VOLUME CONTROLLING (FADING ETC.) WITH MUSIC-X.   
                                                                 

Several  Music-X users have written to AM/FM, asking how to control the volume
of MIDI instruments from within a Music-X performance.  Typical questions are:
"How  did  you  fade  in  and  out  those  instruments  on  your CD "Hobbits &
Spaceships", and "How do you make an effect like that of 'A0F' in Protracker"?

I  know  a  lot of MIDI users are having problems with this, feeling that they
don't have as close control over the instruments as they have in Protracker or
MED.  The clue is:  Control Change messages.

To  make  a  string-chord  slowly  fade  in,  you DON'T edit the sound on your
synthesizer  so  that the sound has a very long attack time!  Instead, you use
control change messages to fade the volume up or down, slowly or quickly.

There  are  several  different  control  change  messages  you  can  use.  The
different  "controllers"  as  they  are  called,  can  be added as events in a
Music-X  sequence.   The  different  controllers have different effects on the
MIDI  channel  that  they are assigned to, but the controller that is probably
most  used is the Volume- controller, i.e.  Controller number 7.  Other useful
controllers  are  Controller  number  1,  which  is the expression controller,
controller  number  2  which  is  the  breath controller (sometimes called 2nd
expression  controller  -  only  a  few  synths  support this controller), and
controller number 10 which is the pan (left/right) controller.  There are more
controllers  as  well  - I advise you to look up the MIDI implementation chart
for your synthesizer (Usually near the back of the manual).

Anyway,  today  we'll  concentrate  on the Volume-controller, i.e.  Controller
number  7.   From  the Music-X sequencer screen, select an empty sequence, and
press EDIT, to enter the manual edit mode (Bar view).  Then click on "Add" and
from  the Add-menu, click on "Control Change".  Now click somewhere within the
first 2 or 3 bars, and a little "pole" with a little circle on the top will be
added to your sequence.  This is a control change message.  Now, at the bottom
right hand side, select the correct controller number, i.e.  number 7 (default
is  0),  and  then  select  the  correct value of the controller.  (Values are
0-128).   If you set the value to 0, then the volume on this MIDI channel will
be  set  to  0 when the control change message is "played".  Now just add some
new  control  change  messages  scattered around your sequence.  Make sure all
control  change  messages  you  add  are controller #7, with different values.
(The  height  of the "pole" is the value of the controller).  Make sure not to
mix  together  the expressions "Controller number" and "Control Change value".
Controller  number 7 is the controller that affects the volume.  And the value
of controller #7 is the value that the volume will be set to.

Now  add  some  notes  on  the  same  MIDI  channel that you've added all your
controllers,  and  play  it.   You  will hear that the volume goes up and down
according  to  the control changes that you've added.  When this is working ok
for  you,  I  suppose  that  you  can  figure  out the rest for yourself - you
understand  now  that  if  you  want  to fade in an instrument, you just place
control  change  #7,  value 0 at the beginning of the note, and then place new
control  change  messages,  with higher and higher value, as the note goes on.
Try this out too.

If  you have Music-X version 1.1, there is also a function called "Sculpt" (On
the  right-hand  side menu inside the bar-editor).  This function is very nice
to  create  fades  etc.  with control changes, because it lets you "draw" your
control change messages (you must first add them, then you can sculpt them).

Enclosed in the directory "MIDIFiles" on this disk, you will find some example
performances  of  what I have explained above.  These Music-X performances are
titled "Example1.MX", "Example2.MX" and "Example3.MX".

I   hope   I've  helped  some  of  you  in  obtaining  those  nice  fades  and
volume-effects!

My  advice  to  you  all  is  to  read the MIDI implementation charts for your
instruments carefully and figure out all the fun stuff you can do with Control
Change messages!

Good  luck,  and keep on composing.  In the next issue of AM/FM, maybe we will
have  a composing competition, where you will be instructed to send a cassette
tape  with  your best MIDI music.  The prizes will be FABULOUS - just wait and
see!


Bjørn A. Lynne
[Ed]

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