Installation

Setting Up Your Instruments

If you have correctly followed the steps in the Installation chapter and have connected the MIDI cables correctly, you are now ready to set up the control parameters in Midi Quest so that it can communicate with each of your instruments.

The program will be open with one window in the upper left corner of the screen. This is the Studio Window. The Studio is used to obtain SysEx from an instrument. The Studio window has its own tool-bar which is now described:

Preparing Your Instrument

To set up the first instrument in your list, click on the Instrument to highlight it.

Using the Fast Tips

The Fast Tips are a very important part of Midi Quest. These Help files provide specific information on the necessary steps required to setup your instrument for use with Midi Quest.

First, the Fast Tips will provide instrument specific information on how to enable System Exclusive reception on your instrument. Unfortunately, many instruments are actually shipped with their System Exclusive disabled. There is no method available for Midi Quest to automatically enable this setting for you, so you must do it for yourself. The Fast Tips will explain how.

Fast Tips will also explain how to find and change the channel that the instrument uses to transmit and receive SysEx. In Midi Quest, this is called the SysEx Channel. Follow the instructions and make a note of the SysEx channel.

The Fast Tips will also explain how to determine which MIDI channel the instrument is using as its basic channel if there is one. You should use this information to determine the channels being used by the instrument. Make a note of this channel as well.

Finally, the Fast Tips will provide other information, warnings, and limitations regarding your instrument. In some cases, the ROMs of particular instruments have bugs. In most cases, the Fast Tips will warn you of this. In such cases, you should get new ROMs from the instrument's manufacturer.

To open Fast Tips, click on the bar to activate the instrument then press the "Fast Tips" button to display the Fast Tips help for the instrument. A window similar to the following will appear:

The Fast Tips are written in rtf format and are displayed using the application currently assigned to open rtf files.

Changing Instrument Settings

Once you have enabled SysEx (on the instrument if necessary) and determined which channel the instrument is transmitting SysEx on, you can proceed with setting up the instrument for use with Midi Quest.

Select the instrument you wish to configure. Next, choose Studio/Settings/Settings... or press the Settings button on the Studio Window's button bar. This will display the Settings dialog. This dialog is used to change each of the instrument's basic communication parameters.

Each instrument in the Studio has up to six basic settings which need to be set for proper program operation. These basic settings are: MIDI IN Port, MIDI OUT port, SysEx Channel and MIDI Channel.

Set the MIDI IN and MIDI OUT Ports

The MIDI In and MIDI Out drop down menus are used to select the MIDI In and Out ports that the MIDI device is connected to. The drop down menu displays all of the MIDI ports which are available to Midi Quest as were selected in the MIDI IN and MIDI OUT Ports dialogs.

If you do not see the port to which the instrument is connected listed, close the Settings dialog and open the appropriate dialog from the MIDI menu. Add the port you require and close the port dialog. Return to the Settings dialog and choose the port.

Note: If the port still does not appear, it is likely that the port is in use by another program. You will need to shut down the other program and then reopen the port from within Midi Quest. Some drivers for MIDI interfaces, especially those from sound card manufacturers are not very sophisticated. These MIDI interface drivers can only be opened by one application at a time. As a result, if the MIDI port is being used by another application, you need to close the MIDI port there before opening it in Midi Quest.

Set the SysEx Channel

The SysEx channel is the channel your instrument or MIDI device uses to communicate SysEx information on. By this time, you should have determined your instrument's SysEx Channel with the help of the Fast Tips. Use the drop down menu beside SysEx Channel to set it. There are a few older instruments which do not use this channel, in which case the control will be disabled and you can ignore this step.

Set the MIDI Channel

The MIDI channel is NOT used for transferring SysEx between the instrument and computer. It is used for auditioning and developing sounds. In most instances, this parameter should be set to the instrument's basic MIDI channel. By this time, you should have determined your instrument's MIDI channel with the help of the Fast Tips. Use the drop down menu beside Midi Ch to set the Midi Channel.

For Roland's multi-part instruments, the MIDI channel used should be set to match the MIDI channel for part #1.

For Each Instrument

After you have entered the correct settings for each of the parameters in the Settings Dialog, press OK to accept the settings and use them for the instrument. After completing one instrument, select the next instrument and repeat the steps from Fast Tips onward to properly configure it. Repeat the steps until each Instrument is properly configured to communicate with the instrument.

When you are finished configuring each instrument, choose File/Save to save the changes you have made.

You are now ready to proceed with the tutorial!