ETC Congo Family v6.4.0 - Manual (Page 972)

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MIDI - Introduction
MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. The reason you can find it in a lighting
console is that MIDI today is being used for a lot more than having synthesizers to speak to
each other as was intended originally.
Basically MIDI is a standard for transmitting notes 0—127 (on/off) with velocity (how hard
they are played) and continuous controllers such as faders (volume for example). There are
more parameters but these are the basic ones. In Congo all keys correspond to a note and
all faders to a controller.
MIDI is transmitted serially in up to 16 individual MIDI channels in one three-lead cable. The
communication is unidirectional, which means there is no feedback or intelligent bi-
directional contact between MIDI units (DMX512 is also unidirectional, while a pair of walkie
talkies (for example) are bi- directional, allowing communication both ways).
There is support for three sorts of MIDI.
Standard MIDI
Send and receive Notes,Controllers and Program Change.
MIDI Show Control
A standard set of commands is supported.
MIDI Time Code
Trig Sequence Steps by time code. There is a Learn Mode.
Once you have connected a MIDI Device to the Congo with the MIDI connectors in the back
of the console, you have to set up the console to receive and/or transmit MIDI, and define
which MIDI commands it will recognize.
There is a MIDI Setup where you can configure how the console will function with MIDI. See
System Settings - MIDI .