About MIDI
MIDI is an acronym that stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface, which allows
electronic musical instruments to “communicate” with each other, by sending and
receiving compatible Note, Control Change, Program Change and various other types
of MIDI data, or messages.
The MOTIF ES6/7/8 can control a MIDI device by transmitting note related data and
various types of controller data. The MOTIF ES6/7/8 can be controlled by the incoming
MIDI messages which automatically select MIDI channels, voices and effects, change
parameter values, and of course play the voices specified for the various Parts in a
Performance.

MIDI Messages Transmitted/Received by the MOTIF

ES6/7/8

The MIDI messages can be divided into two groups: the Channel Messages and System
Messages. Below is a brief explanation of the various types of MIDI messages which the
MOTIF ES6/7/8 can receive/transmit.

CHANNEL MESSAGES

The Channel Messages are the data related to the performance on the keyboard for the
specific channel.
•Note On/Note Off (Key On/Key Off)
Messages which are generated when the keyboard is played. Each message includes a
specific note number which corresponds to the key which is pressed, plus a velocity
value based on how hard the key is struck.
•Control Change
Control Change messages let you select a voice bank (Bank Select), control volume,
panning, modulation, portamento time, brightness and various other controller
parameters, through specific Control Change numbers which correspond to each of the
various parameters.
•Program Change
Messages which voice to select for each Part. With a combination of Bank Select, you
can select not only basic voice numbers, but also variation voice bank numbers.
•Channel Aftertouch
Messages which let you control the sounds by the pressure you apply to the keys after
the initial striking of the keys, over the entire channel.
•Polyphonic Key Pressure
Messages which let you control the sounds by the pressure you apply to the keys after
the initial striking of the keys, for each individual key. The internal sequencer (MOTIF
ES6/7/8) can send this message.
•Pitch Bend
Pitch Bend messages are continuous controller messages that allow the pitch of
designated notes to be raised or lowered by a specified amount over a specified
duration.

SYSTEM MESSAGES

The System Messages are the data related to the overall system of the device.
•Exclusive Messages
Exclusive messages control various functions of the MOTIF ES6/7/8, including bulk
dump, master volume and master tuning, effect type and various other parameters.
•Realtime Messages
Messages which control the sequencer including Start, Stop, Continue, MIDI clock and
Active Sensing messages.
•Common Messages
Messages which also control the sequencer including Song Select and Song Position
Pointer messages.
MIDI Data Format
Many MIDI messages listed in the MIDI Data Format section are expressed in hexadecimal or
binary numbers. Hexadecimal numbers may include the letter “H” as a suffix. The letter “n”
indicates a certain whole number.
The chart below lists the corresponding decimal number for each hexadecimal/binary
number.
Additional Notes
• For example, 144 - 159(Decimal)/9nH/1001 0000 - 1001 1111(Binary) indicate the note-on
messages for the channels 1 through 16 respectively. 176 - 191/BnH/1011 0000 - 1011
1111 indicate the control change messages for the channels 1 through 16 respectively.
192 -207/CnH/1100 0000 - 1100 1111 indicate the program change messages for the
channels 1 through 16 respectively. 240/F0H/1111 0000 is positioned at the beginning of
data to indicate a system exclusive message. 247/F7H/1111 0111 is positioned at the end
of the system exclusive message.
• aaH (Hexadecimal)/0aaaaaaa (Binary) indicates the data addresses. The data address
consists of High, Mid and Low.
• bbH/0bbbbbbb indicates byte counts.
• ccH/0ccccccc indicates check sums.
• ddH/0ddddddd indicates data/value.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
0A
0B
0C
0D
0E
0F
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
1A
1B
1C
1D
1E
1F
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
2A
2B
2C
2D
2E
2F
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
3A
3B
3C
3D
3E
3F
0000 0000
0000 0001
0000 0010
0000 0011
0000 0100
0000 0101
0000 0110
0000 0111
0000 1000
0000 1001
0000 1010
0000 1011
0000 1100
0000 1101
0000 1110
0000 1111
0001 0000
0001 0001
0001 0010
0001 0011
0001 0100
0001 0101
0001 0110
0001 0111
0001 1000
0001 1001
0001 1010
0001 1011
0001 1100
0001 1101
0001 1110
0001 1111
0010 0000
0010 0001
0010 0010
0010 0011
0010 0100
0010 0101
0010 0110
0010 0111
0010 1000
0010 1001
0010 1010
0010 1011
0010 1100
0010 1101
0010 1110
0010 1111
0011 0000
0011 0001
0011 0010
0011 0011
0011 0100
0011 0101
0011 0110
0011 0111
0011 1000
0011 1001
0011 1010
0011 1011
0011 1100
0011 1101
0011 1110
0011 1111
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
4A
4B
4C
4D
4E
4F
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
5A
5B
5C
5D
5E
5F
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
6A
6B
6C
6D
6E
6F
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
7A
7B
7C
7D
7E
7F
0100 0000
0100 0001
0100 0010
0100 0011
0100 0100
0100 0101
0100 0110
0100 0111
0100 1000
0100 1001
0100 1010
0100 1011
0100 1100
0100 1101
0100 1110
0100 1111
0101 0000
0101 0001
0101 0010
0101 0011
0101 0100
0101 0101
0101 0110
0101 0111
0101 1000
0101 1001
0101 1010
0101 1011
0101 1100
0101 1101
0101 1110
0101 1111
0110 0000
0110 0001
0110 0010
0110 0011
0110 0100
0110 0101
0110 0110
0110 0111
0110 1000
0110 1001
0110 1010
0110 1011
0110 1100
0110 1101
0110 1110
0110 1111
0111 0000
0111 0001
0111 0010
0111 0011
0111 0100
0111 0101
0111 0110
0111 0111
0111 1000
0111 1001
0111 1010
0111 1011
0111 1100
0111 1101
0111 1110
0111 1111
Decimal Hexadecimal Binary Decimal Hexadecimal Binary
Data List 63