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The commands discussed in this chapter directly effect your MIDI output devices.
Not all MIDI devices are equal. Many of the effects in this chapter may be ignored by your devices. Sorry, but that's just the way MIDI is.
As noted in Tracks and Channels MMA assigns MIDI channels dynamically as it creates tracks. In most cases this works fine; however, you can if you wish force the assignment of a specific MIDI channel to a track with the CHANNEL command.
You cannot assign a channel number to a track if it already defined (well, see the section CHSHARE, below, for the inevitable exception), nor can you change the channel assignments for any of the DRUM tracks.
Let us assume that you want the Bass track assigned to MIDI channel 8. Simply use:
| Bass Channel 8 |
Caution: If the selected channel is already in use an error will be generated. Due to the way MMA allocates tracks, if you really need to manually assign track it is recommended that you do this in a MMARC file which is processed before your main input file.
You can disable a channel at any time by using a channel number of 0:
| Arpeggio-1 Channel 0 |
will disable the Arpeggio-1 channel, freeing it for use by other tracks. A warning message is generated. Disabling a track without a valid channel is fine. When you set a channel to 0 the track is also disabled. You can restart the track with the ON command (here).
You don't need to have a valid MIDI channel assigned to a track to do things like: MIDIPAN, MIDIGLIS, MIDIVOLUME or even the assignment of any music to a track. MIDI data is created in tracks and then sent out to the MIDI buffers. Channel assignment is checked and allocated at this point, and an error will be generated if no channels are available.
It's quite acceptable to do channel reassignments in the middle of a song. Just assign channel 0 to the unneeded track first.
MIDI channel settings are not saved in GROOVEs.
MMA inserts a MIDI “track name” meta event when the channel buffers are first assigned at a MIDI offset of 0. If the MIDI channel is reassigned, a new “track name” is inserted at the current song offset.
A more general method is to use CHANNELPREF detailed below.
You can access the currently assigned channel with the $_TRACK_CHANNEL macro.
If you prefer to have certain tracks assigned to certain channels you can use the CHANNELPREF command to create a custom set of preferences. By default, MMA assigns channels starting at 16 and working down to 1 (with the expectation of drum tracks which are all assigned channel 10). If, for example, you would like the Bass track to be on channel 9, sustained bass on channel 3, and Arpeggio on channel 5, you can have a command like:
| ChannelPref Bass=9 Arpeggio=5 Bass-Sus=3 |
Most likely this will be in your MMARC file.
You can use multiple command lines, or have multiple assignments on a single line. Just make sure that each item consists of a trackname, an “=” and a channel number in the range 1 to 16.
If a channel has already been assigned this command will probably be ignored. It should be used before any MIDI data is generated.
MMA is fairly conservative in its use of MIDI tracks. “Out of the box” it demands a separate MIDI channel for each of its tracks, but only as they are actually used. In most cases, this works just fine.
However, there are times when you might need more tracks than the available MIDI channels or you may want to free up some channels for other programs.
If you have different tracks with the same voicing, it's quite simple. For example, you might have an arpeggio and scale track:
|
Arpeggio Sequence A16 z
Arpeggio Voice Piano1 Scale Sequence z S8 Scale Voice Piano1 |
In this example, MMA will use different MIDI channels for the Arpeggio and the Scale. Now, if you force channel sharing:
| Scale ChShare Arpeggio |
both tracks will use the same MIDI channel.
This is really foolproof in the above example, especially since the same voice is being used for both. Now, what if you wanted to use a different voice for the tracks?
|
Arpeggio Sequence A16 z
Arpeggio Voice Piano1 Strings Scale Sequence z S8 Scale ChShare Arpeggio |
You might think that this would work, but it doesn't. MMA ignores voice changes for bars which don't have a sequence, so it will set “Piano1” for the first bar, then “Strings” for the second (so far, so good). But, when it does the third bar (an ARPEGGIO) it will not know that the voice has been changed to “Strings” by the Scale track.
So, the general rule for track channel sharing is to use only one voice.
One more example which doesn't work:
|
Arpeggio Sequence A8
Scale Sequence S4 Arpeggio Voice Piano1 Scale Voice Piano1 Scale ChShare Arpeggio |
This example has an active scale and arpeggio sequence in each bar. Since both use the same voice, you may think that it will work just fine ... but it may not. The problem here is that MMA will generate MIDI on and off events which may overlap each other. One or the other will be truncated. If you are using a different octave, it will work much better. It may sound okay, but you should probably find a better way to do this.
When a CHSHARE directive is parsed the “shared” channel is first checked to ensure that it has been assigned. If not currently assigned, the assignment is first done. What this means is that you are subverting MMA 's normal dynamic channel allocation scheme. This may cause is a depletion of available channels.
Please note that that the use of the CHSHARE command is probably never really needed, so it might have more problems than outlined here. If you want to see how much a bother channel sharing becomes, have a look at the standard library file frenchwaltz.mma. All this so the accordion bass can use one channel instead of 6. If I were to write it again I'd just let it suck up the MIDI channels.
For another, simpler, way of reassigning MIDI tracks and letting MMA do most of the work for you, refer to the DELETE command.
In order to properly configure a MIDI device, it is often convenient to send arbitrary commands to selected tracks before any musical data is played. One way to do this in MMA is with the MIDI command. One problem with using MIDI is that you really don't know track assignments until after the compilation is completed ... so you end up sending data to the meta track and effect all the tracks in your file.
The CHANNELINIT command delays any action until the specified MIDI channel is assigned to a track. A simple example is to set the drum set pan:
| ChannelInit Channels=10 MidiPan 20 |
In this case we know that all the drum channels are assigned to channel 10. When the first note data is written to any of the drum tracks, the MIDIPAN command is inserted. The action is only preformed one time.
The author likes to set all channels, with the exception of the keyboard channel 1, to a volume of 80.
| ChannelInit channels=2-16 MidiVolume m |
If the CHANNELS option is not specified all channels (1-16) will be effected.
The command will be processed only when the channel is assigned to a track ... if the channel is not used the data is discarded.
The CHANNELS option takes a list of channels, each with a single comma separator (3,4,5) and/or a range separated by a single hyphen (2-6). Duplicate channels are ignored.
Under normal conditions MMA only generates the MIDI tracks it thinks are valid or relevant. So, if you create a track but insert no note data into that track it will not be generated. An easy way to verify this is by creating file and running MMA with the -c command line option. Let's start off by creating a file you might think will set the keyboard channel on your synth to a TenorSax voice:
|
Begin Solo-Keyboard
Channel 1 Voice TenorSax MIDIVolume 100 End |
If you test this you should get:
|
$ mma test -c
File 'test' parsed, but no MIDI file produced! Tracks allocated: SOLO-KEYBOARD Channel assignments: 1 SOLO-KEYBOARD |
So, a MMA track will be created. But if you compile this file and examine the resulting MIDI file you will find that the voice has not been set.24.1
To overcome this, insert the FORCEOUT command at the end of the track setup.
For example, here is a more complete file which will set the keyboard track (MIDI channel 1) to TenorSax with a volume of 100, play a bar of accompaniment, set a Trumpet voice with a louder volume, play another bar, and finally reset the keyboard to the default Piano voice. A cool way to program your keyboard for different voicing changes so you can have more fun doing play-a-longs.
|
Groove BossaNova
Begin Solo Channel 1 Voice TenorSax MIDIVolume 100 ForceOut End 1 C Begin Solo Voice Trumpet MIDIVolume 120 ForceOut End 2 G Begin Solo Voice Piano1 MIDIVolume 127 ForceOut End |
Note: The same or similar results could be accomplished with the MIDI command; however, it's a bit harder to use and the commands would be in the Meta track.
The complete set of MIDI commands is not limitless—but from this end it seems that adding commands to suit every possible configuration is never-ending. So, in an attempt to satisfy everyone, a command which will place any arbitrary MIDI stream in your tracks has been implemented. In most cases this will be a MIDI “Sysex” or “Meta” event.
For example, you might want to start a song off with a MIDI reset:
| MIDI 0xF0 0x05 0x7e 0x7f 0x09 0x01 0xf7 |
The values passed to the MIDI command are normal integers; however, they must all be in the range of 0x00 to 0xff. In most cases it is easiest to use hexadecimal numbers by using the “0x” prefix. But, you can use plain decimal integers if you prefer.
In the above example:
| 0xF0 | Designates a SYSEX message |
| 0x05 | The length of the message |
| 0x7e | ... The actual message
|
Another example places the key signature of F major (1 flat) in the meta track:24.2
| MIDI 0xff 0x59 0x02 0xff 0x00 |
Some cautions:
Cautions aside, includes/init.mma has been included in this distribution. I use this without apparent problems; to use it add the command line:
| MMAstart init |
in your MMARC file. The file is pretty well commented and it sets a synth up to something reasonably sane.
If you need a brief delay after a raw MIDI command, it is possible to insert a silent beat with the BEATADJUST command. See the file includes/reset.mma for an example.
As noted earlier in this manual you should be very careful in programming MIDI sequences into your song and/or library files. Doing damage to a synthesizer is probably a remote possibility ... but leaving it in a unexpected mode is likely. For this reason the MIDICLEAR command has been added as a companion to the MIDIVOICE and MIDISEQ commands.
Each time a MIDI track (remember, MMA tracks are completely different from MIDI tracks) is ended or a new GROOVE is started, a check is done to see if any MIDI data has been inserted in the track with a MIDIVOICE or MIDISEQ command. If it has, a further check is done to see if there is an “undo” sequence defined via a MIDICLEAR command. That data is then inserted into the MIDI file; or, if data has not be defined for the track, a warning message is displayed.
The MIDICLEAR command uses the same syntax as MIDIVOICE and MIDISEQ; however, you cannot specify different sequences for different bars in the sequence:
| Bass-Funky MIDIClear 1 Modulation 0; 1 ReleaseTime 0 |
As in MIDIVOICE and MIDISEQ you can include sequences defined in a MIDIDEF (see below). The <beat>offsets are required, but ignored.
MIDI files can contain “cue points” to be used as pointers to sections of the file. In MMA you can insert these in the meta-track:
| MidiCue Begin slow portion of song |
or in a specified track:
| Chord MidiCue Chords get louder here |
Not all MIDI sequencers or editors recognize this event.
The text for this command is queued until the track is created. If the specified track is never created the text is discarded.
Inserting a copyright message into a MIDI file may be a good idea, and it's simple enough to do.
| MidiCopyright (C) Bob van der Poel 2044 |
will insert the message “(C)..” as the first item in the first track of the generated file.24.3You can have any number of MIDICOPYRIGHT messages in your file. They will be inserted sequentially at the head of the file. Command placement in your input file has no effect on the positioning.
To make it easier to create long sets of commands for MIDISEQ and MIDICLEAR you can create special macros. Each definition consists of a symbolic name, a beat offset, a controller name and a value. For example:
| MIDIdef Rel1 1 ReleaseTime 50; 3 ReleaseTime 0 |
creates a definition called “Rel1” with two controller events. The controller names can be a single value or a permitted symbolic name (here).
You can have multiple controller events. Just list them with “;” delimiters.
Much like the CRESC and DECRESC (here) commands, these commands change volume over a set number of bars. However, unlike the previously mentioned commands, these commands utilize the MIDI Channel Volume settings (here) or, if used in a non-track area, the MIDI device's master volume.
The two commands are identical, with the exception that MIDICRESC prints a warning if the second argument is smaller than the first and MIDIDECRESC prints a warning if the second argument is larger than the first.
For tracks, the first two arguments are MIDI values in the range 0 to 127. The third argument is the number of bars to apply the command over. MMA distributes the needed values evenly over the bar range. MMA assumes that your song will be long enough for the specifed bar count; if the song is too short you will end up with volume settings past the end of the song (the MIDI file will be expanded for this).
To change the MIDI channel volume of the Bass track over three and a half bars:
| Bass MidiCresc 50 100 3.5 |
The volume arguments for this command can also be set using the standard volume mnemonics “m”, “p”, etc. (see here).
For example:
| Chord MidiDecresc mf pp 2 |
When used in a non-track area the values for volumes range from 0 to 1638324.4 and can be set as a value or via the standard “m”, “mp”, etc. mnemonics.
MMA keeps track of channel settings, so you can skip the initial volume:
| Bass MidiCresc ffff 1 |
For non-track usage the volume range is from 0 to 16383. In addition, the command takes an optional STEP setting. By default a step rate of “10” is used, but this might be too course or fine for your song. Setting a larger value will generate fewer commands. MMA tracks the master volume so the initial setting is optional (it is assumed to be set to the maximum value at startup). Examples:
| MidiCresc mp mf 3 |
| MidiDecresc p 2 Step=5 |
Please read the discussion for MIDIVOLUME (here) for more details.
This option controls some fine points of the generated MIDI file. The command is issued with a series of parameters in the form “MODE=VALUE”. You can have multiple settings in a single MIDIFILE command.
MMA can generate two types of SMF (Standard MIDI Files):
| 0. | This file contains only one track into which the data for all the different channel tracks has been merged. A number of synths which accept SMF (Casio, Yamaha and others) only accept type 0 files. |
| 1. | This file has the data for each MIDI channel in its own
track. This is the default file generated by
MMA .
|
You can set the filetype in an RC file (or, for that matter, in any file processed by MMA ) with the command:
| MidiFile SMF=0 |
or
| MidiFile SMF=1 |
You can also set it on the command line with the -M option. Using the command line option will override the MIDISMF command if it is in a RC file.
By default MMA uses “running status” when generating MIDI files. This can be disabled with the command:
| MidiFile Running=0 |
or enabled (but this is the default) with:
| MidiFile Running=1 |
Files generated without running status will be about 20 to 30% larger than their compressed counterparts. They may be useful for use with brain-dead sequencers and in debugging generated code. There is no command line equivalent for this option.
This sets the MIDI portamento24.5 (in case you're new to all this, portamento is like glissando between notes—wonderful, if you like trombones! To enable portamento:
| Arpeggio MIDIGlis 30 |
The parameter can be any value between 1 and 127. To turn the sliding off:
| Arpeggio MIDIGlis 0 |
This command will work with any track (including drum tracks). However, the results may be somewhat “interesting” or “disappointing”, and many MIDI devices don't support portamento at all. So, be cautious. The data generated is not sent into the MIDI stream until musical data is created for the relevant MIDI channel.
Many MIDI synths have a nice little knob or wheel on one side which is used to adjust the pitch.24.6 The effect is known as “pitch bend”.
When a MIDI controller is in default mode this controller is set to a a value of 0x2000 (decimal 8192). Increasing the value raises the pitch; lowering does the opposite.
In MMA the command effects only one track at time. A number of settings are generated depending on the various parameters. The command is used in a command like:
| Solo MidiWheel Duration=4 Offset=2 Start=1000 End=9000 |
The following options, all are in option=value pairs, are recognized:
You can also use a RESET without an option to force an immediate controller reset. In this case the command is translated to SET=CENTER. It can be useful to use this at the start or end of a song which may be in an unknown pitch bend.
When setting START, END or SET you can use the special value “Center” as a mnemonic for “0x2000”. This value represents the controller in the centered or default position.
A short example:
|
Begin Solo
Octave 6 Articulate 100 // force full value of the note Voice Strings Riff 1+1e ; End Solo MidiWheel Duration=1b offset=2 cycle=on \ Start=9000 End=7000 Step=2 Rate=8 z * 2 // 2 bars for the solo note |
Not all MIDI devices support this option. The actual results are highly controller dependent.
MMA has the ability to include a user supplied MIDI file at any point of its generated files. These included files can be used to play a melodic solo over a MMA pattern or to fill a section of a song with something like a drum solo.
When the MIDIINC command is encountered the current line is parsed for options, the file is inserted into the stored MIDI stream, and processing continues. The include has no effect on any song pointers, etc. Optionally, the MIDI data can be pushed into a SOLO or MELODY track and further processed by that track's optional settings (see the file egs/midi-inc/README-riffs for a detailed tutorial on this option).
MIDIINC has a number of options, all set in the form OPTION=VALUE. Following are the recognized options:
You should note that when you are using the TRACK RIFF (see below) and TRANSPOSE options together you will end up with two levels of tranposition: one from the MIDIINC and a second when the SOLO or MELODY data generated is parsed. This may not be what you want (you will probably need to “undo” the transpose in the included file by using an opposite value.
Note that setting TRANSPOSE to “0” produces a different result than not setting it at all ...a “0” overrides the conversion when creating a RIFF.
A problem with deleting silence is that different tracks in your file may have different “start” points. If you are having a problem with included data not starting where you think it should, examine the file with the REPORT or VERBOSE option(s), above, and set the STRIPSILENCE factor manually. Eg:
| MidiInc File=myfile.mid Solo=1 StripSilence=2345 |
Because the MIDI data is converted to numeric pitch values (not mnuemoic values like “a”, “b”, etc.), data imported into a MELODY or SOLO track as a RIFF or SEQUENCE is not be effected by the track's OCTAVE setting.
At least one TRACK option is required to include a MIDI file. It is up to the user to examine existing MIDI files to determine the tracks being used and which to include into MMA 's output.
A short example which you could insert into a MMA file is really this simple:
| MIDIinc File=test.mid Solo-Piano=1 Drum=10 Volume=70 |
This will include the MIDI file “test.mid” at the current position and assign all notes in channel 1 to the Solo-Piano track and the notes from channel 10 to the Drum track. The volumes for all the notes will be adjusted to 70% of that in the original.
| MidiInc File=test.mid Lyric=On Solo-Piano=1,Riff Solo-harmony=1,riff Drum=10 Solo-Guitar=3 |
Will import the existing file “test.mid” and:
More complete examples of usage are shown in the directory egs/midi-inc in the distribution.
A few notes:
The conversion from the imported file's beat divisions to MMA 's are done as part of the read process. This means that any reported information about offsets, etc. will be in MMA values, not the values a different program or synth would report.
| MidiInc Files=test.mid Solo-Piano=1 Drum=10 Volume=70 |
will generate an error like:
| MidiInc: FILES is not a valid MMA track. |
Sorry, but we're not the best guessers or parsers in the world.
For short snippets of MIDI you can insert individual events using the MIDINOTE command (here).
You can insert a MIDI Marker event into the Meta track with this command. The mark can be useful in debugging your MIDI output with a sequencer or editor which supports Mark events (most do).
| MidiMark Label |
will insert the text “Label” at the current position. You can add an optional negative or positive offset in beats:
| MidiMark 2 Label4 |
will insert “Label4” 2 beats into the next bar.
Note: the “mark” inserted can only be a single word. If you need a longer message see MIDICUE or MIDITEXT.
It is relatively easy to insert various melody and harmony notes into a song with SOLO and other tracks. However, there are times when you may wish to insert a set of notes complete with MIDI timing and velocities. These values can be hand generated or created by an external program.
The MIDINOTE command is used to insert one or more MIDI note on/off, controller or pitch bend events directly into a track. If you have a large segment of MIDI data to insert you will probably want to generate a MIDI file and insert it into your song with the MIDIINC command (here). MIDINOTE is more suited for short segments.
MIDINOTE has a number of settings which modify its behavior. These options can be different for each track and are set on a track-by-track basis. Options are reset to their defaults with the SEQCLEAR command (except for SOLO tracks). They are not saved or modified by GROOVE commands.
MIDINOTE takes various options in the OPTION=VALUE notation. Please note that options can appear on a line by themselves, or can be mixed into a data/command line. The order is not important—all option pairs are parsed out of an input line before the actual data is read. The following options are supported:
To duplicate the default settings you might use a line like:
| Chord-Piano MidiNote Offsets=Ticks Duration=Ticks Articulate=Off Transpose=Off Adjust=0 Volume=100 Octave=0 |
You can insert MIDI events directly into any track with a command line like:
| Solo MidiNote Note 1 c#+ 100 4 |
The valid commands are NOTE (note on/off event), CTRL (controller event) and PB (pitch bend event), PBR (series/range of pitch bend events), CHAT (a channel aftertouch event) and CHATR (series/range of channel aftertouch events). Following is a detailed command set for each option:
A MIDINOTE NOTE event is specified with the “Note” keyword; however, the keyword doesn't need to be used. So:
| Solo MidiNote 1 65 100 4 |
and
| Solo MidiNote Note 1 65 100 4 |
are equivalent.
After the command you need to specify the offset, pitch, velocity and duration of the desired note.
A single note is specified with a MIDI value or mnemonic; a chord (multiple notes) is specified by appending each desired note with a single comma. For example, to insert a C Major chord you could use the line:
| Solo MidiNote Note 1 c,e,g 90 192 |
Pitch names are used just like you would in a SOLO or MELODY track (here). The permitted syntax is limited to the letters 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f' or 'g' followed by an optional '&', '#' or 'n' and a number of '-'s or '+'s. When a note pitch is specified by name the OCTAVE setting for the track is honored. The current KEYSIG is applied to each chord. Accidentals, whether set explicitly or from a key signature, do not apply to successive chords.24.9They do apply to successive notes in a chord, irrespective of octave. So, the chord “a#,a+,a++” would have all three “a”s sharp.
For DRUM tracks and SOLO or MELODY tracks which have the “DrumType” attribute set, you can use drum tone mnemonics (here). The special tone “*” can be used to select the tone. In the case of MELODY and SOLO tracks the current default tone is used (here); for DRUM tracks the currently selected TONE (here). Use of the special “*” is useful when you have a series of drum events—changing only the TONE is much easier than changing a number of MIDINOTE commands.
A MIDI controller event can be directly inserted at any point in our song using a MIDINOTE CONTROLLER command. For example:
| Solo MidiNote Ctrl 3 Modulation 90 |
will insert a Modulation control event. The necessary values are:
A MIDI Pitch Bend event can be directly inserted at any point in our song using a MIDINOTE PB command. For example:
| Solo MidiNote PB 3 934 |
This command is just like PITCH BEND, described above, with the added feature of creating a series of events over a period of time. This makes it easy to create various “swoops” and “slides” in your song. As always, the example:
| Solo MidiNote PBR 20 3,4 0,1000 |
MIDI channel aftertouch events can be directly inserted in a MMA song using the MIDINOTE CHAT command. For example:
| Solo MidiNote ChAT 3 50 |
Just like CHANNEL AFTERTOUCH, described above, with the added feature of creating a series of events over a period of time. Example:
| Solo MidiNote ChATR 20 3,4 0,100 |
In MIDI-speak “pan” is the same as “balance” on a stereo. By adjusting the MIDIPAN for a track you can direct the output to the left, right or both speakers. Example:
| Bass MIDIPan 4 |
This command is only available in track mode. The data generated is not sent into the MIDI stream until musical data is created for the relevant MIDI channel.
The value specified must be in the range 0 to 127 (or a mnemonic list below), and must be an integer.
A variation for this command is to have the pan value change over a range of beats:
| Solo MidiPan 10 120 4 |
in this case you must give exactly 3 arguments:
Using a beat count you can create interesting effects with different instruments moving between the left and right channels.
MIDIPAN is not saved or restored by GROOVE commands, nor is it effected by SEQCLEAR. A MIDIPAN is inserted directly into the MIDI track at the point at which it is encountered in the music file. This means that the effect of MIDIPAN will be in use until another MIDIPAN is encountered.
MIDIPAN can be used in MIDI compositions to emulate the sound of an orchestra. By assigning different values to different groups of instruments, you can get the feeling of strings, horns, etc. all placed in the “correct” position on the stage.
MIDIPAN can be used for much cruder purposes. When creating accompaniment tracks for a mythical jazz group, you might set all the bass tracks (Bass, Walk, Bass-1, etc) set to aMIDIPAN 0. Now, when practicing at home you have a “full band”; and the bass player can practice without the generated bass lines simply by turning off the left speaker.
Because most MIDI keyboard do not reset between tunes, there should be a MIDIPAN to undo the effects at the end of the file. Example:24.11
|
Include swing
Groove Swing Bass MIDIPan 0 Walk MIDIPan 0 1 C 2 C ... 123 C Bass MIDIPan 64 Walk MIDIPan 64 |
To make setting easier and more consistent the following mnemonic values may be used (case can be upper, lower or mixed):
|
It is possible to associate a set of MIDI controller messages with certain beats in a sequence. For example, you might want to have the Modulation Wheel set for the first beats in a bar, but not for the third. The following example shows how:
|
Seqsize 4
Begin Bass-2 Voice NylonGuitar Octave 4 Sequence { 1 4 1 90; 2 4 3 90; 3 4 5 90; 4 4 1+ 90} MIDIDef WheelStuff 1 1 0x7f ; 2 1 0x50; 3 1 0 MidiSeq WheelStuff Articulate 90 End C * 4 |
The MIDISEQ command is specific to a track and is saved as part of the GROOVE definition. This lets style file writers use enhanced MIDI features to dress up their sounds.
The command has the following syntax:
| TrackName MidiSeq <Beat> <Controller> <Datum> [ ; ...] |
where:
You can enter the values in either standard decimal notation or in hexadecimal with the prefixed “0x”. In most cases, your code will be clearer if you use values like “0x7f” rather than the equivalent “127”.
The MIDI sequences specified can take several forms:
| MIDISeq 1 ReleaseTime 50; 3 ReleaseTime 0 |
in this case the commands are applied to beats 1 and 3 in each bar of the sequence.
| MIDISeq Rel1 Rel2 |
Here, the commands defined in “Rel1” are applied to the first bar in the sequence, “Rel2” to the second. And, if there are more bars in the sequence than definitions in the line, the series will be repeated for each bar.
|
MIDISeq { 1 ReleaseTime 50; 3 ReleaseTime 0 } \
{ 2 ReleaseTime 50; 4 ReleaseTime 0 } |
|
MIDIDef Rel1 1 ReleaseTime 50
MIDIDef Rel2 2 ReleaseTime 50 MIDISeq { Rel1; 3 ReleaseTime 0 } { Rel2; 4 ReleaseTime 0 } |
You can have specify different messages for different beats (or different messages/controllers for the same beat) by listing them on the same MIDISEQ line separated by “;”s.
If you need to repeat a sequence for a bar in a sequence you can use the special notation “/” to force the use of the previous line. The special symbol “z” or ”-” can be used to disable a bar (or number of bars). For example:
| Bass-Dumb MIDISeq 1 ReleaseTime 20 z / FOOBAR |
would set the “ReleaseTime” sequence for the first bar of the sequence, no MIDISeq events for the second and third, and the contents of “FOOBAR” for the fourth.
To disable the sending of messages just use a single “-”:
| Bass-2 MidiSeq - // disable controllers |
For certain post-processing effects it is convenient to have each different drum tone in a separate MIDI track. This makes it easier to apply an effect to, for example, the snare drum. Just to make this a bit more fun you can split any track created by MMA .
To use this feature:
| MIDISplit <list of channels> |
So, to split out just the drum channel24.12 you would have the command:
| MIDISplit 10 |
somewhere in your song file.
Alternately, you can use a track name. In this case the track, if not already extant, will be created and the MIDI channel will be assigned. So, rather than using a channel number, you can do something like:
| MIDISplit Drum |
When processing MMA creates an internal list of MIDI note-on events for each tone or pitch in the track. It then creates a separate MIDI track for each list. Any other events are written to another track.
Notes:
| MidiSplit Drum Drum-HighHat Drum-Snare |
is the same as simply using “Drum” since all the drum track share channel 10.
This command inserts an arbitrary text string into a MIDI track at the current file position:
| Chord-Sus MidiText I just love violins. |
will insert the text event24.13 “I just love violins.” into the CHORD-SUS track.
Please note that if the specified track does not exist the text will be queued. If the track is never created, the command is ignored.
You can also insert text into the Meta track:
| MidiText A message in the Meta Track |
Since the Meta track always exists, no queueing is done.
When creating a MIDI track, MMA inserts a MIDI Track Name event at the start of the track. By default, this name is the same as the associated MMA track name. You can change this by issuing the MIDITNAME command. For example, to change the CHORD track name you might do something like:
| Chord MidiTname Piano |
Please note that this only effects the tracks in the generated MIDI file. You still refer to the track in your file as CHORD.
You can also use this command to rename the automatic name inserted into the Meta track. When MMA starts it inserts a Track Name event based on the filename at offset 0 in the Meta Track. For example, if you have a MMA input file “dwr.mma” the a “Meta SeqName” event “dwr” will be inserted. A command like:
| MidiTName My version of “Dancing with Roses” |
anywhere in the input file will remove the original text and insert a new event in its place.24.14
Similar to the MIDISEQ command discussed in the previous section, the MIDIVOICE command is used to insert MIDI controller messages into your files. Instead of sending the data for each bar as MIDISEQ does, this command just sends the listed control events at the start of a track and then, if needed, at the start of each bar.
Again, a short example. Let us assume that you want to use the “Release Time” controller to sustain notes in a bass line:
|
Seqsize 4
Begin Bass-2 Voice NylonGuitar MidiVoice 1 ReleaseTime 50 Octave 4 Sequence { 1 4 1 90; 2 4 3 90; 3 4 5 90; 4 4 1+ 90 } Articulate 60 End C * 4 |
should give an interesting effect.
The syntax for the command is:
| Track MIDIVoice <beat> <controller> <Datum> [; ...] |
This syntax is identical to that discussed in the section for MIDISEQ, above. The <beat>value is required for the command—it determines if the data is sent before or after the VOICE command is sent. Some controllers are reset by a voice, others not. My experiments show that BANK should be sent before, most others after. Using a “beat” of “0” forces the MidiVoice data to be sent before the Voice control; any other “beat” value causes the data to be sent after the Voice control. In this silly example:
|
Voice Piano1
MidiVoice {0 Bank 5; 1 ReleaseTime 100} |
the MIDI data is created in an order like:
0 Param Ch=xx Con=00 val=05
0 ProgCh Ch=xx Prog=00
0 Param Ch=xx Con=72 val=80
All the MIDI events occur at the same offset, but the order is (may be) important.
By default MMA assumes that the MIDIVoice data is to be used only for the first bar in the sequence. But, it's possible to have a different sequence for each bar in the sequence (just like you can have a different VOICE for each bar). In this case, group the different data groups with {} brackets:
| Bass-1 MIDIVoice {1 ReleaseTime 50} {1 ReleaseTime 20} |
This list is stored with other GROOVE data, so is ideal for inclusion in a style file.
If you want to disable this command after it has been issued you can use the form:
| Track MIDIVoice - // disable |
Some technical notes:
MIDI devices equipped with mixer settings can make use of the “Channel” or “Master” volume settings.24.15
MMA doesn't set any channel volumes without your knowledge. If you want to use a set of reasonable defaults, look at the file includes/init.mma which sets all channels other than “1” to “100”. Channel “1” is assumed to be a solo/keyboard track and is set to the maximum volume of “127”.
You can set selected MIDIVOLUMEs:
| Chord MIDIVolume 55 |
will set the Chord track channel. For most users, the use of this command is not recommended since it will upset the balance of the library grooves. If you need a track softer or louder you should use the VOLUME setting (which changes the MIDI velocities of each note) for the track.
The data generated is not sent into the MIDI stream until musical data is created for the relevant MIDI channel.
More sophisticated MIDI programs use MIDI volume changes in combination with velocity settings. If you are going to do a “fancy arrangement” you'll probably be better of using a dedicated sequencer/editor to make the track-by-track volume changes. On the other hand, you may find that using MIDIVOLUME, MIDICRESC and MIDIDECRESC (here) works just fine.
The volume arguments for this command can also be set using the standard volume mnemonics “m”, “p”, etc. (see here).
Caution: If you use the command with ALLTRACKS you should note that only existing MMA tracks will be effected.
This command can be used in a non-track setting as well. In this case the MIDI Master Volume is used and the volumes are in the range 0 to 16383.