MIDI

This chapter tells you:

• How to play a MIDI file
• How to create, edit and play a Session list

MIDI3c Player
This module serves two major functions:-

1. Convert standard MIDI files (.MID) in to MIDI3c (.M3C) formatted files. This is essential to the operation of the MIDI3c Player. MIDI3c CANNOT play standard MIDI files without first converting them. See the Appendix for more information on M3C files.
2. Play converted MIDI (M3C) files.

On entry to the MIDI3c Player you are presented with a Descriptor list.

The MIDI3c Descriptor List has four fields:-

1. a description of the MIDI files up to a maximum of 41 characters,
2. the location of the file (M = Internal Memory, A & B = SSD),
3. the play time of the file expressed in MM:SS format,
4. the actual filename (with the default extension M3C).

If the File Compression option has been selected in MIDI3c Setup then the play time separator will be a `-' when a file has been compressed and `:' on uncompressed files. In the above example, Aria is an uncompressed file while the remainder are compressed.

With the Descriptor list displayed you have the following options:-

• TAB - You may edit the description at any time by pressing TAB on the highliged item. You can then edit/enter a description of up to 41 characters.
• DELETE - Remove a file from the list. You will be prompted to confirm the deletion of the item from the list.
• A - Add an already converted MIDI file. After you have selected the file to be added you will be prompted to enter a description for the new file.
• C - Convert a standard MIDI file in to MIDI3c format.
• R - Re-convert an existing MIDI file. The program will automatically convert the MIDI file with the same name as shown on the screen and with the extension .MID. If the file has been deleted from a previous conversion then a warning message will be displayed. The main reason for re-converting would be to change the option of filtering SYSEX events during the conversion or to account for new settings in MIDI3c Setup.
• P/ENTER - Play the highlighted MIDI file.
• PSION M - Move the highlighted file to a different device. You will be prompted to choose the destination for the file. You should be aware that if the selected file has already been included in a Session List that the list will NOT be aware of the fact that the file has been moved. In these instances you will need to delete the file from the Session Playlist and re-add it.
• PSION R - Jump to the Registered Parameters module.
• PSION C - Jump to the Channel Controllers module.
• PSION F - Jump to the Fader module.

The MIDI3c Player
After starting the MIDI3c Player you will be presented with the MIDI3c Player screen and the player will start playing the selected file.

If the file has been compressed then there will be a short delay whilst the file is decompressed before the full player screen is displayed.

To stop playing a file immediately, press the <SPACE> key. The player will automatically go into PANIC mode (using the Panic Mode as specified under MIDI Compliancy in MIDI3c Setup) and, once finished, will return to the descriptor list.

You may also pause the player at any time by pressing <P>. The player will cease playing the file and will immediately send a PANIC message to ensure that no notes are left playing .

You can, at this point, exit from the tune by pressing the <SPACE> key or continue playing the tune using one of two methods:-

1. R - Force the player to Rewind to the start of the tune,
2. C - Continue playing from the point the tune was paused.

Session Player
This module lets you create one or more Play lists each of which can contain up to 16 MIDI3c files. The editor lets you add and remove files from a session, alter the cueing method for each file and also move the files within the list.

After selecting `Session Player', from the Main Menu, you will be presented with the PLAY Descriptor List. This is a list of all the currently created PLAY lists.

As with all Descriptor lists, each Play list has a short description alongside it making it easier to identify

In addition to adding MIDI3c files to a session you may also include Sysex and Fader files. In so doing, you gain the ability to adjust the settings for a given venue by adding, deleting or replacing Fader and Sysex files as required.

Highlight the play list you wish to edit or play and press <ENTER>. You will now be presented with the Session Play list consisting of the play time for the file, a sequence number, a description of the file, its location (SSD or Internal memory) and the cueing method to be applied before playing the file. The last field in the Descriptor List will normally be blank however there are two exceptions to this:-

1. a Sysex or Fader file has been added to the Session Play List. This will be indicated by an S or an F in the last colum. In the example below the Sysex file "GS Reset" has been added to the Session.
2. if the Repeat option in the Cueing method has be selected then the number of repeats is shown. In the example below, Yakaty Sax will be repeated twice in the session.

When applicable, a seventh field will be displayed before the file location indicating that a FADER and/or a SYSEX file has been merged to the relevant file.

An `S' indicates a merged Sysex file, an `F' indicates a merged Fader file while an `X' indicates both a Sysex and a Fader file have been merged. In the example below Aria has a merged Sysex file. If we were to look inthe relevant MIDI directory (on the internal memory in this example) we would find a file with the name ARIA.SYX (we know it will be ARIA from the MIDI3c Descriptor List).

When creating a Session the performer often needs to take in to account the acoustics and other coniditions of the venue at which the Session is to be played. To this end the user can utilise a Fader and/or a Sysex file to set the MIDI equipment accordingly. MIDI3c offers two methods for applying these `setup' files:-

1. The first method is to simply add the relevant Sysex and/or Fader file to the Session play list. The benefit is that you can quickly change the `setup' files to suit changes in the venue or other venues. The biggest disadvantage is that it requires one or more slots in the Session Play List and, if you were to assign a number of Sysex/Fader files to individual tunes in the Session, then this could become a dominant factor.
2. The second method is to assign Sysex and/or Fader files to one or more tunes. MIDI3c will automatically check for `merged' files and will play them whenever the merged tune is played (either in a Session List or as a normal MIDI3c Played tune). When merging Sysex/Fader files, MIDI3c creates a copy of the relevant Sysex/Fader file and gives them the same filename as the merged tune. The benefit here is that (a) you do not use slots in the Session Play List and (b) each tune can have its own Sysex/Fader attachment. The biggest disadvantage would be that it is difficult to change the Sysex/Fader file merged to a tune to take in to account variations in the venue.

As for the MIDI3c Descriptor List, compressed files will have a `-' as the time separator and non-compressed files will have `:'. In the example above, Aria is uncompressed. The Session Player will quite happily accept a mixture of compressed and uncompressed files in a session.

Use the following keys to navigate, edit or play the Session list:-

• A - Add a MIDI3c tune to the session list. Having selected a file from the MIDI3c Descriptor list you will be prompted to set the Cue and Repeat options for this tune.
• F - Add a FADER file to the session list. The settings in the selected Fader file will be transmitted immediately before the next tune and thus allows the user to preset the connected MIDI device without having to incorporate these settings in to the MIDI file itself *.
• S - Add a SYSEX file to the session list. It will be necessary in some instance to reset your MIDI device having just played a MIDI file which may have altered the settings of your MIDI equipment. If the following MIDI file does not reset your MIDI equipment automatically then you may find the new file playing incorrectly. Inserting a suitable SYSEX file will allow you to guarantee the settings of your MIDI equipment prior to playing the currect file *
• UP/DOWN ARROWs - scroll up/down the Play list one item at a time
• C - edit the cueing method: you may select Sequential (start playing as soon as the previous item has stopped), Keyboard (wait until a key is pressed before starting to play) or Delay (wait up to 10 seconds before starting to play). You can also assign a Repeat number which will allow you to force the Session Player to repeat the tune up to 9 times consecutively. See Cueing Methods below for more details.
• HOME - go to the top of the list
• TAB - edit the currently highlighted description
• M - move the highlighted item. Use the UP/DOWN Arrow keys to move to the desired position and then press <ENTER> to move the selected item to the highlighted position.
• L - Loopback mode. If you choose to start playing a session from any tune other than the first one in the list, you have the option of making MIDI3c loop around to the start of the list after it has played the last tune in the list. To enable/disable loopback, simply press <L>. When enabled, the message LOOPBACK will be displayed in the top right corner of the screen. When disabled, the player will only play the tunes listed from the current position to the last in the list.
• DELETE - remove the highlighted item from the Session list
• P or ENTER - start the Session Player from the highlighted file.
• END - go to the end of the list

* An alternative method to this is to use the Merge function. See the comments earlier about merged files.

Cueing Methods
The cueing method determines the mechanism that will be employed by the Session Player to let the session player proceed on to the next tune. The cue mode is always applied before the tune to which it is associated

The options are:-

• Keyboard - this method requires the user to press a key on the Psion before the selected tune starts. A status message is displayed in the lower left corner indicating that a key should be pressed. The <SPACE> key is ideal for this purpose due to its large size *.
• Sequential - the Session Player will start playing this tune immediately after it has finished playing the previous tune *.
• Delay - a delay of between 1 and 9 seconds may be introduced between the end of one tune and the start of the next *.

In addition to the above cueing methods, MIDI3c will also allow the user to repeat any given tune. A tune may be repeated up to 9 times consecutively. Setting the value to 0 will disable the repeat function for the selected tune.

* see notes regarding the use of File Compression.

The Session Player
The Session Player screen is simply an extension of the Session Play list screen. The left-hand column will now indicate the status of each file as the session progresses. In addition, there is a total session time displayed in the top left-hand corner. This field displays the total remaining session time as of the start of the currently playing tune.

Before actually starting the play session, MIDI3c temporarily renumbers each tune in to the sequence that they will be played. If loopback is disabled and the first tune to be played is NOT the first tune in the list, then any tunes that will not be played in this session (all tunes listed BEFORE the first tune) will have “—” displayed in the sequence number.

The highlight line will remain on the first tune played during the whole session indicating the first tune that was played..

The various status messages are:-

• PLAYING - this is the tune that is currently playing. If the tune has been assigned a repeat number then the status will display as PLAYING-x where x represents the number of repeats left before the session player will move on to the next tune.
• CUEING - when the last tune has finished the program will indicate that this tune is being cued ready for playing.
• DONE - the player has finished playing this tune.
• MISSING - this indicates that the M3C file is missing. The session player will automatically skip over this tune.
• EXPANDING - if File Compression is enabled then this indicates that the currently selected tune is being decompressed (see the Zipper section regarding decompression and compressed and non-compressed files).

Whilst in the Session Player mode the following key presses are available to the user:-

• P - Pause playing the current tune. MIDI3c will transmit a Panic message using Sustain Off and All Sounds Off. The status of the file will change to PAUSED.
• R - while a tune is paused you may select <R> to rewind back to the beginning of the tune, or select
• C - to continue playing from when the tune stopped.
• N - immediately stop playing this tune and move on to the next tune in the session. The relevant cueing method will be applied after MIDI3c has completed transmitting a Panic message
• SPACE - stop playing the current tune immediately. MIDI3c will send a Panic message and then exit the Session Player returning to the Session Play list.

Zipper
MIDI3c incorporates file compression/decompression software which may be enabled or disabled through the MIDI3c Software Setup module. It is important to understand the advantages and disadvantages of using ZIPPER.

MIDI3c needs to convert standard MIDI files in to a format that allows the Series 3c to play them. This requirement is imposed on MIDI3c by the speed and processing capabilities of the Series 3c. Unfortunately this conversion results in files that are usually larger than the original MIDI file. As memory is a valuable commodity and memory cards are relatively expensive, these larger files can sometimes prove to be a nuisance in that you may find yourself short of space for storing files or that there is not enough memory available for MIDI3c to perform some of its functions such as Format 1 to Format 0 conversion .

It was for these reasons that ZIPPER was added to MIDI3c.

There is, however, a small penalty in using ZIPPER. Before MIDI3c can play a compressed file it must decompress it. This results in a short delay (dependent on the size and complexity of the file) between selecting a file to play and it actually playing. Although this is a small inconvenience when playing individual files, it has a more pronounced affect in a Session.

The Session Player utilizes cueing to determine when MIDI3c will play the next tune in the session list. Any delay in playing the tune on top of the selected cueing method may be deemed unacceptable.

As mentioned earlier, the time taken to decompress a file is dependent on the size and complexity of the compressed file. To remove this variance, MIDI3c automatically assigns a 15 second period for decompression so that the various decompression times are consistent through out a session (i.e. the decompression function will always complete after 15 seconds even if it only takes 6 seconds to decompress the file).

Users should, therefore, be aware of this 15 second delay when setting up their session lists, especially when selecting the Delay method for cueing. The selected Delay time is in ADDITION to the 15 second decompression delay.

As an option to help reduce this fixed 15 second decompression delay time, the user may enable File Compression in Automatic mode. In this mode MIDI3c will determine the shortest decompression delay time based on the longest tune to decompress in the current session. This offers the user the ability to minimize the decompression delay time. This will, of course, mean that different sessions will have different delay times.

In Automatic Mode, MIDI3c will ALWAYS monitor the decompression delay time so that any changes in tunes due to re-conversion is taken in to account.