User Guide

PC2 Made Easy

28. Working With an External Sequencer

There are a few issues you will want to understand when working with an external

sequencer. The first one is that no matter which mode you are in, the PC2 is normally

multi-timbral and can respond to all 16 MIDI channels independently. For the most part,

you will want to be either in Internal Voices or MIDI Receive Mode when you are

sequencing, since you are likely to be sequencing a single track at a time, playing a single

program. The biggest difference between using those two modes when sequencing will be

the way in which you control the effects. For details on this, please see tutorial #30. For

information on using a Setup when sequencing, see tutorial #29.

Note: The only time when the PC2 would not respond multi-timbrally in any mode is if

you change the MIDI In parameter on the Global page from its default value of Normal,

to either Remap or Auto. This is detailed in the section on Global Parameters in the final

tutorial.

Setting Up for sequencing

1. To state the obvious, you need to have MIDI cables going from the Out of the PC2 to

the In of the sequencer or MIDI interface, and the In of the PC2 hooked to the Out of the

sequencer.

2a. The first thing you need to do when using ANY keyboard hooked to ANY external

sequencer is to turn Local Control Off. This is to avoid causing a MIDI loop problem. If

the Patch Thru function of the sequencer (sometimes referred to as Soft Thru or Echo) is

turned on, the sequencer takes all information coming into the MIDI In port and sends it

back out the MIDI Out port on whatever MIDI channel is assigned to the currently record

enabled track.

If you donÕt turn Local Control Off, the note gets played twice - once by the PC2 playing

itself and once by the note going out to the sequencer and coming back. By turning Local

Control Off, the keyboard only sends data out the MIDI Out port, and not to itself. So

the signal just goes to the sequencer and is sent back, and does not get played twice.

Some software sequencers (Cakewalk is one example) will send the Local Control Off

message automatically when you boot up the program. If you program doesnÕt do this,

you will need to do it yourself.

There are two ways you can turn Local Control Off. The first and easiest way is to press

the Global button, then set the Local Control parameter to Off.

2b. The second method of turning Local Control Off actually involves creating a very

simple Setup. Start from Setup #128 Default Setup. Press the MIDI Transmit button and

select a MIDI Channel (it really doesnÕt matter which one, but channel 1 is a logical

choice). Press the >> button. Set the Destination to MIDI (instead of Local+MIDI).

Name and Save the Setup - you might want to name it something Like Local Off or Seq.

Control, etc.