ALESIS QS8.1 - Manual (Page 55)

MIDI: Part 5
QS7.1/QS8.1 Reference Manual 49
P ART 5
MIDI
W
HAT WE
’
LL COVER HERE
...
• Sequencing with the QS7.1/QS8.1 via MIDI or the serial port.
• Using the QS as a master MIDI keyboard for a live rig, along with a little more
info about controlling external MIDI devices from a Card sequence.
• Sys-ex transfers. How to go about transferring single Programs, Mixes or an entire
User bank via Sys-ex to a computer or another QS series synth.
…
AND WHAT WE WON
’
T ( BUT WHERE YOU CAN FIND IT ).
• How to create a Mix. We will go over selecting Programs within a Mix (the very
top level of Mix editing), but for information on things like setting levels or selecting
the Effects Patch within the Mix, see Part 7: Editing Mixes. Our main focus here will
be on interfacing the QS with the outside world.
• General MIDI (GM) will only receive a brief amount of coverage here, because it’s
covered pretty well in the discussion about Global Edit Mode’s page 7 (Part 4: Basic
Operation). There’s even more in-depth coverage of it in Part 10: Appendices
(Appendix B: MIDI Supplement).
• Basic MIDI concepts. If you’re a novice to the world of MIDI, you should make it a
point to read the MIDI Supplement in Appendix B soon. It’ll help things make a lot
more sense a lot sooner if you want to get a good handle on MIDI sequencing.
T
HE
P
OWER OF
M
IX
M
ODE
In Program Mode, the QS sends and receives MIDI information on only one MIDI
channel at a time. In Mix Mode, however, the QS can send and receive on as many as
16 MIDI channels at once, each with its own keyboard range and a whole lot of other
parameters you can customize. Mix Mode allows a single QS to play back full song
arrangements at one time, with full control over the levels and stereo placement of
the various Programs, complete with the Effects necessary to make the music shine.
But we also said it cansend (and how!). A QS in Mix Mode gives you the potential to
control a whole lot of other MIDI devices at one time. When the next song calls for
you to layer strings from that box with the brass from this box along with a couple of
internal Programs, mixed just so, while calling up the DMPro kit for the drummer,
setting the Q20 Reverb patch for the singer, and changing the setup on your lighting
controller, selecting a single Mix on the QS can do all of that. It’ll set up your whole
rig instantly, right before the next song is to begin (even if your band changes its
collective mind at the last second and starts a tune that wasn’t on the song list!).
We’ll dig into the MIDI controller aspects of the QS later in this chapter. For now,
let’s start talking about…