MIDI controller - assigning different MIDI channel for each note

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famous beagle

famous beagle

Well-known member
Hey y'all,

This may be a dumb question, as I'm not incredibly MIDI savvy, so forgive me.

I know it's an easy matter to assign each note of a chord in a MIDI editor window (of a DAW) to a different MIDI channel.

However, is it possible to do this from the MIDI controller itself?

In other words, can I set it up so that, if I play one note, it sends as CH 1. But if I play several notes, it sends the first as CH 1, the second as CH 2, the third as CH 3, etc.?
If it is possible, can only certain controllers do this?

Is there a name for this type of function?

Thanks much for any help!
 
Its only the Channel for midi transmission. It will all come on the same channel.

There are 16 channels for Tx. There are 127 values on midi.

Have every value of midi channel 1 be the same. Have a midi controller assignment for each note on its own channel. You have only 16 notes that way.
 
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Thanks for the response. I'm afraid I don't understand it, though.
 
What are you doing?

why is this necessary?

A midi controller should be plug and play. The notes should have a preset default execution. You don't need to assign the keys.

A midi channel is the route for data transmissions and data receiving. There are 16 channels.

You want each of your channels to only play the one note, and change notes with channel selection? Why?
 
famous beagle said:
In other words, can I set it up so that, if I play one note, it sends as CH 1. But if I play several notes, it sends the first as CH 1, the second as CH 2, the third as CH 3, etc.?
If it is possible, can only certain controllers do this?
Click to expand...
Like ChordPro? You hold the root key down, and it plays the chord. Mostly for the bass notes hand. 1 finger chords type thing? That is in the software. The software can make each key trigger its own sample. The samples can be assigned to the keys anyway, but it's all coming on the same midi channel.

Changing channels like that is not how it works. If you change the send channel , someone need to change it on the receiving side too. What is each Channel in your example doing ? I was thinking all notes could be the same, and then the midi CH's go to their own VSTs. The CH would select the note based on devices. No, that is not what you describe.

There is no reason you would do this. Use multi -tier decks to split and go complicated.
 
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You didn't mention your DAW. I found what appears to be a solution using Reaper. A user found "MAP INPUT TO CHANNEL" in the track panel. If you use a different DAW, maybe it has a similar operation. Not sure if this is what you're looking for.

See the next to last post here : https://forum.cockos.com/archive/index.php/t-188995.html
 
This channel-per-note function does exist. But it's a midi-controller feature.
The Linnstrument, for example, has a setting that does this. Pretty sure the Roli Seaboard does likewise.
But most do not, by a large majority.
Best you'll get are layers. So that's maybe 3, possibly 4 different channels BUT not neccessarily segregated per note, but per zone or velocity.
 
Sorry y'all, I guess a little context would be helpful. I'm not working with a DAW.

I have an Elektron Digitakt, which (in case you don't know) is a hardware sampler/sequencer. It has 8 stereo audio tracks, however, the sampler is monophonic. So, if you sample, say, a piano note and want to play chords with it, you have to copy that note to, say, three other tracks (if you want four-note chords), and then build the chord one track at a time. This is doable, but it's obviously a bit clumsy.

However, it has MIDI in, and you can assign a different MIDI channel to each audio track.

So ... what I'd like to do is the following:
1. Sample a source with the Digitakt - say ... a plucked guitar note - to TRK 1.
2. Mangle/manipulate that sound with the Digitakt.
3. Copy that sound to, say, TRKS 2, 3, and 4.
4. Assign MIDI CHANNELS 1-8 to TRKS 1-8, respectively, on the Digitakt.
5. Set up a MIDI controller (if possible) so that it plays the first note note on CH 1, the second on CH 2, and so on.
6. Then I'll be able to play chords in real time using the Digitakt samples.

Hopefully that makes sense.

I know you can do this in plugin samplers. But I really prefer to work with hardware whenever possible. So I'm just trying to see if it's possible.

Thanks!
 
Ponder5 said:
This channel-per-note function does exist. But it's a midi-controller feature.
The Linnstrument, for example, has a setting that does this. Pretty sure the Roli Seaboard does likewise.
But most do not, by a large majority.
Best you'll get are layers. So that's maybe 3, possibly 4 different channels BUT not neccessarily segregated per note, but per zone or velocity.
Click to expand...

Just saw this post. It seems as though what I'm wanting to do is not possible then.

Would be a cool feature for a MIDI controller, though, huh? You could have a four-note chord split among several different instruments in real time.

Seems as though it should be possible today.
 
famous beagle said:
You could have a four-note chord split among several different instruments in real time.
Click to expand...
Use zones not midi channels. The hardware is the limitation. Use a daw and software.

unkown devices
 
LazerBeakShiek said:
Use zones not channels. The hardware is the limitation. Use a daw and software.

unkown devices
Click to expand...
Thanks. As I mentioned, I prefer not to use a DAW if possible. I like to work with hardware mostly. I have a DAW setup (Studio One and Reaper), but I prefer to record analog (on a Tascam 388) when I can. So I was just seeing if it were possible.

I know that the Digitakt can interface with a DAW very well, so there may be some way to possibly do it that way. Maybe not, though. I'll have to dig a bit deeper I guess.
 
It sounds like you want that 'hardware thing' in the FX loop of a DAW. And what you want should be possible using DAW tracks. Hardware effect the ones you want.
 
LazerBeakShiek said:
Use zones not midi channels. The hardware is the limitation. Use a daw and software.

unkown devices
Click to expand...
Even so .. zones still wouldn't do what I want. What if you want to move above or below the zones and still have the four notes sent to different places?
(Unless I'm misunderstanding what's meant by "zones," which is certainly possible.)
 
Why not put the hardware in the effects loop of an interface and use a DAW?

Apply it on track 2,3,4 ..Track 1 is orig feed off say a midi controller keyboard. Each track can be a different sample played from VST. The VST sampler player would need to be on each track.
 
LazerBeakShiek said:
Going above or below the zones would change the instrument or VST.
Click to expand...
Right ... and that's not what I want. I want to be able to play, say ... a four note chord down low, with each note playing a different instrument (or sample, etc.). Then I'd like to be able to play a four-note chord up high and still have each note play a different instrument (or sample).

Note: When I say "different instrument," I don't really mean that in my case. I mean different MIDI channels, because that's the only way I can see it working for the Digitakt, because the audio tracks are monophonic. In other words, have the same sample on tracks 1-4 of the Digitakt, and then be able to play all four of those at once, in real time, to create chords.

I just mentioned the "different instrument for each note of a chord" thing as another application of this "midi channel-per-note" feature I was asking about, because that would be a cool application as well.
 
4 instruments, but in the DAW. Fine. 2 decks . Split them so you have 2 + 2 = 4 zones. In each of the zones have the instrument you want isolated in respective key. Ya dig?

Apply the mangling effect in the FX loop of the DAW.
 
Playing more than 4 zones separately will require the use of your feet..
 
LazerBeakShiek said:
4 instruments, but in the DAW. Fine. 2 decks . Split them so you have 2 + 2 = 4 zones. In each of the zones have the instrument you want isolated in respective key. Ya dig?

Apply the mangling effect in the FX loop of the DAW.
Click to expand...
Just so I know for sure ... when you say "zones," does that mean a range of notes from low to high? In other words, Zone 1 would be from C1 to C3, for example, and Zone 2 would be from C#1 to E5? Or something like that?

Or is it something entirely different?
 
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