"MULTI-TIMBRAL"-could someone kindly explains this
Digger_Phelps_II
174 Posts
wut does this mean?
Digger_Phelps_II
174 Posts
Comments
Some MIDI modules are "multi-timbral". This means that the module can listen to all 16 MIDI channels at once, and play any 16 of its "patches" simultaneously, with each of the 16 patches set to a different MIDI channel. It's as if the module had 16 smaller modules inside of it, with each being able to play a different patch (ie, instrument) on its own MIDI channel.
It may help if I draw some analogies here to explain the above. Think of MIDI channels as musicians. You have 16 of them in any one MIDI system. (ie, By MIDI system, I mean one discrete MIDI output line. Some systems can have multiple MIDI Outs with more than 16 MIDI channels, which means you have more than 16 musicians. But here, let's talk about a typical MIDI system which is limited to 16 channels/musicians). Each musician has his own microphone plugged into one channel of a 16 channel mixer, so you have individual control over his volume, panning, reverb and chorus levels, etc. Therefore, you're limited to recording 16 musicians playing simultaneously.
Think of a patch as a "musical instrument". For example, you typically have Piano, Flute, Saxophone, Bass Guitar, etc, patches in a MIDI module (or module built into a sound card -- often referred to as a "wavetable synth"). Typically, most modules have hundreds of patches (ie, musical instruments) to chose from.
Since you have 16 musicians, you can pick out any 16 instruments (ie, patches) among those hundreds, to be played simultaneously by your 16 musicians. (ie, Each musician can of course play only one instrument at a time). For example, maybe your arrangement needs a drum kit, a bass guitar, a piano, and a saxophone. Let's say that the drums are played by musician #10 (ie, MIDI channel 10). (In fact, on some MIDI modules, channel #10 is reserved for only drums. In other words, musician #10 can play ONLY drums, and maybe he's the only MIDI musician who can play the drums). The other MIDI musicians (ie, channels) are super musicians. Each musician can play any of the hundreds of instruments (ie, patches) in your module, but of course, he still is restricted to playing only one instrument at a time. So let's say that you tell musician 1 to sit at a piano, and musician 2 to pick up a bass guitar, and musician 3 to pick up a saxophone. Let's say that you tell the remaining 12 musicians to pick up a flute, clarinet, oboe, steel string guitar, violin, etc, so that each musician has a different instrument to play. How do you tell the musician to pick up a certain instrument? You send him a MIDI Program Change message (ie, you send the message on his MIDI channel number). For example, to tell musician 3 to pick up a sax, you send a MIDI Program Change (with a value that selects the Saxophone patch) on MIDI channel 3.
After you've told the 16 musicians what instruments to pick up, you can now have them play a MIDI arrangement with these 16 instruments, each musician playing simultaneously with individual control over his volume, panning, etc. How do you tell a musician what notes to play? You send him MIDI Note messages on his channel. Only that one musician "sees" these instructions. The other musicians see only those messages on their respective channels. For example, the sax player is musician 3, so you send him note messages on MIDI channel 3. How do you tell a musician to change his volume? You send him Volume Controller messages on his MIDI channel. How do you tell a musician to bend his pitch? You send him Pitch Wheel messages on his MIDI channel. Etc.
OK, let's say that at one point in your arrangement, a 17th instrument needs to be played -- maybe a Banjo. Well, at that point you've got to have one of your 16 musicians put down his current instrument and pick up a Banjo instead. Let's say that the sax player isn't supposed to be playing anything at this point in the arrangement. So, you send a MIDI Program Change to musician 3 (ie, on MIDI channel 3 -- remember that he's the guy who was playing the sax), telling him to pick up a Banjo. Now when you send him note messages, he'll be playing that banjo. Later on, you can send him another MIDI Program Change to tell him to put down the Banjo and pick up the saxophone again (or some other instrument). So, although you're limited to 16 musicians playing 16 instruments simultaneously, any of your musicians can change their instruments during the arrangement. (Well, maybe musician 10 is limited to playing only drums. Even then, he may be able to choose from among several different drum kits).
So is there a name for these 16 "MIDI musicians" or "sub-modules" inside of your MIDI module? Well, different manufacturers refer to them in different ways, and I'm going to use the Roland preference, a Part. A Roland multi-timbral module has 16 Parts inside of it, and each usually has its own settings for such things as Volume, Panning, Reverb and Chorus levels, etc, and its MIDI channel (ie, which MIDI data the Part "plays"). Furthermore, each Part has its own way of reacting to MIDI data such as Channel Pressure (often used to adjust volume or brightness), MOD Wheel controller (often used for a vibrato effect), and Pitch Wheel (used to slide the pitch up and down). For example, one Part can cause its patch to sound brighter when it receives Channel Pressure messages that increase in value. On the other hand, another Part could make its volume increase when it receives increasing Channel Pressure messages. These Parts are completely independent of each other. Just because one Part is receiving a Pitch Wheel message and bending its pitch doesn't mean that another Part has to do the same.
Most multi-timbral modules have an internal mixer (which can be adjusted by MIDI controller messages to set volume, panning, brightness, reverb level, etc) that mixes the output of all 16 Parts to a pair of stereo output jacks. (ie, The 16 microphones and 16 channel mixing console I alluded to earlier is built into the MIDI module itself. The stereo outputs of the module are like the stereo outputs of that mixing console).
What ehuffman said.
In a word, color.
Timbral is from timbre (pronounced "tam-ber"), or "tone color." Timbre is the specific quality of a note which distinguishes it from other types of notes (instrument, speech, singing, etc.).
So, multi-timbral is the ability to produce several tones at once. Like those Tuvian throat singers, or the Gyuto monks. I've only ever heard it in reference to synthesizers, which I assume is the source of your question. If you have a multi-timbral synth, it means it can play several parts at the same time, each under the control of a different MIDI channel.
i've got a micro korg and i was breaking it in with my mpc..now i'm fairly new to the keyboard world ..i was dissapointed to discover that i can not save a keyboard sound in a sequence and throw a different sound from the keyboard on top of it in the sequence....now a friend of mine said this was becuz the microkorg is NOT multi timbral..but i notice it says that it is..now i'm sure i'm doing SOMETING wrong or maybe i expect to much out of this keyboard!
You're using the sequencer on the MPC? Trying to synch different sounds from the micro (or synch one while playing another over it)?
I don't know the microKORG, but the spec sheet says, Multi Timbral: 2 (max, Normal/Dual Mode), which means you should be able to synch 2 sounds at once.
Perhaps the problem is in the MIDI channels. Experiment with setting different MIDI channels for 2 different sounds. For example, program a bass sequence that responds to MIDI channel 1, and get it to play back from the MPC. Then, while channel 1 is playing the bass, try programming another sound on channel 2. You'll have to make MIDI channel adjustments in both the MPC (MIDI out) and the microKORG (MIDI in).
thnax..i'll give that a try..i hope there is a work-around cuz it was quite frustrating playing a baseline...and then not being able to play anything on top off it!
I don't quite understand your question.
But it depends on how you mixed.
1. If you mixed all the sequenced sounds as sounds onto a multi-track system, then no, they couldn't steal the sequence, but they could steal the sound.
2. If you mixed MIDI clock information (FSK, SMPTE, etc.) onto a multi-track system, then someone can use the time stamp information to slave new sequences.
*A "normal" recording scenario would be: Record MIDI clock info onto a multi-track, and use the time code to slave an MPC during playback. This means you're just recording clock info (tempo, time signature, duration, etc.) not actual sounds. (Time stamps usually sound similar to a fax transmission, that high-pitched computer talk shit.) Then record your rapper, background vocals, etc. This method allows you to adjust your sequences, if you want to program in specific dropouts or variations. It also makes remixes easier. Usually, once you decide on a final sequence, you dump the "real" sounds onto their own channels on the multi-track, but leave the time stamp info just in case. Then you "mix" the multi-track recording onto a 2-channel master.
Recording=multi-track; Mixing=2-track stereo final mix; Mastering=turning your 2-track stereo master into a reference for the manufacturing plant.
3. If you mixed everything as sound as a stereo mix (2 track), then everything is smooshed together and they couldn't "steal" any one thing.
4. They could steal your MIDI file, and they'd have the electronic note information, but no sounds.
Are we talking about the same thing?
I have an unhealthy fascination with sophisticated applications.