Confusion based upon Ignorance!

Aloha,

Ok, I now have all three manuasls and the pedal board putting
out midi signals, all on Channel 1.

I have read through the chapter, "The Hauptwerk System Set Up
Window", Chap. 12. I guess I don't follow the language since
I don't know anything about midi!

All I need/want to do is correctly number my manuals and pedals
with unique to each channel numbers, I think. There seem to
be various ways to do this, per the above Chapter 12. My
question is about the only set up window I believe
which applies to my case: "Fixed Manual MIDI Inputs".
As I presume that this will stay constant no matter whose
Hauptwerk organ I plan to use, i.e., a Milan Digital Audio,
one from OrganART Media, or Evensong, for example -- or
do these input definitions need to change with the organ
selected for use?

I presume the correct channels to assign would be Top Manual,
Channel 1; Center Manual, Channel 2; Lower Manual, Channel 3;
Pedal Manual, Channel 4. Or is some other numbering used,
needed, or anyway it changes depending upon whose organ
you want to use at the moment?

Whart I find confusing is the illustraed set up given in Chap 12 showing,
for example: "Input 1 (Pedal):.....Midex 1.......Channel 1.....Keyshift 0"

Ok what is a "Midex"?, a "Keyshift" ?

Or, am I supposed to use the "Redirectable MIDI Input" Example.

Also, I find the short paragraph of explaining words under each
of these example windows non-underastandable, at least to me!

However I set these manuals to Channel numbers, I intend to
connect all four to a midi merge unit which has only the single
output to the midi input connector on my PC (which is not together
just yet, Elaine is still in California). I guess if she were here
I wouldn't be so confused.

Anyway, a couple sentences of simple explanation of what
I need to do in my very straight forward application of my
keyboards to the soon to be built Hauptwerk PC would be appreciated.

Sorry to be ignorant!!

Thanks so very much,

Aloha,

Ok, I now have all three manuasls and the pedal board putting
out midi signals, all on Channel 1.

However I set these manuals to Channel numbers, I intend to connect all four to a midi merge unit which has only the single
output to the midi input connector on my PC (which is not together
just yet, Elaine is still in California). I guess if she were here
I wouldn't be so confused.

I think the solution to your problem is this: MIDI Channels and the cables are different things. A MIDI Channel is a logical identification of the signal. You can send note on/off events and other events for 16 channels using a single cable. Thus, when you set each manual to a unique channel and the pedal board to a fourth channel and connect all to a MIDI merge box the software (Hauptwerk) is still able to distinguish between the manuals, because they each send on their own and unique channel.

My setup is similar: I have a keyboard sending on channel 1 which is connected to the pedal board MIDI-IN which merges it with its own signals on Channel 2 thus resulting in a stream of mixed channel 1 and channel 2 signals. One cable connected to the PC.

Does this help?

Christian.

Thank you, Christian.

Yes, at least it seems to answer that the numbers given to
each manual do not matter; and, I am guessign that once
set up, then channel number for say the Pedal, does not
change when changing from one of the organs to a different
one.

So, I will proceed that way. If I don't put the right "stuff"
in the Hauptwerk set up window, I suppose it won't work,
and I will try something different!

Best,

Thanks to those of you who might choose to read this!

I now have my organ computer up and operating. All three of
my organ manuals and the pedal board can put out a midi
signal on any of 16 channels selected (by a programming process
for each midi adapter board).

This is operating just fine with the Miditzer virtual theatre organ;
an "emulation" of the 10 rank Wurlitzer 2/10 organ which was
in very many mid/small size town theatres here in the US
in the '20s and later: most are now long gone or forgotten.

As I said, this virtual organ operates just fine, but the midi
signals must be set up to different channels than is the case
specified in Martin's set up window for HW.

I have entered the following into the HW system set up window:


Input 1 (Pedal) Name of my sound card Channel 3 (maybe it must be 1?)

Input 2 (Great) " " " " " " Channel 1 (not 2 as in HW)

Input 3 (Swell) " " " " " " Channel 4 (not 3 as in HW)

Input 4 (Choir) " " " " " " Channel 2 (not 4 as in HW)

None of these key anything no matter which .organ file I have
loaded into HW: from the little sample 1 organ to one of the
Silberman's. I get neither sound nor a key movement indication
on the computer virtual organ console screen. A midi key signal
does not reach any part of an HW organ from any one of my
four "active" with midi info manuals! So, maybe I must go
back to the "default" HW system set up, or..............

BTW, I also today downloaded and installed Microsoft's latest
version of DirectX, 9.0b. That did not solve this problem,
though I thought perhaps it might.

What to do now??

Best,

[mdyde]

Hello Jim,

All that you should need to do is to make sure that the channel number in Hauptwerk matches the channel number on which the console keyboard encoder transmits MIDI. E.g. if the pedalboard on your console transmits on channel 1, then you just need to set the the input path 1 (pedal) in Hauptwerk to receive on channel 1. If the Miditzer is working, then the computer must be receiving MIDI properly, and if you only have one MIDI input port on the computer (and one MIDI input device shown in the drop-down lists on the Hauptwerk settings screens) then there can be no possibility of having selected the wrong device.

Some MIDI controllers consider MIDI channels to be numbered from 1-16, others from 0-15, so the only possible adjustment necessary might be to add one to the channel number set on your MIDI encoder. E.g. if the pedal encoder is set to transmit on channel 1, then you may need to set the channel number of Hauptwerk's pedal input to 2 instead of 1.

If all else fails, just pick a console keyboard and try each of the 16 channels in Hauptwerk until you see the keys light up on the Hauptwerk screen. You don't need to re-load the organ after changing the settings, so it only takes a few seconds.

Martin.

Thank you for the info, Martin. So, I began this morning by
using my new MIDIsport 4x4 interface to the PC via a USB cord.
BUT -- it does not seem to merge the manual and pedal signals!
Only the keyboard connected to the MIDIsport A input connector
seems to exit on the USB to the PC. Manuals/pedal connected
to B, C, or D connectors do show a midi activity flash on the
green LED's, but no output on the USB to the PC.

If I connect the manuals/pedal channels into a separate midi
merge box (MIDI Solutions of Canada unit) with the output
of the merge box input to the A connector of the MIDIsport,
then and only then will the signals pass to the PC, at least
to key Miditzer so far. Bumped into this problem before I
took the time to attempt the solution fix Martin suggested
to get Hauptwerk to key.

Would like to NOT have to use the Canadian MIDI Solutions
merge box as the MIDIsport 4x4 is supposed to do a better
merge job to USB when the midi signal going gets dense!

Have looked for some sort of software/hardware switch to
activate to get the B, C, and D channels of the MIDIsport
to merge into the USB, but no luck so far.

What am I overlooking now??

Best,

Brief follow up note:

I can play the Organ/Play Test Note, Middle C will play on every
rank of the Hauptwerk of the Silberman, Rotha! So the audio is
fine, just don't have the midi correct yet for Hauptwerk, even
tho midi does key Miditzer.

And the Middle C key does turn bright red.

Very frustrating.

Hooray!

Have broken the code. After trying all 16 midi channel
selections as Martin had suggesteed, noticed that the
center window of the System Set Up appeard to have a
drop down window, in which Hauptwerk had set things
to my Audigy sound card---seemed to be the correct
thing to be there. BUT, not so, by chance I clicked on
that drop down arrow.

Surprise!! Instead of the SB Audigy card, I had my choice
of InA USB Midisport 4x4; InB USB Midisport 4x4, etc. !!!!!

So there was the solution. Hauptwerk keys now, and I
can take the MIDI Solutions merge box away and just
set each manual to the proper Midisport In port connection.

Both "problems" solved with just a bit of stumbling about
until the solution fell into my lap.

Huzzah..........

Best to all, now off to practice!!

I must now report that, I didn't use "just" the Midisport 4x4
when playing Miditzer. I still had the MIDI Solution merge box
in line when last I played the Miditzer, but had removed it to
play the song (Hawaiian Wedding Song) with Hauptwerk!!

Now, I am embarassed because, as is now apparent, I was moving
and reporting faster than I was acting and thinking!! Very sorry.
Now, I might have to go back to using the MIDI Solutions merge
box again in order to, at will, move between Miditzer and Hauptwerk
without needing to do any set up change at all -hardware or software
wise. To do so, I must re-tell Hauptwerk to look for all channels
from the keyboards and pedal only from InA USB Midisport 4x4
with all channels merged in MIDI Solutions and fed into the A channel
of the Midisport unit.

I am sorry that I made this goof up!