[dj]

Hi, Rob:

You have to be careful not to confuse the number of the staff in Composer with the midi channel to which it is assigned. The two are different.

There are only 16 midi channels available for each midi device that you have installed on your system (software synth, hardware port, virtual port, etc.). Composer can send its data from each staff to a specific midi channel -- only one channel per staff, but you can send several staves to one channel if you wish.

The General Midi Standard reserves midi channel 10 for use by drum instruments voices, which behave differently from standard instrument voices in that each note has a different sound assigned to it.

Timpani is a standard instrument sound in General Midi (Instrument Patch #48). So, you can assign any non-drum channel to that patch number and it will sound. In most midi synths, however, the "drum kit" patches will only work when receiving note on/off information from midi channel 10.

To set the staff to a specific midi channel, open the Staff Setup dialogue box (qsus or via the Setup item in the Staff menu) and, in the line for the staff that you wish to work with, click on the column marked "Chnl". A drop-down list will come up allowing you to set the midi channel for that staff. You can then further select different drum kits (if available) via Patch numbers.

Your file should then respond with the proper drum sounds.

Good luck.

David