Tracks and Channel

[Normanfernandez]

I've Understood the difference between Tracks and Channels

What I don't understand is.
How the keyboard uses it.
Since we are limited to 16 Tracks and 16 Channels.

I wanted to know.
Say we play a style or Midi song.
That is using all the 16 Tracks


How would Multipads/ Right hand 1,2 & L
Play.
Don't they use the same Tracks??

It may be a silly Question to ask.
Regards Norman.

[Bill]

Since we are limited to 16 Tracks and 16 Channels.

Don't they use the same Tracks??

It may be a silly Question to ask.
Regards Norman.

Hi Norman

Midi is 32 Tracks split over 2 channels.

http://www.jososoft.dk/yamaha/articles/midi_reference.pdf

Bill

[SeaGtGruff]

The answer to your question has to do with "parts." Your Yamaha PSR-S keyboard has 32 different parts-- which Yamaha often refers to as "multi-parts"-- that can be used to play different sounds. Broadly speaking, these fall into three categories-- the keyboard parts (L, R1, R2, etc.), the eight auto accompaniment parts, and the 16 song parts. These are not the same things as the channels, although a part can be assigned to a MIDI OUT channel, and a MIDI IN channel can be assigned to a part. So you can load and play a MIDI song file, and the keyboard will use 16 parts specifically reserved for that purpose, which will not interfere with the eight keyboard parts or the eight auto accompaniment parts.

[Joe H]

Norman,

Our keyboards are made up of a bunch of custom sequencers. (song files, style files, Multi Pad files, Voice Set files, etc)

The Multi Pad player is a separate MIDI sequencer.  While the MIDI recorder/player is a Type 0 file... all 16 channels on one track, the Multi Pad recorder/player is a Type 1 sequencer... each MIDI channel has it's own track.  There are 4 tracks... one for each Pad, plus a 5th track for setup info.

So... you can use Multi Pads with a MIDI song file without conflicts.  Also the 32 channel playback for all sound modules and keyboards is accomplished by having 2 separate Tone Generators and a MIDI A port and MIDI B port.

Because MIDI is a 7-bit format, we are limited to what I just described above. In the early days of MIDI, I think the programmers who developed the format couldn't see how MIDI was going to evolve.   In the beginning days there was only Type 1 files. There were 64 MIDI tracks and multiple MIDI Out Ports and on a computer sequencer, but we needed a hardware box with 1 MIDI In and 4 MIDI Outs to have up to 64 MIDI channels. We could select from Ports A, B, C, or D to send any given track to a specific Port... which was connected to a separate keyboard or sound module with its own 16 MIDI channels. XGWorks is an example of what I am referring to.  **

Maybe MIDI Spec v3.0 will address these limitations, but I suspect it will add audio integration, since DAWs have audio and MIDI, and even the newest keyboards like the Montage have audio/MIDI integration built-in.

** I have a Yamaha UX-16 USB to MIDI cable and my S970 keyboard also connected via USB. So I can have 48 MIDI channels with XGWorks without a hardware box because my cable and keyboard are connected via USB. I could add a second UX-16 cable and have 64 MIDI channels if I wished or had a need for them.

Joe H

[EileenL]

Simply it is a 16 track recorder so you can record 16 separate tracks with sounds of your choice in Multi tracking. In Quick record the tracks are set for you One to Four for melody lines Five to Eight for Multi Pads and Nine to Sixteen for style.

[Joe H]

Simply it is a 16 track recorder so you can record 16 separate tracks with sounds of your choice in Multi tracking. In Quick record the tracks are set for you One to Four for melody lines Five to Eight for Multi Pads and Nine to Sixteen for style.

That's true if your are recording to the MIDI sequencer.  But Norman was asking if he could use the Multi Pads while playing along with MIDI files when all 16 channels are being used for the song file.  Since the Styles use only 8 channels, there is room for the 4 Multi Pads, plus R1, R2, R3 and Left while recording.

Joe H

[Normanfernandez]

Thanks Joe for the Explanation.

[Normanfernandez]

I forget to mention this.

When I play the Style.. and Midi together.

The Drum Section Can only play either the style or  Midi...
Is it something to do with Channel 10?
Where it's got the most Priority.