MIDI Channels?
- Thread starter Atomic-TS
- Start date
gecko zzed
Grumpy Mod
Think of a midi channel as a pathway down which a particular set of midi instructions is sent.
If you have a multi-timbral keyboard (i.e. one that can play several sounds at once), each sound (or 'voice') is given a channel through which instructions pertaining to that voice are sent. The instructions are typically which note to play, when and for how long. Other instructions relate to its volume, panning and other effects (e.g. reverb).
GM (General Midi) has adopted a convention of having particular sounds, by default, assigned to specific channels. For example, a piano voice is assigned to channel 1, a bass to channel 2, percussion to channel 10. The advantage of this is that you can create a midi file using GM, send it to someone else, and they can play the file using their own sound module and hear it (roughly) as you heard it. The sounds will vary according to the quality of the sound module converting the instructions into sound.
I was going to write more . . . but I figure that will do for a start.
If you have a multi-timbral keyboard (i.e. one that can play several sounds at once), each sound (or 'voice') is given a channel through which instructions pertaining to that voice are sent. The instructions are typically which note to play, when and for how long. Other instructions relate to its volume, panning and other effects (e.g. reverb).
GM (General Midi) has adopted a convention of having particular sounds, by default, assigned to specific channels. For example, a piano voice is assigned to channel 1, a bass to channel 2, percussion to channel 10. The advantage of this is that you can create a midi file using GM, send it to someone else, and they can play the file using their own sound module and hear it (roughly) as you heard it. The sounds will vary according to the quality of the sound module converting the instructions into sound.
I was going to write more . . . but I figure that will do for a start.