Sysex?

[TheRockDoc]

Trying to get a gasp on the concept... any offers for help or why I keep coming back to trying to understand this? I have a bunch of files downloaded for a few instruments...but...the light bulb browns after a moment or two.

Thanks,

TRD

[mikemorgan]

Sysex is the roadmap that your sequencer software follows in order to communicate with your hardware device.

If I was running Cubase/Sonar/ProTools and wanted to have them give the correct commands to my Roland JV8080 and my Yamaha MU100 at the same time: attach a small sysex file at the begginning of my sequence(midi song) within a track or by using a sysex send feature on the software. By using different sysex commands, sent on separate channels to two devices, I could have each device play. One (Roland) recognizes the GS sysex standard, while the Yamaha uses the XG midi standard. This is only one application of sysex. Many devices and software patch librarians store small sysex files meant to be loaded into the machine for patch information.

Do you have specific questions about sysex with your system devices?

[Dags]

Originally Posted by TheRockDoc

Trying to get a gasp on the concept... any offers for help or why I keep coming back to trying to understand this? I have a bunch of files downloaded for a few instruments...but...the light bulb browns after a moment or two.

Thanks,

TRD

Sysex = SYStem EXclusive messages.
Everyday MIDI information includes things like note on, note off, aftertouch, pitch bend, modulation, volume, etc which have a specific MIDI event number (volume = 7, for example)
There are other MIDI events which are specific to the device, as mikemorgan stated above. These can be accessed through sending a couple of SYSEX commands to the device to, for example, change the instrument being played on a particular channel.
Roland gear used a 2-step SYSEX message the first being the bank of sounds to be selected, the second being the patch number within the bank (I think - its been a while!!)

In a standard MIDI file, it is assuming that the General MIDI protocol will be used for playback, so the SYSEX file includes things like instrument number, volume, chorus level & reverb level. When you press 'play', all this info gets sent to the playback device first, then a second later the actual MIDI notes will start playing.

Cool, huh?

Dags

[altitude909]

Think of sysex as a programing language that goes beyond the traditional midi commands of CC, RPN, and NRPN. The implementation is completely up to the manufacture and the possibilities are pretty endless.

Fun things you can do with sysex:

• Send/receive patches, programs, banks
• Send/receive patch list names
• Send/receive audio from samplers via SDS
• Send/receive parameters in greater resolution than normally allowed via CC

[ssscientist]

Here's a link to what some call the Swiss Army knife of sysex, midiox.

It's a shareware program that'll do pretty much everything you can think of related to sysex including viewing, editing and storing sysex dumps on your computer and much much more. It's grown over the years from a simple sysex editor/librarian to a full service midi tool that covers just about every aspect of working with midi on computers.


.