MIDI
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From the previous screen, touch the PAGE RIGHT Touch Button once. Page 3 of the External Zone Edit Menu
should now display. The legend just underneath the word “M-BNK” should now blink.
External Zone Page 3 - Program Change and Bank Select
What Is “Bank Select?”
“Bank Select” is closely related to “Program Change.” If you go to page 206, you will find a complete explanation of
MIDI Programs, particularly as they relate to General MIDI. As explained there, General MIDI provides for a variety of
different sounds, called Programs and grouped by instrument type. However, General MIDI only allows 128 separate
Programs and does not allow for variations of instruments. Thus, if you want, say, an Acoustic Piano, you would have
no choice but to use the one Acoustic Piano sound provided for by General MIDI, whereas actual acoustic pianos differ
greatly in sound and timbral character.
In order to satisfy the requirement for different variations in tone quality within a specific sound category, several methods
have been devised to allow one Program Number to represent multiple varieties or Variations of a basic sound such as
Piano, Vibes, Trumpet, etc. The most common of these is the “GS” (General Standard or General Sound) extension of
the General MIDI specification.
The GS standard is fully compatible with General MIDI; however, instead of only 128 sounds, it provides the means to
have up to 16,384 different sounds. This is accomplished by providing up to 128 banks of voices for each of the 128
Program Numbers in General MIDI (128 × 128 = 16,384). It should be noted that this is a theoretical limit - the actual
number is typically much less (anywhere from 300 ~ 900 sounds and/or drum samples).
GS uses a method called Bank Switching to select the different sound banks. It does this by sending two additional
Controller Numbers ahead of the Program Number so that the instrument will know which sound to play. Controller #32
(Bank Select LSB - Least Signicifant Bit) is used to select a particular bank scheme or “family,” while Controller #0 (Bank
Select MSB - Most Significant Bit) is used to set a particular voice variation within that bank.
SPECIAL NOTE: The number of available voices will depend on the particular MIDI instrument you are using.
Please consult the documentation provided with the MIDI instrument you are using to find which additional voices are
available. This information will usually be found in either the Owner’s Manual or an additional Reference Guide.
The next few paragraphs will show you how to use this feature on your Sk-series instrument.
External Zone Bank Select MSB
This Advanced Feature allows you to set the value for Controller #0 - Most Significant Bit.
Turn the VALUE Rotary Control to make your selection.
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