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JohnG11

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About JohnG11

  • Birthday 07/07/1946

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  • homepage
    https://midi-tutor.proboards.com/
  • occupation
    Retired
  • hobbies
    Classical music, MIDI, making orchestral backing tracks.
  • Location
    Northants, UK.

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  1. [RANT} I don't know! Nobody here seems to understand how processors work. I started writing programs in the late sixties and was recruited by a mainframe manufacturer in '72. I was there for twenty years. Through modems, ISDN, LANs and their many different formats, and then DSL and fibre networks. I've worked on mainframe operating systems (rewriting data communications parts in machine code), DOS, OS/2, Windows 2 onwards. So ... I believe I do know I tiny bit about how things work in this respect. hardware, processors, networks, protocols (from 2780/3270, CSMA/CD, Q.921/.931, GSM) etc, I'm no expert, very far from it, when it comes to using DAW software. But I do understand the code and how it's processed. I worked in data comms/tele comms and lastly satellite comms from 1970 until 2002, most of it from the computer aspect, but also writing and delivering courses worldwide for a satellite comms company (InMarSat). When a packet of data arrives at the USB interface it has to be examined by the operating system to understand what the contents are. It then gets passed on by the operating system to the appropriate program to process it examines the first byte to decide what message it is, then takes the appropriate action. The DAW software then e.g. passes the data to a VSTi to generate a note and then goes back to look at the next message in the packet and so on. With the best will in the world a modern system even with a 4 MHz octocore processor just deals with one message at a time. So even two notes timestamped with the same time will be started one at a time. The gap between them may to besmall to hear. But the notes are still processed SERIALLY. There's no guarantee that notes originating at a music keyboard played simultaneously will occupy just one USB packet. They may, they may not. But anyway, just like a QWERTY keyboard, an electronic music keyboard is scanned from one end to the other many times per second and notes are accumulated sequentially from the scan and transferred to a buffer in digital format. This is another serial proces. Even if you physically play two notes simultaneously (an analogue process) they'll each be turned to MIDI Note On events (whether 1.0 or 2.0) one at a time by the processor chip in the keyboard and placed in the transmission buffer, again serially. Even if you devised a system where all the keys were constantly monitored and triggered an interrupt as they were played they would still be processed serially by the code running in the processor. Sorry, getting exasperated! [/RANT]
  2. Yup, just logged on and it seems I'm no longer a moderator. The spam has already started - I found three, couldn't remove them or delete the users. Oh well! Good luck MMA, I've put in many years of service and finally had enough. Time to let others take over. JG.
  3. Greater dynamics? That again depends not upon MIDI (whether 1 or 2) but on the device interpreting the MIDI command it receives. The MIDI note receiving device that then creates the sound interprets it in the way it's been designed to. e.g Note On, Velocity 64 = 60dB, Note On, Vel. 100 = 90dB - or whatever. MIDI 2 will give, if used, smaller steps between each of the current MIDI 1 'steps'. My understanding, having read the MIDI 2 specs four years ago, is that none of our old gear will have a clue what is happening with MIDI 2 commands. I also got the idea (could be wrong) tht MIDI 2 devices won't be using the Din interface because it's not bi-directional. So they won't physically connect to the TX81z vor the VL70m, both of which use the 5 pin Din only. But I wait to be corrected on this. Theoretically my ancient Yammy MU1000 and my Roland SC8850 could connect, but they'd need some sort of firmware upgrade to understand the MIDI 2 commands. Now I wonder whether Yamaha and Roland are going to dig out the code and reprogamme 20 plus year old equipment? Hmmm! Hope people are enjoying this debate, I'm deliberately playing Devil's Advocate. (But I do remain to be convinced.) JG
  4. Thanks for that Craig. The UK u3a is moving to WordPress too. I'm unfortunate enough to be web co-ordinator for one the the 700 odd branches here. I'm trying to absorb the info in a 296 page manual in my copious spare time. Yuk! Not my favourite waste of time.
  5. Craig, Re hearing stepping when you move a fader. What you're descirbing is faulty electronic design, not a fault with MIDI 1. If you want a smooth transition between increments when you move e.g. a fader, you design the equipment to provide it. Just as when you play an acoustic instrument and don't want each note tongued you play legato or use portamento for a slide. The electronics has to be designed to do a smooth transition rather than a click. No need to design a complicated new protocol to carry smaller 'clicks'. SynMike, 30 notes with identical timing? To what purpose? The microprocessors in any MIDI instrument or PC will play them back sequentially. They are serial devices. No electronic instrument on this planet can play back 30 simultaneous notes, let alone 2. (Modification, it can play back 30 notes starting them one at a time, albeit very quickly using a modern processor.)) They're played in the order in which they appear in the file or over the interface. The processor in, say, a keyboard, scans the keys and plays them back one after the other in the order in which it 'sees' them. They may appear to be simultaneous, but they're not.
  6. Bidirectional negotiations were happening 20 years ago, just connect both MIDI In and Out. T'aint rocket science, I know, I worked for InMarSat for a while, back in the early noughties, writing courses for them and delivering them worldwide. Re the problem using a different note on each channel of a MIDI port. Multiple ports were used long ago. If you wanted a harpsichord using a non-ET temperament you used one port for that and a separate port for other instruments. The Yamaha MU128 as long ago as 1999 had four MIDI ports. Craig, Re backwards compatible, can MIDI 2 use the Din interface? I thought it couldn't. So my old Cheetah MS6 couldn't be used with MIDI 2 gear could it? What about my TX81z, or my AN1x, or my Kenton Plugstation with its 4 PLG cards?
  7. Ethernet has come a long, long way since the early eighties. If I remember correctly I was working with Ungerman-Bass equipment back then and it was all horribly expensive and a nightmare to implement. Cat 5, for wired connections, is extremely cost effective and inserting a Gigabit Ethernet chip in a device is probably cheaper than an RS232 chip was back then.
  8. Certainly a Cat5 Ethernet solution looks favourite to me for a high speed solution, but it would be good as a solution for MIDI 1 too.
  9. But the Osmose Expressive E is all MIDI 1.0, and if that can allow us to be more expressive ... then why MIDI 2.0? I readily admit that the 5 pin DIN MIDI interface is way too slow for our current needs, but that's not a justification for a totally rewritten set of standards, just for a very low latency, higher speed connectivity mechanism. IMV there are fundamental flaws in all current Packet Switched mechanisms for data transmission for playing music. (I worked all my career in data communications, both terrestrial and satellite, starting with 300bps modems. Now retired.) ? The need for for higher resolution controllers? The ear IS highly sensitive to changes in frequency. Experiments done in the 1970's showed that the ear/brain can detect a frequency change of 1.8 Hz from a note at 1000 Hz. That's why Pitch Bend is 14 bit rather than 7. (>16,000 in/decrements) The ear is nowhere near that sensitive to changes in loudness, hence 127 levels are not too bad for representing volume. Another bit might suffice, i.e. 255 levels might be sufficient. 16 bits (> 65,000) is overkill. The ear can't hear that level of 'expressive' change. Sure, a good pianist can play at probably thousands of different velocities, but can we hear it? Experiments say not. A single deciBel is roughly the smallest change the human ear can detect, So a range of 127dB should be sufficient shouldn't it? (Dave Smith got it right the first time.) Anyway, my EWI and VL70m will probably outlast my time left on the planet. JG
  10. Deliberately contentious post. Please ignore if it upsets you. [RANT} Well, here we are FOUR years after the announcement of the wondrous, incredible, all singing and dancing, solution to all our problems MIDI 2.0, and still not a product in site (that I know of). Whoops! Totally forgot about the Roland A88 MkII. With that I can alter keyboard velocity (quote) "You can play MIDI 2.0 compatible software sound generators with rich expressiveness." (end quote) Hmmm. To what resolution? It doesn't say. I wonder if it's like so many pitch bend controllers that have a 7 bit resolution (or less) but pretend to be 14 bit? And Assignable control [1]–[8] (quote) "You can make smooth changes to parameters such as filters and resonance on software sound generators that are compatible with MIDI 2.0." (end quote) But ... The USB driver setting is disabled when this instrument is in MIDI 2.0 mode (the “GENERIC” setting is always use. Whatever that means. Sound generators compatible with MIDI 2.0? Are there any yet? Hmmm again. What about MIDI-CI and all the rest of the v2.0 specs? No mention that I can see. It's all gone SO quiet. Will there ever be any MIDI 2.0 products on the market? (Not that I'm in the market for any, I just don't have that kind of budget anymore.) [/RANT] JG
  11. Aha! Thanks for the info. Sounds like "par for the course"! So ... all the forum posts have been lost, AGAIN presumably. The old forum (pre the one that has just just folded) with hundreds of posts about MIDI (even a few solutions from me!) also was discarded in favour of the new. Shame! JG
  12. For several days now the MIDI Manufacturers Association web site has completely disappeared. Or is it just unavailable in the UK? First the forum went off line and then the whole site became unobtainable. Have they been massively hacked or something, or is the site experiencing a face lift? Just curious as I moderate and delete and ban the spam. JG
  13. First question, if we're going to replace petrol and diesel engines with electric motors, where are the millions (billions?) of ampere hours of extra electricity going to come from? Second, when are we going to replace the infrastucture needed to carry the huge extra current to the filling stations? The wiring in place to most filling stations won't carry the load. Think of the vast amount of oil, currently converted into fuel, and wonder where that energy is going to come from in electrical terms. How many new power stations are going to need to be built? Just a thought!
  14. A sad song? The saddest I know, I think, is by Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac - Man of the World, the original studio recording. It still haunts me, oh so many years on. And such economical guitar playing, haunting too. Shall I tell you about my life They say I'm a man of the world I've flown across every tide And I've seen lots of pretty girls I guess I've got everything I need I wouldn't ask for more And there's no one I'd rather be But I just wish that I'd never been born Break: And I need a good woman To make me feel like a good man should I don't say I'm a good man Oh, but I would be if I could I could tell you about my life And keep you amused I'm sure About all the times I've cried And how I don't want to be sad anymore And how I wish I was in love. https://youtu.be/lDGi0SZkgpI
  15. Thanks Craig, just in case anyone is tempted to do the same and inadvertently ends up with the same disater and anguish that they've just destroyed their wonderful EWI4Ks! I must admit to being close to tears when I saw what I had done. Now, thankfully all sorted. (I know, clumsy old fool. Hey, less of the old please!) BTW, I've forwarded the service manual to Jose and can do the same for anyone else who needs it. Just ask. Q. Do you store any manuals on site, Craig, as the yamahamusicians.com forum does? JohnG
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