MIDI devices communicate by sending MIDI messages to each other. A number of these messages arranged in a series with controlled delays between them is referred to as a 'track'. Each message is an 'event' in the track that occurs at a specific time relative to the start of the track. Tracks contain many different kinds of events. An event may be transmitted to a sound module to make it do something, such as play a note, select an instrument voice or add a sound effect. Some events are used to control the operation of the sequencer itself. BeatMaster has a range of separate views to display each of the different kinds of events. Each event view displays and allows editing of just one type of event. Channel events apply only to a specific MIDI channel. Each channel event includes within it the number of the channel to which it is addressed. System events are not specific to a particular MIDI channel. They are used to control system-specific features of sound modules and the sequencer.
---------------------------------------------------
CHANNEL EVENTS SYSTEM EVENTS
---------------------------------------------------
Note View Tempo View
Program View SysEx Event View
Controller View SysEx Parameter View
Channel Aftertouch View SysEx File View
Key Aftertouch View Text Event View
Pitch Bend View
---------------------------------------------------
All event views conform to the same basic layout; to the left of the screen is the scale for the events in that view; to the right the events are shown for either one bar or one zoom-division (depending on the current division mode) in the current track.
In general there are three different event view formats. Unique among the event views is NOTE VIEW. Note messages are the only ones which consist of two separate events (note-on and note-off) and thus have both a starting position and a length. They are displayed as horizontal bars.
All of the remaining events views represent either single events or continuous event values. Single event views (such as TEXT EVENT VIEW), or views which display a range of event types (such as GLOBAL CONTROLLER VIEW), show events as a single coloured circle. Views which display continuous event values (such as PROGRAM VIEW) represent the values as a graph, drawing a continuous line between each event.
Most MIDI events contain only an event value and the scale on the left of the screen shows the range of possible values. Controllers and key-aftertouch events also contain an event number (or key number) as well as a value. The event views for these two event types operate in two modes, one in which the scale represents the range of event numbers and the other in which the scale represents the range of values for a specific event number. Similarly, sysex events which contain parameters can also be displayed in two ways; one in which the scale shows all of the different sysex events, and the other in which shows the range of parameter values for the parameters in a sysex (see SYSEX EVENT VIEW).
At the top-left of each view the current track's number, name, and status flag are displayed. At the top-right of each event view is a list of the variables which relate to the type of events displayed by the view. The following variables apply to all event views:
INC/DIV This variable actually relates to two settings concerning the
movement of the cursor in time (ie. horizontally).
Cursor Units
By default the heading is 'INC' which means that the position of
the cursor is measured in beats and ticks and the positions and
lengths of events are also displayed in beats and ticks. The
value beneath the 'INC' heading indicates the number of ticks
in each cursor step. Pressing 'u' switches the cursor units to
beat-divisions. One beat-division is equal to the number of ticks
represented by one character. Thus the number of divisions in a
beat is the same as the number of cursor positions in the beat.
The value beneath the 'DIV' heading gives the number of divisions
in one beat. In this mode the heading 'INC' heading changes to
'DIV' and both cursor movement and event positions are represented
in beats and divisions of a beat.
Cursor Resolution
By default, the cursor moves in time by the number of ticks in
one character (ie. one character at a time). Pressing 'i' changes
to 'high-resolution' mode in which the cursor moves by one tick at
a time, allowing a much greater degree of accuracy. The value
beneath the 'INC' or 'DIV' heading changes to 'hi'.
MODE Indicates whether the cursor is currently highlighting an event
(cur) or is ready to insert an event (ins). Some events may be
inserted over existing events, thereby deleting or modifying the
original event.
START Indicates the current cursor position or the starting position of
a highlighted event. In 'INC' mode the value is shown in beats and
ticks; in 'DIV' mode the value is in beats and divisions of a beat.
There are many other variables which may appear in different event views and
apply only to certain types of events. These are detailed below in the
descriptions of each event view. The default values of these variables are
displayed when the cursor is not currently highlighting an event. These
values are the ones that will be used if an event is inserted. You can change
the default values by using the various options on the EVENT MENU.Many events are intended to be sent on a specific MIDI channel. Event views for such events include the following variable:
CH The MIDI channel number contained by the current or default event.
If no channel-override is set for the track, this is the channel
to which the event will be sent.
In event views which display continuous event values, only one event of the
given type is allowed in each tick. Thus the cursor is considered to be
highlighting an event if it is anywhere on the scale in the event's tick,
not just when it is on the event itself. Inserting an event in the same tick
as an existing event will cause it to be removed and replaced by the new one.
The keys listed below are provided for moving around using the cursor when in any of the event views. These keys are not included in the menus.
Up Moves up the scale by one. Down Moves down the scale by one. Shift-Home Moves to the top event or value in the scale. Shift-End Moves to the bottom event value in the scale. Shift-Up Scrolls up the scale. Shift-Down Scrolls down the scale. Ctrl-PgUp Moves to the previous track. Ctrl-PgDn Moves to the next track. Left Moves left the number of ticks in one character. Right Moves right the number of ticks in one character. Ctrl-Left Moves left by one beat. Ctrl-Right Moves right by one beat. Home Moves to the left of the event view display. End Moves to the right of the event view display. PgUp Moves the event view display left by one page (division). PgDn Moves the event view display right by one page (division). Ctrl-Home Moves to the first beat. Ctrl-End Moves to the end of the current track. Shift-Left Moves to the last event before the cursor. Shift-Right Moves to the next event after the cursor.The following functions are only available in NOTE VIEW, GLOBAL CONTROLLER VIEW, GLOBAL KEY AFTERTOUCH VIEW, SYSEX EVENT VIEW, SYSEX FILE VIEW and TEXT EVENT VIEW.
Ctrl-Shift-Left Moves to the last event of the current number or type
before the cursor.
Ctrl-Shift-Right Moves to the next event of the current number or type
after the cursor.
This view displays the note events in a track. Notes are represented as horizontal bars which begin and end on specific ticks. If a note continues off the edge of the screen into the following beat, it is terminated by an arrow and begun in the next beat with another arrow. If two or more notes occupy a single display character, that character is marked with a small 'x'.
Notes which use the same MIDI channel cannot be overlapped in time in a single track, though the same note may be placed in a separate track or on a different MIDI channel.
Placing the cursor upon a note causes it to be highlighted and, if 'echo' is on (see below), sent to MIDI-OUT.
The variables which relate specifically to NOTE VIEW are as follows:
ECHO This setting indicates whether a note that the cursor highlights
will be 'echoed' to MIDI-OUT (ie. played). Press 'e' to enable
and disable this feature.
LENGTH Indicates either the length of the currently highlighted note, or
the default length of an inserted note. The format of this value
is the same as for the 'Start' variable.
KEY The current or default key-number of a note. Each increment of
this value is equivalent to a raise in pitch of one semitone.
VE+ The current or default on-velocity of a note. The on-velocity is
defined as the speed at which a key is pressed on a MIDI keyboard.
It is equivalent in practice to the volume of the note. The range
of values for the note-on velocity is 1 to 127. Many MIDI devices
do not support note-on velocity and ignore the specified value.
VE- The current or default off-velocity of a note. The off-velocity
is defined as the speed at which a key is released on a MIDI
keyboard. The range of values for the note-off velocity is 0 to
127. Many MIDI devices do not support the note-off velocity and
ignore the specified value.
By default the scale in NOTE VIEW shows the key-number of each note followed
by the name of the note in musical notation (A, A#, etc.). Since MIDI devices
also use notes to produce drum sounds and special effects, the note scale can
be switched into name mode by pressing TAB. The scale then displays the name
of the drum or effect for each note. The arrangement of these sounds varies
from one device to another, and from one mode to another in the same device.
To accommodate this, name-scales are defined in external files which can then
be loaded as required (see EVENT NAMES in the section on CUSTOM FILES). The
name of the file from which the current key-names have been loaded is shown
at the top of the scale.
This view shows the program change events contained by a track. These events are used to select different instrument voices. Only one program change event for each channel is permitted in each tick. The following variable applies specifically to PROGRAM VIEW:
VAL The current or default program number.The scale in PROGRAM VIEW shows the number of each program by default. In addition, program-names may be loaded from EVENT NAME files (see the section on CUSTOM FILES) in the same way as key-names. Pressing TAB then alternates the scale-mode between displaying both the program number and the name and displaying only the name. The name of the currently loaded program-names file is shown at the top of the scale.
This view is divided into two separate views; GLOBAL CONTROLLER VIEW displays all controller events (controller numbers 0 to 127) on the scale, whilst (single) CONTROLLER VIEW displays the values of a single controller. Press ENTER to switch between views. The variables which relate specifically to CONTROLLER VIEW are:
NUM The current or default controller number.The scale in GLOBAL CONTROLLER VIEW displays the number of each controller by default. Controller names can also be loaded from EVENT NAME files (see the section on CUSTOM FILES). Pressing TAB then alternates the scale mode in the same way as in PROGRAM VIEW. The filename of the current controller-names file is shown at the top of the scale.
VAL The current or default value of the controller.
This view shows the channel-pressure (or aftertouch) events in a track. These events affect the overall volume of all voices on a specific channel. This type of event is also referred to as monophonic aftertouch. The following variable relates specifically to CHANNEL AFTERTOUCH VIEW:
VAL The pressure value of the current or default event.
This view shows the polyphonic key-pressure (or aftertouch) events in a track, which affect the volumes of individual notes. The view is divided into two separate views. GLOBAL KEY AFTERTOUCH VIEW shows the events for all keys and (single) KEY AFTERTOUCH VIEW shows the values of events for a specific key. Press ENTER to switch between the two views. The variables which relate specifically to KEY AFTERTOUCH VIEW are:
NUM The key-number of the current or default event.The scale in GLOBAL KEY AFTERTOUCH VIEW is the same as for NOTE VIEW.
VAL The pressure value of the event.
This view displays the pitch-bend events in a track, which cause the pitch of a note to be raised or lowered. The scale represents the bend range as a percentage of the maximum (100%) or minimum (-100%) bend. The following variable relates specifically to PITCH-BEND VIEW:
VAL The bend magnitude expressed as a positive or negative percentage.
This view shows events which change the tempo of a sequence while playing. The scale ranges from 10 to 500 beats per minute. Tempo changes are not sent to a specific MIDI channel since they are messages for the sequencer. Only one tempo-change is permitted in each tick. The following variable relates specifically to TEMPO VIEW:
VAL The current or default tempo value in beats per minute.
This view supports the inclusion of system-exclusive (sysex) events in a sequence. As their name suggests, sysexes are exclusive to specific MIDI devices and are defined by the manufacturer of that device. To use sysexes in your sequences you must first define the sysexes used by your particular MIDI device in external files. These sysexes can then be loaded by the sequencer and used in the same way as ordinary events. Two different methods of implementing sysex events are provided (sysex events and sysex files) and three separate sysex views are dedicated to displaying these events. Press TAB to switch between the views for the two main sysex types (events/files).
In all sysex views you can type Ctrl-X to manually send the current sysex. The sysex is sent to the interface port used by the current track.
This view displays sysex events for which the entire sysex itself is actually placed into the track. These sysex events are loaded from special data files which can be created in TEXT FILE VIEW or by any ASCII text editor (see the desription of SYSEX EVENTS in the section on CUSTOM FILES). Sysex events may contain replaceable values (parameters) and these can be modified in SYSEX PARAMETER VIEW in the same way as the values of ordinary events.
This view is available only for sysex events which have parameters and is reached by pressing ENTER in SYSEX EVENT VIEW. It displays the values of one parameter of a sysex as a continuous graph in a similar way to many of the other event views.
The following are variables which apply specifically to SYSEX EVENT VIEW and SYSEX PARAMETER VIEW:
LEN The number of bytes in the current sysex.When you insert a sysex which contains parameters, each parameter is set to its current default value. The default value for a parameter is determined by the position of the cursor on the scale in the SYSEX PARAMETER VIEW for that particular parameter. The cursor position (and thus the default value) for each parameter is maintained independently in each parameter view. To set the default parameter values, position the cursor on the required value for each parameter in each parameter view.
ST The status byte of the current or default sysex. This indicates whether the sysex is of the normal type (F0) or is a sub-packet of a multi-part sysex (F7). Most sysexes are of the normal type.
ID The MIDI manufacturer's identification code, which identifies the manufacturer of the device for which the sysex is intended.
NP Indicates the total number of replaceable parameters in the sysex. For sysexes with more than one parameter, press Shift-PgUp and Shift-PgDn to cycle through them.
Pnn/NOP Gives the value of the current parameter in a sysex which contains parameters. The heading P01 indicates that the number beneath it is the value of the first parameter, P02 indicates the second, and so on. If a sysex has no parameters, the heading NOP is shown.
This view displays sequencer-specific events that contain the filenames of external sysex files. When such an event is encountered whilst playing a sequence, the binary sysex file named within the event is opened (if present) and its contents are sent directly to MIDI-OUT. In practice, this view is best for manually sending large sysex files before playing a sequence.
To use sysex files you must first add them to the sysex file-list using the Add SysEx File option on the FILE MENU. A filename-event is created for the filename that you enter (or select from FILE VIEW) and is added to the list in SYSEX FILE VIEW. The filenames added to this list can then be used in much the same way as any other event.
Filenames can also be removed from the sysex file list by using the options included on the FILE MENU when in SYSEX FILE VIEW. This does not affect any filename-events that have been inserted into a track. Filename-events which contain names not included in the list are placed in the 'unlisted' entry.
The following variable relates specifically to SYSEX FILE VIEW:
FILENAME The filename contained by the current or default sysex file event.
This view allows text events to be inserted into a track. Four types of text event are supported; CUE-POINT, MARKER, LYRIC and general TEXT. Their purpose is to provide a way of marking or describing certain points in a sequence.
In practice each type of text event is handled in the same way. When a text event is encountered whilst playing a sequence, the first line of the text it contains is displayed on the INPUT/OUTPUT LINE. Text events have no other effect on the playing of a sequence.
Text events may contain up to 4KB of text (about 4000 characters). Much of the screen in TEXT EVENT VIEW is filled by the text event editor box and this is where text events are created and displayed. See the description of the TEXT VIEWER/EDITOR for details on how to create or edit text with the editor.
The following variable relates specifically to TEXT EVENT VIEW:
LEN The number of bytes (characters) contained by the current text
event. There is no default value for a text event.
This view is one of two views which make up TEXT VIEW. Press TAB to switch
between this view and TEXT FILE VIEW.