User Manual

EXTERNAL MIDI INSTRUMENT
864
Automating MIDI Program Change
If you like, you can automate the Program parameter to change sound/program/preset of your external instrument
during playback of your Reason song.
1. Right-click the Program up/down buttons, or the display, and select “Edit Automation”.
This creates a separate Program Change automation lane in the sequencer track.
2. Now, you can edit the Program Change lane in the sequencer and insert Program Change automation points
wherever you like in your song.
! It’s recommended to place the Program Change automation points slightly before the positions where you
want the new sound/program/preset to appear in your song. This is to allow for the time it takes to load the
new sound in your external instrument.
A note about MIDI Bank Select
The MIDI Bank Select message is used for selecting specific banks of sounds/programs/presets in MIDI instru-
ments that feature several sound banks.
There is no specific panel control for MIDI Bank Select in the External MIDI Instrument device. However, you can use
the regular MIDI Controller automation described below for inserting Bank Select automation points. MIDI Bank Se-
lect normally uses MIDI CC #0 and/or #32. Refer to the MIDI documentation of your specific instrument for details.
! Note that MIDI instruments that have several banks of sounds usually expect a Bank Select message to be im-
mediately followed by a Program Change message in order to change the bank and program/preset. In these
situations, sending only a Bank Select message - without a subsequent Program Change message - will not
change anything.
! Note that Reason only sends out MIDI CC data when they actually change. This means that you might have to
send a different “temporary” MIDI CC value just before you send the actual MIDI CC value. For example, if you
want to resend the value “1” for MIDI CC#32, first send another value (e.g. “0” or “2”) and then send the value
“1” immediately afterwards. You can do this by adding and/or moving automation points in the automation
clip for MIDI CC#32 in the sequencer, see “Editing parameter automation”.
Recording MIDI Controller automation
Besides automation of the panel controls, the External MIDI Instrument device allows you to record automation of
MIDI Controllers 0-119. Each recorded MIDI CC# shows up on separate automation lanes in the sequencer and can
be edited in the same fashion as regular “internal” parameter automation.
Recording MIDI Controller automation from the External MIDI Instrument device
To record MIDI CC# automation from the External MIDI Instrument device, proceed as follows:
1. Click the On button to activate the CC Assign function.
2. Select the desired MIDI CC# by clicking the up/down CC Assign arrow buttons.