Pizzicato 2.0 - Instruction manual EN080 - Revision of November 15, 2001

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MIDI Setup

Subjects covered:

What is MIDI?

MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It is a language enabling synthesizers and computers to exchange musical information.

Thanks to this system, the computer can record the notes you play on your musical keyboard and take control of a musical synthesizer to play your scores and compositions.

Physically, this communication is established by one or two cables connected between the computer and your musical instrument. Note that low quality synthesizers do not always have a Midi interface, which makes them unable to communicate with a computer. To be certain of a MIDI compatibility, look at the back panel of the instrument. There must be at least one or two connectors of the following type :

with a label In, Out or Thru

A Macintosh or a PC does not natively contain a MIDI connector. This adaptation is done using a Midi interface.

On Macintosh, a Midi interface is a small external box. It comprises connectors necessary for Midi cables and it has a cable which can be connected on the back panel of the Macintosh (Modem or Printer port, or USB port).

On PC, the Midi interface is very often presented in the form of an electronic card installed inside the computer. An adapter is connected to the back and lets you connect the Midi cables to your musical instrument.

Midi devices have one or more Midi connectors. A Midi cable only allows a one way communication. If you have for example a Midi synthesizer with a keyboard, it must at least have 2 Midi connectors. The first will be labeled Midi In (Midi input) and enables the synthesizer to receive musical data from your computer. The second Midi connector will be labeled Midi Out (Midi output) and lets the synthesizer send the notes you play on the musical keyboard to the computer. A third Midi connector is often present, labeled Midi Thru. It is a Midi output sending a copy of the data coming from the Midi In connector of the instrument. It is a Midi echo which can be used to connect another Midi devices that needs to receive the same MIDI messages.

When you connect Midi devices together, it is necessary to keep that information in mind. A connector is either an input (Midi In) or an output (Midi Out or Midi Thru). A Midi cable must ALWAYS be connected between an output of a device and the input of another device. Any other combination will not work.

Here are diagrams of most current connection setups between a MIDI device and a computer.

To install your Midi interface correctly, read its installation manual. Also take care to install the driver software of the interface (MIDI and sound card drivers for Windows). This installation should normally be explained in the MIDI interface user manual.

A Midi cable does not transport sounds but only information concerning the notes which are played on the keyboard as well as other information used to configure a synthesizer. The connections explained above relate only to the Midi aspect. If your synthesizer does not have an internal speaker, you need to connect its audio output to an amplification system connected to loudspeakers, such as a Hi-Fi system. If you have a sound card, its audio output must be connected either to an external loudspeaker provided with the card or to your Hi-Fi system. Consult your card or synthesizer manual.

The rest of this lesson will explain to you how to tell Pizzicato what is your musical material and your Midi interface. Before doing so, be sure that your Midi interface or sound card is correctly installed. Be certain that connections are correctly established, by looking at the above examples. Also check that your musical material is switched on.

An important remark applies if you have a MIDI cable for a sound card (Windows). On one side, it is a large plug adapted to a sound card connector, also called Joystick port (sometimes this cable has a similar female domino plug, enabling the connection of a joystick at the same time). Two MIDI connectors can be found on the other side of this cable. One is called MIDI IN and the other MIDI OUT. These names correspond respectively to the MIDI input and the MIDI output of the computer. Considering the preceding diagrams, it is thus necessary to connect the MIDI IN plug into the MIDI OUT connector of the synthesizer and vice versa. The inversion of this connection is a very frequent cause of MIDI failure. To connect it wrong fortunately does not destroy anything, but MIDI communication is not established.

Follow well the instructions explained in the rest of this lesson. It is important to correctly configure these dialogs before starting the course so that the examples of the course behave as expected. If you have problems with the MIDI setup, do not hesitate to contact our support department.

If you have Pizzicato Professional, go directly to the next point.

MIDI setup (Beginner, Light and Shareware versions)

In the Options menu, select the Midi Setup... item. The following dialog appears:

Pizzicato makes it possible to communicate through a bi-directional MIDI communication port. When a Midi message is sent to your musical instrument, it goes through the Midi output. Similarly, when you play notes on your keyboard, this information is received by the Midi input and Pizzicato can process them.

According to the material you possess, here are the most common situations.

In this case, no Midi interface needs to be connected. On Mac, providing that the "QuickTime Instruments" extension is installed, you can select this choice on the MIDI output. You can quit this dialog by clicking OK.

In the Midi input menu, select the item corresponding to the name of your card, such as MPU-401, MusicQuest, Midi Input, MIDI entry, SB MIDI IN,… On Mac, select the item Modem or Printer or the name of your USB MIDI interface.

For the menu called MIDI output, several choices are available. If you have an external synthesizer or a sound module, select MPU-401, MusicQuest, Midi Output, SB MIDI OUT,… If you have a sound card and wish to use it to generate music directly (without external synthesizer), select another line. According to the sound card you have, you will probably have two additionnal choices other than MIDI. The modern sound cards often comprise an FM synthesizer - FM Synthesis (Yamaha OPL3) - and another more sophisticated (but whose name depends on the constructor of your card). On Mac, select the Modem, Printer or another item, or QuickTime Music for the internal synthesizer of the Mac.

If no item is available in these menus, it means that the card was not correctly installed in Windows. On Mac, it means that OMS was not installed or is not correctly configured. Re-examine the instruction manual of your card and take care to correctly install it on Windows, otherwise Pizzicato will not be able to use MIDI. Re-examine the OMS installation procedure for Mac.

The Test button directly allows to hear if your MIDI output is well connected or configured. By clicking this button, Pizzicato sends a series of notes to the MIDI output. If you hear them, the output setup is correct.

A check box enables to activate a Midi echo. If the echo is activated, all Midi information received by the Midi input is sent back to the MIDI output. If you have a synthesizer with a keyboard, the echo should not be activated, because the notes played on the keyboard are directly executed by the synthesizer. If your Midi keyboard is separated from your synthesizer (keyboard + separate sound module), you should activate the MIDI echo so that the notes played on your keyboard are executed on the sound module.

The Synthesizer menu allows two choices. By default, the General Midi choice is activated. It corresponds to the GM standard used by most sound cards. For a synthesizer not GM compatible, use the other choice named Numbers 001-128. The instruments will then be represented by numbers from 1 to 128 and you will have to make the correspondence in the synthesizer manual to select a given instrument. Click OK to validate your setup.

MIDI setup (Professional version)

In the Options menu, select the MIDI setup... item. The following dialog appears:

Pizzicato enables communication with 4 different Midi instruments through 4 MIDI Ports. Each Midi port is a bi-directional terminal communication between Pizzicato and your musical instrument. When a Midi message is sent to your musical instrument, it goes through the Midi port. Similarly, when you play notes on your keyboard, this information is received by the Midi port and Pizzicato can process them.

On Mac, the "OMS…" button will give you access to the setup of the MIDI OMS manager.

The Midi configuration dialog comprises four identical lines each referring to a Midi port. In most cases, one or two Midi ports will be enough. According to the material you possess, here are the most common situations.

In this case, no Midi interface needs to be connected. On Mac, providing that the "QuickTime Instruments" extension is installed, you can select this choice on the first MIDI output. You can quit this dialog by clicking OK.

Midi port 1 will be used for this interface. In the first menu (which indicates the available Midi inputs), select the item corresponding to the name of your interface, such as Mpu-401, MusicQuest, Midi Input, SB MIDI IN… On Mac, select the Modem or Printer item or the name of your MIDI interface. Do the same in the menu indicating the outputs. On Mac, select the Modem, Printer or other item, or the QuickTime Music choice for the internal synthesizer of the Mac. If no item is available in these menus, it means that the Midi interface card was not installed correctly in Windows. Re-examine the instruction manual of your card and take care to correctly install it on Windows, otherwise Pizzicato will not have access to MIDI. Re-examine the OMS installation procedure for Mac.

If your Midi interface has two inputs and two outputs, two items will be available in the menus. In such a case, use the first line (MIDI port 1) for the first input/output and the second line (MIDI port 2) for the second input/output.

The Test button directly allows to hear if your MIDI output is well connected or configured. By clicking this button, Pizzicato sends a series of notes to the MIDI output. If you hear them, the output setup is correct.

The last menu lets you activate a Midi echo.All Midi information received by the Midi port is sent back to the port number selected in this menu (1 to 4 or none). If you have a synthesizer with a keyboard, the echo should not be activated, because the notes played on the keyboard are directly executed by the synthesizer. If your Midi keyboard is separated from your synthesizer (keyboard + separate sound module), you should activate the MIDI echo so that the notes played on your keyboard are executed on the sound module. Therefore, select item 1 in the last menu of the first line.

Click OK to validate your setup.

The principles exposed in the previous point also apply. Use Midi port 1 to select the item corresponding to the Midi input of your card, such as Mpu-401, MusicQuest, Midi Input, SB MIDI IN… With regard to the output, this kind of card comprises at least 2 of them. If you use an external synthesizer connected in Midi, use the Midi port 1 output to select it (for example the item Mpu-401, MusicQuest, Midi Output, SB MIDI OUT…).

A sound card generally has an integrated synthesizer which can be selected in the output menus. You can use the Midi port 2 output to select it. According to the sound card you have, you will probably find two possible choices others than the MIDI output. Modern sound cards often comprise an FM synthesizer - FM Synthesis (Yamaha OPL3) - and another more sophisticated one but whose name depends on the constructor of your card.

The order of the output/input selections is not very important. MIDI port 1 is selected by default for instruments in a new score, so preferably use Midi port 1 for the synthesizer you will use the most.

If you use a Midi keyboard without integrated synthesizer, it will be necessary to set the echo associated with the Midi input to the MIDI port number associated to the synthesizer of the card. This will let you play on your keyboard and directly hear the notes executed by the sound card synthesizer. Click OK to validate your Midi setup.

Select your synthesizer (Professional version)

When the Midi setup is specified, Pizzicato knows the Midi ports it can use to communicate with your musical instruments. It however does not know yet which model of synthesizer or sound card you have. It knows the addresses of its correspondents but does not know their identities yet. The synthesizer selection dialog will enable you to specify the model of card or synthesizer you have. Pizzicato must be able to know the sounds which are available on the instruments, the Midi channels that can be used, the special effects available (reverberation, chorus…) as well as various specific characteristics of your instrument.

In the Options menu , choose the Select synthesizers... item. The following dialog appears:

Four lines represent the 4 Midi ports. The Midi interface name of the 4 outputs is indicated in the column entitled Interface. The names correspond to the specification choices made in the Midi setup dialog. The unused Midi ports are indicated by a dotted line. The next column indicates the model of synthesizer associated with each of the 4 outputs. The above dialog example does not necessarily contain the same indications as the one you will observe on your screen.

The next column comprises a button allowing to select a synthesizer associated with the Midi port on this line.

Click on the Select button…The following dialog appears:

It displays a list of available synthesizers. To select a synthesizer, click on its name in the list (use the vertical scroll bar to consult the full list) and click the Select synthesizer button. You go back to the previous dialog in which the new synthesizer will be indicated.

The list of the synthesizers shows several synthesizers and sound card of the market. If your synthesizer or sound card is not in the list, see the remark at the end of this lesson. The great majority of sound cards use the GM standard. Select the Gm-1 item on the list.

According to the type of interface and material you have, here are various possible cases for the selection of synthesizers.

In front of each interface, associate the name of your synthesizer by selecting it in the provided list.

If your sound card also has a Midi interface to which a synthesizer is connected, associate it to the name of the synthesizer by using the above list. For the internal synthesizer of the sound card, select Gm-1.

If necessary, you can connect several synthesizers on the same Midi interface. It is the case for the last connection example drawn at the beginning of this lesson (synthesizer with sound keyboard + module). You just need to configure two Midi ports with the same interface and respectively to associate them to the first and to the second synthesizer name. It will be necessary to disable some Midi channels of your synthesizers and it will be necessary to slightly reconfigure your synthesizer in order to avoid communications conflicts. For this, see the lesson treating the configuration of synthesizers.

Notice

If you do not find your synthesizer or sound card in the prepared list, here is how to proceed.

  1. Consult the manual of your synthesizer to see if it is compatible with GM standard (General Midi). This standard is more and more used . It standardizes the behavior of the synthesizers. If it is the case, select the Gm-1 line in the synthesizers list. Also see if it is compatible with GS standard (General System), a standard more specific to the Roland synthesizers. In this case, select line GS in the list. Possibly see if the model of your synthesizer is very close to another model of the same brand and test it.
  2. If it is not the case, know that Pizzicato makes it possible to completely create and configure a new synthesizer which can be added to the provided list. This requires a good knowledge of synthesizers and MIDI technology. The instructions to be followed are explained in the lesson treating the configuration of synthesizers.
  3. If your synthesizer is sufficiently present on the market, our company can deal with configuring your synthesizer for you. For that, you just need to send us a complete photocopy (which we will keep) of your synthesizer manual. We will encode the data relating to your synthesizer or sound card and we will send you a floppy disk containing a new file which will be added to your list. This is of course possible only if your manual contains the full list of the sounds, which is not (to our great astonishment!) always the case…
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