Simple midi question

[earl the pearl]

Starting out with midi.Using a Nord E5D and a Yamaha CP40. I figured out the 1 cable in/out to play the Nord pianos on the Yamaha. Next step... How do I then play just the Yamahas sounds or vice versa.Is the midi communication always on? I hope this makes some sense!!

[mate stubb]

I don't know the specifics of the CP40, but in general:

 

If you have midi out from CP40 connected to midi in of Nord, and you just want to hear the CP40

 

- there should be a menu option on the CP40 to turn off midi transmit. It hopefully is an option that can be saved per preset. Then you can save presets that play Nord sounds and others that do not.

 

- failing that, you can turn off midi receive on the Nord, or just unplug the cable.

[Dr88s]

Most boards will let you turn MIDI transmit on or off as well as the board's local sound engine on/off (usually called 'local control'), and, as Moe said above, the more flexible ones allow you to save this at the program rather than the global level.

 

The Nord Stage lets you do this; I'd presume the same with the Electro. I don't have a CP40 to advise further...

 

EDIT: The NE5 manual deals with this on pp.14-15.

[OB Dave]

The issue is, you have to menu dive to change any of these settings and I'm guessing OP wants to do this in a live situation. Often the quick and dirty solution is to just turn down the volume on the instrument you don't want to hear. But that doesn't work if you want to play both instruments at once, but not have one trigger the other. If you yank the cable you run the risk of a stuck note, unless the sending instrument sends active sensing messages and the listening instrument listens to them.

[CEB]

Page 45-47 sort of walks you through it. You will want it read the section on setting up Performance first.

 

I don't use either board but I generally don't use Channel one to receive MIDI data. I would have your default transmit channel on the CP 40 be channel one. I would set the default receive channel on the Nord to be channel two. Then specifically setup your performance to transmit the external zone part on channel two for when you want to call the Nord piano sound. This way the Nord only receives data when you specifically want it to. You don't necessarily have to do it this way but in practice I found it use across a wide variety of products. It depends on the global default setups.

[CEB]

Are you wanting to play organ on the Nord while the Yamaha calls the Nord's piano?

 

The Electro 5 and is multitimbral. There are controls on the the Nord for each part (Upper and Lower). Pick one make that your piano and set it to receive on the channel the CP 40 transmits on when you want to do this. Otherwise shut the MIDI off. You can likewise play a sound on the Nord using the other part. Set it as a layer. See scenario three in the midi section of the Nord manual.

[stoken6]

I do this with my Nord Stage 2 and a silent controller underneath it. One limitation with the Nord MIDI implementation is that I can't use the Nord's pitch/mod wheels with a sound that is played from the controller only. (I can do it if I assign a sound to an unused Nord keyboard zone, but not if it's assigned MIDI only).

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

[stoken6]

I do this with my Nord Stage 2 and a silent controller underneath it. One limitation with the Nord MIDI implementation is that I can't use the Nord's pitch/mod wheels with a sound that is played from the controller only. (I can do it if I assign a sound to an unused Nord keyboard zone, but not if it's assigned MIDI only).

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

[AnotherScott]

failing that, you can turn off midi receive on the Nord, or just unplug the cable.

If you yank the cable you run the risk of a stuck note, unless the sending instrument sends active sensing messages and the listening instrument listens to them.

Plugging and unplugging cables mid-gig just sounds like a recipe for disaster on multiple levels. This is a nice little gadget, unfortunately sold out...maybe he'll make more...

https://www.etsy.com/listing/258510836/midi-kill-switch

 

[OB Dave]

Are there any electronics inside this box, or is it just a switch wired inline with MIDI? If it's the latter, it still has the same potential for stuck notes as yanking the cable.

[AnotherScott]

Are there any electronics inside this box, or is it just a switch wired inline with MIDI? If it's the latter, it still has the same potential for stuck notes as yanking the cable.

Good question, I don't know. Is there a risk of stuck notes even if you only hit the switch while no notes are sounding?

 

Another option is that your transmitting board may allow you to store different recallable presets, ones that send MIDI and ones that do not...

[OB Dave]

Good question, I don't know. Is there a risk of stuck notes even if you only hit the switch while no notes are sounding?

If all the notes were released you'd be ok, but for example if the sustain pedal were down or there was pitch bend at the time you opened the switch, the midi messages that conclude those events would never be received. I don't see this button as being much better than yanking the midi cable.

 

Will it be the end of the world? No. But would I want to rely on this thing at a gig? No.

 

A smart version of this box would keep track of held notes and controller state, and release those notes and controllers when the switch is opened. .

[AnotherScott]

I don't see this button as being much better than yanking the midi cable.

One advantage is more convenient location, if you can velcro the switch wherever you want, as opposed to having to reach (or walk) around to the back of your rig to disconnect, esp. if you want to do it mid-song. The bigger advantage would be re-enabling the MIDI for another song (or even later in the same song), where you could just hit a switch instead of having to take the time to line up the connector the right way before re-inserting, perhaps on a dark stage to boot.

[CEB]

Why unplug anything or add doo-dads. Either setup an appropriate performance on the Yamaha or if the MIDI setup on page 15 of the Nord manual is saved at the patch and not the global level just do that and make that a user preset.

 

If it is difficult it will only be difficult once until after you learn to do it the first time.

[AnotherScott]

Are you wanting to play organ on the Nord while the Yamaha calls the Nord's piano?

 

The Electro 5 and is multitimbral. There are controls on the the Nord for each part (Upper and Lower). Pick one make that your piano and set it to receive on the channel the CP 40 transmits on when you want to do this. Otherwise shut the MIDI off. You can likewise play a sound on the Nord using the other part. Set it as a layer. See scenario three in the midi section of the Nord manual.

You're right about it being scenario three in the manual. But you can't simply "pick one" (of "Upper and Lower") and make it your piano, you must pick Upper for this to work. And to play the other sound on the Nord, you need to enable Split (rather than "set it as a layer").

 

Why unplug anything or add doo-dads. Either setup an appropriate performance on the Yamaha or if the MIDI setup on page 15 of the Nord manual is saved at the patch and not the global level just do that and make that a user preset.

I agree. The Nord is flexible enough to be able to easily select whether or not it responds to MIDI input (for its Upper sound) on the fly, whether by saving user presets as you suggest, or even just by using the KB Split button in real time (once you've configured the appropriate global MIDI settings). The Yamaha may also have a way to easily recall patches that do or do not transmit MIDI, I don't know. Either way, there are times where physical disconnect makes sense, but the rig in question has enough built-in flexibility that that would not be necessary.