MIMA Master Keyboard Controller 2.0x

(C)opyright A. S.  Software, all rights reserved.

Axel Schmidt ,  Lehringen 6,  27308 Kirchlinteln, Germany

Unregistered Version

The unregistered version of MIMA has basically all the features of the registered version, but saving and loading is limited to two patches in a bank. You will nevertheless be able to get a first impression of the capability of this program.

The price for the full version is DM 80,- (approximately 60 US$). A Order Form is available as file ORDER.WRI The command Order Form will load it into Mirosoft Write ore Wordpad.

1: General Use

With MIMA you are able to:

Use normal midi keyboards as a masterkeyboard.

Create stacksounds and splitpoints(you can divide your keyboard in up to 16 zones).

Give your controllers (sustain pedal, modulation wheel and so on) new tasks.

Save your settings in 128 patches.

Create playlists(this is very suitable for your live-performances).

Simplify midi switchings.

2: Working under Microsoft Windows

If you want to work with MIMA swiftly and efficiently you should be used to "Microsoft Windows". As MIMA is a Windows application, it is constructed basically like other Windows applications. Compatibility is therefore guaranteed, and you can also understand MIMA spontaneously.

If you are experiencing problems with respect to basic Windows commands such as using the mouse or file organisation, read your Microsoft Windows manual.

3: General Functions

Mima functions as a midi keyboard controller. Its various tools can be used to manipulate midi data in a very sophisticated way. Each incoming midi event is led to the inputs of the sixteen so called 'filters'. In these filters is being decided in which way a midi signal is treated and to where it will go. Furthermore each filter is able to send data such as program-change, volume and panorama. The settings of these filters is saved in 128 patches per bank (registered version). A bank corresponds with a *.mim - file, which means that you can save as many banks as you like, limited only by the capacity of your harddisk.

4: Functions of the Parameters

4.1: Basic Filter Settings

Filter Switch On/Off

By clicking this button the chosen filter is activated

In Channel

In this list box you decide on which midi channel the actual filter will receive midi events. Choose one or more midi send channels on your masterkeyboard and adjust them accordingly in the "channel in" menu.

Out Channel

This list box defines the midi channel on which the actual filter will send its data.

Out Port

Defines the midi port on which the chosen filter will send. If your machine has only one midiport use value "one".

Filter

Here you can choose one of the sixteen filters. After chosing a filter, the data of this filter is shown.

Voice

In this list box you can set the sound you want your expander to play in the actual filter. MIMA sends a program change command to your synthesizer.

Volume

Sets the volume of the chosen sound. (off: no volume command is sent, 0-127: measure of volume). Mima sends the volume control change to your expander.

Panorama

With this command you can change the panorama of the sound (C=Center; L=Left; R=Right). Hint: The keys C,L and R function as hotkeys. MIMA sends the panorama control change command to your expander.

Velocity

The Velocity menu enables you to manipulate the dynamic touch response. This menu has three different parameters:

Velo Add: The originally received velocity value is altered by the chosen value.

Velo Max: The received velocity is limited to the chosen maximum value.

Velo Min: The received velocitiy is limited to the chosen minimum value.

The Note Boxes

These consist of the boxes Low Note, High Note and Shift Note. You can work intuitively with these boxes, since you are able to set their values with your masterkeyboard. Example: If you play the note C4 on your masterkeyboard this value will be indicated in one of the three note boxes in MIMA, namely the one which you have activated. You can thus very comfortably define the note area of the actual filter. Shift Note is very useful when you want to transpose split areas and stacksounds to the adequate key. If you want to transpose all filters at the same time, you can use the global parameter "Transpose". Hint: If either High or Low Note is activated, your keyboard is in programming mode and you cannot hear any sound. To set your keyboard back to full note range use "Reset Note Low/High" in the edit menu (Hotkey Ctrl. + F3)

Pitch Bend

If this box is checked, the actual filter is able to process pitch bend commands. Example: a piano sound is used in the lower keyboard area (1st filter); a solo sound in the upper keyboard area (2nd filter). If you now deactivate the pitch bend box in the first filter and activate it in the second, you can do furious pitch bendings with your solo-sound while the piano sound remains unaffected.

Ch. Aftertouch

Check this box in order to lead channel aftertouch events to your expander.

Key Aftertouch

Check this box in order to lead key aftertouch events to your expander.

Controller Router

The controller routers comprise two areas.

Area A: Controller Router for Volume, Modulation and Sustain.

Each controller router consist of an on/off switch and a list box. Various controllers can be attached to the controllers of your masterkeyboard. Example: You can affect the balance of a sound with the volume slider of your masterkeyboard if you set the parameter of  "Volume slider" to "panpot". "Mod. wheel" (modulation wheel) and "sustain pedal" work just the same way. Here is another example:

Volume on/off switch to "off", (Volume Out has no effect).

Modulation on/off switch to "on".

Modulation Out to "7. Volume", (Modulation wheel controlls volume).

Area B: Controller Router 1 - 3

These routers function the same way as those for Volume, Modulation and Sustain. The difference is that with these routers the on/off switches have been replaced by list-boxes. You can now define your own input device for control changes. The value "in" sets the controller number which is to be used. The value "off" disables the controller router. The value "out" defines the routing of the received value.

Effect PG

After clicking on the Effect PG button a box pops up. With this box you can control your effect processor. If you own a midi progammable effect processor, you are able to program effect settings within each patch. To do this, select a port and a midi channel for the effect processor and set the effect program in the Effect PG box. The settings you choose are stored in every patch you create.

Patch

A patch stores the settings of the 16 filters and the effect program changes. Patches are organised in banks. Each bank consists of 128 patches. The term "patch" describes the environment which you have created in MIMA (for example: a special setting for a song). With the patch menu you can load a patch from the patchlist. To the right of this menu there is a button called "Patch Name". Clicking on this button allows you to name the patch you have just created.
There are three ways to switch between patches:

Choose the patch directly from the patch-list.

Send a programm change from your masterkeyboard (see also "Master Channel").

Use the playlist (see also "Playlist").

The Pull-Down Menus

File

With this menu you can load and save files, create new files or quit MIMA. A MIMA file consists of a bank with 128 patches each.

Edit

This menu contains the following commands:

Copy Filter - copies a filter into the clipboard.

Paste Filter - inserts a filter from the clipboard.

These two commands enable you to copy and paste filters conveniently.

Reset Note Low/High - the values of the boxes "Low Note" and "High Note" are being resetted to C-1 and G9.

Solo - If this command is activated, only the actual filter will be audible, all the other filters are muted. The feature works similar to the "Solo"-function of a mixing console.

Decrement/Increment Filter - This feature is very useful when you want to change filters very fast and it works even while you are editing other menus. To change a filter use the hotkeys: F5 for decrement, F6 for increment.

Copy Patch - With this command you can organize your patches within a bank. To copy a patch to a new location first choose a patch from the "Source" patchlist. Next click on the desired patch in the "Destination" patchlist. Then press the "copy"-button. Your patch has now been copied to the new destination. You can undo your last action with "Undo Last". Press "Exit" to leave this box.

Playlist - This menu is a very useful tool for live-performances with MIMA. Activate a patch in the left box and click the "Add"-button. Now the chosen patch is set to the beginning of the playlist. With "Remove" you can remove a patch from the playlist, with "Clear" the whole playlist is deleted. Click on "Exit" to leave the playlist. Now you can choose patches from the playlist with the Increment/Decrement controllers or the hotkeys Alt/- and Alt/+ (For Increment/Decrement controllers see also Setup  Controller).

MIDI

This pull-down menu contains the following commands:

Refresh Patch - This function sends anew all program changes which have been set up in the filters and the effect programs. Example: You want to create a stack sound made of piano and strings using two filters. You have already programmed a piano in filter one using Midi Channel 1 to Port 1. Now you want to activate a string sound in filter two, but you forgot to set a different midi channel. The result: You only hear the string sound, not the piano sound. To solve this problem, all you have to do is to choose another midi channel and use the function "Refresh Patch" (Hotkey F7).

Panic - With this command MIMA sends the controllers "Reset All Controllers" and "All Notes Off" on each port to each midi channel. For older synthesisers (DX7 etc) that can not understand these commands all notes will be turned off and the elements "Pitchbend", "Sustain Pedal", "Portamento" and "Modulation" will be reset. You can customize this control (See also Setup  Voice names / Panic). Hotkey: F8

Global CC Router - The global CC router command is a bypass-function which allows you to route two controllers of your choice from your masterkeyboard to any output. You can thus control a mixing console or an effect processor from your masterkeyboard. These options function independently from the activated patch.

View

This pull-down menu allows you to turn status- and toolbar on or off. The statusbar appears in the footer and shows for example if MIMA works in "Solo" mode or not. The toolbar is placed directly under the menubar and comprises nine coloured icons. With these icons you can edit complex commands with a simple mouseclick. Icon-functions from left to right are:

Create a new patchbank.

Load an existing patchbank.

Save the actual patchbank

Activate/deactivate "Solo" mode.

Refresh patch.

Panic.

Copy filter to clipboard.

Paste filter from clipboard.

Help.

As an additional help these functions are also being displayed in the statusbar.

Setup

this pull down menu contains the tools you have to use for installing MIMA on your computer

Midi Ports - With this box the midiports for MIMA are being set. Example: If you have installed a MPU 401 midi interface, the line "Roland MPU401" in "Input Ports" has to be activated. Use the lower box the same way. If you have installed more than one port, choose them as you like.

Master Channel - here you can set MIMA to the output channel of your masterkeyboard. This channel will be the global command channel, which will command the following events: Patch change, Panic, Decrement/Increment controller.

Controller - The setting "Panic" defines which controller of the masterkeyboard will trigger the event "Panic". The setting decrement/increment sets the controller for decrement/increment. (see also "Playlist")

Voice Names/Panic - When you click on this feature, a box appears in which you can set the soundnames to certain midi channels. First, choose a port and a midi channel, then click the voice names the suit your expander. If your synthesiser is not in this list, choose "0-127" or "1-128". You can even create your own voice list. To do this, simply open mima.ini with a text editor (e.g. notepad.exe) and add a new list of voice names. You can also define in which way MIMA will send "panic" events. If the "Panic with note events" box is checked, each note of the chosen midi channel will be turned off with the midi command "Note off". This is often necessary with older synthesisers. If the "Panic with note events" box is not checked, the midi commands "All Notes Off" and "Reset Controllers" are send. If your synthesiser can receive these commands, deactivate the option "Panic with note events".

Register Mima - A box in whitch you can type in your registration name and code.