Akai MPC 60 Operator's Manual Page 70

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Chapter 3: Recording Sequences
Page 64
Recording MIDI System-Exclusive Data
The MPC60 can record patch data or any other MIDI system-exclusive
messages from external synthesizers directly into tracks. To do this,
simply send the system-exclusive message to the MPC60 while in
Record, Overdub, or Step Edit mode, and it will be recorded into the
active track, just the same as any other MIDI data. The only limitation is
that the message must be smaller than 1000 bytes. If an attempt is made
to record a message that is larger than that, the entire message will be
rejected. 1000 bytes is enough to accommodate a single voice patch
data dump from virtually any synthesizer, but it is not large enough for
many voice bank data dumps (large files containing an entire bank of
synthesizer patches).
One way of using this feature is to insert a blank bar at the beginning of
your sequence and record the voice data dumps for each track into that
first bar. When the sequence is played from the start, each external
synthesizer will immediately receive the voice data in the first bar, so it
will be ready to play the note data starting in the second bar with the
proper sound.
There is one problem with playing system-exclusive messages from
sequences: there is no standard method for identifying the MIDI channel
number within the message, and therefore the MPC60 cannot assign the
output MIDI channel over which the message will be sent. This means,
for example, that a system-exclusive message received over MIDI
channel 3 while recording into the MPC60 will always be played out of
the MPC60 on MIDI channel 3, regardless of the track’s output MIDI
channel. To overcome this problem, you must send the system-exclusive
message on the desired MIDI channel while recording it into the MPC60.
Most synthesizers allow you to select the transmit channel. Note,
however, that some older synthesizers, such as the original Yamaha DX-
7, always transmit on MIDI channel 1.
However, there is a way to change the MIDI channel of a system-
exclusive message while it is in the MPC60 — by using Step Edit. The
MIDI channel is assigned to a single byte within the message and the
Step Edit function allows you to change the contents of any byte within
the message. If you know which byte a particular manufacturer uses for
the channel number, you can change the contents of that byte to the
desired MIDI channel number. For example, the Yamaha DX-7 system-
exclusive messages contain the MIDI channel in byte number 3, so
whatever number you put into byte number 3 of the message will be the
new output MIDI channel number. To learn more about editing in Step
Edit mode, read “The STEP EDIT Key” section in the “Editing
Sequences” chapter of this manual.
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