MIDI: Part 5

SELECTING THE KEYBOARD MODE

In a Mix, the QS’s keyboard may be set up in several ways using the Keyboard Mode parameter found on Page 6 of Global Edit Mode. You need to determine which way is best for your application. The Keyboard Mode parameter determines how the keyboard will function with regard to MIDI:

OUT 01 – OUT 16. Use this mode if you’ll be sequencing parts for other MIDI devices in addition to the QS. Select OUT 01, and the keyboard will send on only MIDI channel 1 (or channel 2 if you select OUT 02, and so on). In this case the sequencer must be used to set the MIDI channel of each track you want to record.

Note: With this mode selected you will not hear the QS unless your sequencer echoes the MIDI data back to the QS’s MIDI IN. (This is also one way of verifying that the sequencer is set to receive properly.) “Local” control of the QS is turned OFF with this mode selected, so if things get disconnected somehow you won’t be able to play anything from the QS’s keyboard. For example, this could happen if you accidentally select the “desktop” on your computer, temporarily disabling the sequencing application.

So be sure to set up your sequencer to “echo” the MIDI data back to the QS. You can then set up the QS to pass the “auto-channelized” data along to other MIDI devices by setting its MIDI Out Mode to Thru (Global Edit mode, page 16). If the sequencing software is set up correctly, you’ll be able to play on a different MIDI channel with each new track you record.

NORMAL. Use this mode if the Mix is split or layered and sending on many MIDI channels at once, and the sequencer will be able to record all channels at one time. Good for capturing live performances in Mix mode.

This will only work if you have MIDI Out enabled for every MIDI channel within the Mix which you would like the sequencer to record. The MIDI Out parameter is on page 2 of the KEYBOARD/MIDI function in Mix Edit Mode. Once you’re in Mix Edit Mode, select the MIDI channel for which you would like to set this up by pressing its [SELECT] button ([0] - [9] for channels 1-10, [00] - [50] for channels 11-16).

CH SOLO. Use this mode if you’re sequencing with the QS alone (no external MIDI modules). The keyboard only sends on one MIDI channel at a time, and you change the channel on the QS for each separate track on the sequencer.

Naturally, this only works in Mix Mode, because Program Mode is kind of already in Channel Solo mode by default.

This mode is automatically selected by the QS when the General MIDI function is set to ON.

Note: In NORMAL or CH SOLO mode, the QS sounds are internally played from the QS keyboard, so any echo features of the sequencer should be turned off.

QS7.1/QS8.1 Reference Manual

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Alesis QS7.1, QS8.1 manual Selecting the Keyboard Mode