Yamaha Yamaha PortaTone, EZ-20 owner manual Midi Functions, About Midi, Midi Terminals

MIDI Functions

The EZ-20 also features MIDI terminals, allowing you to inter- face the EZ-20 with other MIDI instruments and devices.

About MIDI

MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a worldwide standard that is built into many electronic musical instruments and other digital music related devices, allowing them to be connected and "communicate" with each other.

For two MIDI instruments to communicate, they must be connected by MIDI cables. In a basic example, the MIDI IN and MIDI OUT terminals of the EZ-20 could be con- nected to the MIDI OUT and MIDI IN terminals of a sequencer, allowing you to record and play back performance data from the EZ-20.

The instruments communicate with each other by sending “messages” or MIDI data. The sending instrument usually assigns the data to one of sixteen MIDI channels, then transmits it over the MIDI cable. The cable itself, however, is not divided up into six- teen channels. Just as with a television set that receives programs on different channels, it is up to the receiving instrument to "tune into" the proper MIDI channel. If the send- ing and receiving channels on the respective instruments do not match, the receiving instrument may not understand or respond to the one sending.

MIDI Terminals

In order to exchange MIDI data between multiple devices, each device must be con- nected by a cable.

The MIDI terminals of the EZ-20 are located on the rear panel.

MIDI IN	Receives MIDI data from another MIDI device.
MIDI OUT	Transmits the EZ-20’s keyboard information as MIDI data to
	another MIDI device.

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