
If ticked, Trackman uses external MIDI clocks. If not ticked then the internal clock is used.

External Record Start. 
If Trackman receives a MIDI start or MIDI continue then it will normally 
go into play mode. If auto record is ticked it will start in 
record mode, punched in.

Save Preferences  
stores the items on the MIDI menu in a file called 'TRACKMAN.INF' so when 
the program is next loaded the settings remain the same. The drum 
tracks, footswitch settings, automation controller assignments, 
MIDI click setup, sync output rate and drum list are also saved.
