Roland EM-55 Midi functions, Midi Function parameters, Channels, Sync Rx Midi synchronization

EM-55 Owner’s Manual

15. MIDI functions

MIDI is short for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. The word refers to many things, the most obvious being a connector type that is used by musical instruments and other devices to exchange mes- sages relating to the act of making music.

Each time you play on the EM-55’s keyboard or start the Arranger (or Song), your instrument transmits MIDI data to its MIDI OUT socket. If you connect this socket to the MIDI IN socket of another instrument, that instrument may play the same notes as one of the EM-55’s parts, select sounds, etc.

The EM-55 receives data

EM-55

MIDI is a universal standard, which means that musical data can be sent to and received by instruments of different types and manufactur- ers. Furthermore, MIDI allows you to connect your EM-55 to a computer or hardware sequencer.

Connect your EM-55 as shown below.

External MIDI instrument/computer (*)

(*) Direct connection to computer possible via optional MIDI/Joystick cable.

ENGLISH

The EM-55 transmits data

Channels

MIDI can simultaneously transmit and receive messages on 16 channels, so that up to 16 instruments can be controlled. Nowa- days, most instruments –like your EM-55– are multitimbral, which means that they can play several musical parts with different sounds.

Note: All EM-55 parts are set to receive MIDI mes- sages. If they do not seem to respond to the mes- sages you send from the external controller, you should check whether the external controller’s MIDI OUT is connected to the MIDI INput of your EM-55.

shared by all recent E, G, and RA series instruments. You cannot change them. They also correspond to the track assignments of the 16-track Recorder:

1	Accomp 1	9	Accomp 6
2	Arranger bass	10	Arranger drums
3	Accomp 2	11	®Lower
4	®Upper 1	12	®M. Bass
5	Accomp 3	13	Style Pads
6	®Upper 2	14	D Beam part
7	Accomp 4	15	Melody Intell
8	Accomp 5	16	®M. Drum

The EM-55’s transmit and receive channels of all parts have been set in keeping with a tacit Roland standard and are therefore

MIDI Function parameters

See “Editing parameters (general procedure)” (p. 42) for how to select and set these Function parameters (they belong to the same Function menu as the “General Function parameters”).

■MIDI TxRx (MIDI transmission and reception)

This parameter allows you to specify which EM-55 parts should transmit and receive MIDI messages:

Option	Meaning
ALL	All parts.
KBD	Only the Keyboard parts (see ® in the
	table above).
STL	Only the Arranger parts
	(A.Drums~Accomp 6).
OFF	None of the EM-55’s parts transmits/
	receives MIDI messages.

■Sync Rx (MIDI synchronization)

Use this parameter to specify how the EM-55 should be synchronized (as slave) to an external MIDI sequencer, computer, drum machine, etc. “Synchronization” is a learned term for the fact that one device (or function) is set to start and stop at the same time as another device (or function), and to run at the same tempo (BPM).

Please note that synchronization is only possible when you connect the external device’s MIDI OUT socket to the EM-55’s MIDI IN socket (though you can also work the other way around; in that case, see the sequencer’s manual for details).

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