A Conundrum: Yamaha PSR as USB-MIDI Controller in Logic ProX

[allan_evett]

I have a small, teaching studio with a PSR EW-410 as a second keyboard. I've been using the onboard sounds as a teaching supplement, but recently added a used MacBook Pro w/Logic Pro X as an additional tool, for teaching composing and production.

 

It appears that the PSR defaults to MIDI Omni Mode 3 (Omni off, poly on), but I need it to be in Mode 4 (Omni off, mono on); so far I haven't found any documentation for how to change that - in the user manual, MIDI Implementation, or online. So in Logic Pro X, I can control single-sound software instrument tracks, but not multi-timbral tracks (Kontakt, etc.), as all MIDI channels are addressed when attempting to record.

 

There are plenty of Logic tutorials covering MIDI output filtering - using external keyboards, sound modules, tablets/phones, but nothing applicable to the PSR for filtering/redirecting an input channel. One possible solution, using the MBP's Audio/MIDI Setup, doesn't work; when I choose the PSR as a device, the typically present MIDI Out/In channel choices are not presented. The MBP appears to only recognize the PSR as a 'dumb' box that sends/receives in MIDI Omni Mode 3. There is MIDI-USB Driver listed on the PSR EW 410 web page, but it's Windows-only.

 

Thought? Anything obvious I might have missed? Thanks!

[SeaGtGruff]

According to its MIDI Implementation Chart, the PSR-EW410 defaults to mode 3, and doesn't respond to CC 124 through CC 127-- or rather, it treats CC 124 and CC 125 the same as CC 123 (All Notes Off), and treats CC 126 and CC 127 the same as CC 120 (All Sounds Off).

 

What are you trying to accomplish? Are you trying to limit the channel(s) that the PSR-EW410 transmits to the DAW, or that it receives from the DAW?

[SeaGtGruff]

I'm still not clear on what you're trying to do, because on the one hand you say you want to set the PSR-EW410 to MIDI Mode 4, yet on the other hand it sounds like your problem has to do with the number of MIDI channels being sent or received rather than with polyphony versus monophony, and those are unrelated things.

 

I'm also not clear on whether you're having a problem using the PSR-EW410 as a MIDI controller to play virtual instruments in the DAW, or as a MIDI sound module to play sequences being sent from the DAW, because you mentioned having trouble with playing Kontakt, but then you asked about switching to MIDI Mode 4, and I don't understand how that would make any difference when using the PSR-EW410 as a MIDI controller.

 

Anyway, I don't have a PSR-EW410, but I have a PSR-EW400 and three earlier models, and I'm reasonably familiar with their MIDI capabilities. Following is some additional information, and hopefully some of it will be of use to you.

 

First of all, the PSR-EW410 shouldn't need a USB-MIDI driver at all, because it's a USB class-compliant device. If you want to use its USB audio capabilities then I think you do need to install the Yamaha Steinberg USB driver (not the Yamaha USB-MIDI driver, which doesn't handle USB audio)-- except I think there's only a Windows version, which seems to imply that it isn't needed for macOS (given that Steinberg does make products for macOS).

 

Second, I was looking at the XG Specifications v 2.00 (which you can download from http://www.jososoft.dk/yamaha/docs_specs.htm), and on page 25 (which is page 27 of the PDF document) it says the following:

 

3.1.7.6. Mono

Ctrl# Parameter Data Range

7EH Mono 0...16

Same processing as All Sound Off. If the third byte (the mono count) is a value from 0 to 16, sets the relevant channel to Mode 4 (m=1).

 

So you can't set the PSR-EW410 as a whole to Mono mode, but you might be able to set one or more of its MIDI channels to Mono mode-- if the PSR-EW410 implements that behavior, which it might not do. I note that the MIDI Implementation Chart for the much more sophisticated PSR-S975 looks exactly like the one for the PSR-EW410 as far as the MIDI Modes and the Channel Mode Messages are concerned, yet the PSR-S975 definitely lets the user set a given part to Mono Mode-- although the PSR-EW410 is an XGlite instrument, not an XG instrument, and I don't know whether Mono Mode capability is implemented in XGlite.

 

Unfortunately, even if CC 126 does let you set a given channel to Mono Mode on the PSR-EW410, there's another possible issue-- namely, there are no functions on the PSR-EW410 for assigning specific MIDI channels to specific parts. That might not be a problem if you're setting a given song channel to Mono Mode and then sequencing MIDI data to the PSR-EW410 on that song channel. But you can't (as far as I know) sequence to the PSR-EW410 on a song channel and have the data affect and/or control any of the keyboard parts or style parts. There are XG SysEx messages for assigning a MIDI channel to a part, which might work (or not).

 

The PSR-EW410 has three types of parts-- the keyboard parts, the style parts, and the song parts. The Function menu has functions for turning the MIDI output on or off for each of these types of parts-- Keyboard Out, Style Out, and Song Out.

 

If the Keyboard Out function is set to On, the Main part will be output on channel 1, the Dual part will be output on channel 2 (if DUAL is turned on), and the Split part will be output on channel 3 (if SPLIT is turned on).

 

If the Style Out function is set to On and you are playing with a style, the eight style parts will be output on channels 9 through 16, as follows:

 

The Rhythm 1 and Rhythm 2 parts will be output on channels 9 and 10, respectively (if the DRUMS Track Control is turned on).

 

The Bass part will be output on channel 11 (if the BASS Track Control is turned on).

 

The Chord 1 part will be output on channel 12 (if the CHORD 1 Track Control is turned on).

 

The Chord 2 part will be output on channel 13 (if the CHORD 2 Track Control is turned on).

 

The Pad part will be output on channel 14 (if the PAD Track Control is turned on).

 

The Phrase 1 and Phrase 2 parts will be output on channels 15 and 16, respectively (if the PHRASES Track Control is turned on).

 

If the Song Out function is set to On and you are playing a MIDI song file, the 16 song parts will be output on their respective channels, 1 through 16. However, note that this does not work with the built-in songs, because they're protected from copying and their MIDI output is disabled.

[allan_evett]

SeaGtGruff, I appreciate your efforts, but ultimately have decided that I'm going to go a different route in my teaching space.

 

What I was try to do is have the two different keyboards in my studio address two separate tracks in Logic Pro X, so that my students and I could imput parts together. The main piano in the studio is a Roland FP50, and it's challenged enough as a MIDI controller. And the PSR EW410 is simply not able to address an individual MIDI channel properly - at the exclusion triggering other tracks/channels.

 

Prior to the integration of Logic, the PSR was fine as a teaching tool - for covering tone and rhythm examples, simple duets, and basic drum grooves; but it's time to put it up for sale, and go with a simple, 5-octave MIDI controller.