Assigning MIDI Channels

In the Track Setup dialog, you can assign a track either to a specific MIDI channel, 1 to 16, or to Auto Channel. When a track is assigned to Auto Channel, Composer may assign different notes in the same track to different MIDI channels during playback. Auto Channel is explained later in this topic.

To change the MIDI channel for a single track:

1.      If the track controls are visible, click the Instrument Sound button. To display the track controls, choose the Show Track Controls command in the View menu, or type "qstc for Quick Show Track Controls.

-- OR --

While holding down the 'T' key, click anywhere in a staff of the track. Composer will display a pop-up menu. Choose the Instrument Sound command in the pop-up menu.

2.      Composer will display a Track Setup dialog, such as the following:

3.      In the Track Setup dialog, select a channel number, 1 to 16, or select "Auto" for automatic channel assignment. Automatic channel assignment is explained below. For General MIDI devices, assign channel 10 to drum tracks.

To change the MIDI channel for several tracks at a time:

1.      Choose the Track Setup command from the Track menu.

     Composer will display a Track Setup window, such as the following:

2.      For each track row, click the Channel cell. In the Channel cell, select a channel number, 1 to 16, or select "Auto" for automatic channel assignment. For General MIDI devices, assign channel 10 to drum tracks.

3.      Click the Exit button to complete the new channel assignments.

To assign MIDI channels to all tracks in one step:

1.      Choose the Track Setup command from the Track menu.

     Composer will display a Track Setup window, such as illustrated above.

2.      Click the Channel column header.

     Composer will display the following dialog box:

3.      If you check "use automatic channel assignments during playback" and the lower checkbox, then "Auto" will be assigned to all tracks, except for any track assigned to channel 10. If you check "sequentially assign channel numbers to tracks", then channel 1 will be assigned to the first track, 2 to second, and so forth; but channel 10 will be skipped if the lower checkbox has a checkmark.

If a track is assigned to Auto Channel, Composer sometimes assigns notes in the track to different channels on a per-note basis. Composer examines what device, MIDI bank, and patch that particular note is assigned to. If the combination of device, MIDI bank, and patch is already assigned to some MIDI channel, then Composer uses that same channel. Otherwise, Composer looks for an available channel for that device (one which is not being used by any other currently playing note). Before assigning a new channel to the track, Composer will send a MIDI bank selection message (if the device has MIDI banks) and a MIDI program change message to that channel.

The Auto Channel assignment is useful in the following circumstance:

     If a song has more than 16 tracks that play from the same MIDI output port, but each track needs to have a distinct assignment to some device, MIDI bank, and patch, then assign all of these tracks to Auto Channel. As long as fewer than 17 tracks ever play simultaneously, Composer will be able to find available channels to accommodate all of the tracks.

You should not use Auto Channel assignment in the following circumstances:

     If the track is assigned to MIDI channel 10, and the track is intended to play drum kit sounds on a General MIDI device, then keep the assignment of the track as channel 10.

     If the MIDI file already plays well on your General MIDI soundcard, and if you intend to continue playing the song only on a General MIDI device, then do not bother reassigning the tracks to Auto Channel. You can if you want, but there will be no advantage to doing so. You can still change patches for any of the tracks without changing the channel assignments.

When Composer determines that it must find an unused MIDI channel for a note, Composer examines the device that the note is assigned to, and then considers only those channels that the device is "tuned" to. The channels that a device is tuned to are indicated in the MIDI Device Configuration Window. In the example below, the Korg M1 device is "tuned" to channels 9 through 16, and the Roland M-SE1 device is tuned to channels 1 through 8.

To specify which MIDI channels a device is tuned to:

1.      Open the MIDI Device Configuration Window by selecting the MIDI Device Config command from the Setup menu.

2.      In the device's playback channel diagram, click and drag the mouse cursor over the subset of the 16 MIDI channels that you want to toggle on or off. A green light indicates that the device is tuned to the channel.

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