Using The Opcode Studio 5LX Multi-port MIDI Interface/Patchbay, Part 1

PART 1: Martin Russ's Studio 5LX has changed the way he runs his studio. In the first of this two‑part series, he explains how to set up a multi‑port MIDI interface, and reveals some of the ways in which these useful devices can simplify your life. This is the first article in a two‑part series.

Some time ago, I took my Opcode Studio 5 Mac MIDI interface to MCMXCIX in London to have it upgraded to the 'LX' version. While I was there, I chatted with a customer who had recently moved from Atari to Macintosh. He commented on the poor resale value of Atari computers, at which point I said that he should keep the Atari, and use it in his MIDI system. He replied that he now had a Mac and did not need the Atari any longer. An 'Atari Notes' column which I wrote in the June 1993 issue of SOS advises you not to sell your old Atari, but to use it with whatever you buy to replace it. This is what I do in my studio, making full use of the aforementioned Studio 5LX to fully integrate the ST with my Mac and the rest of my studio gear. In fact, my multi‑port Studio 5LX is now the heart of my MIDI system. I use it so much that now I literally could not work without it. This feature aims to explore some of what is possible using a multi‑port MIDI interface such as the Studio 5LX. Part 1 deals with the basic concepts involved in using it to organise a studio; Part 2, coming next month, goes into more detail and also explains how the Studio 5LX can help integrate an Atari into a studio running with a diffferent make of main computer.

Multi‑Port MIDI

The only major required purchase for what I'm about to explain is a combined multi‑port MIDI interface and MIDI patchbay. I chose the Opcode Studio 5 because it has just enough Ins and Outs to cope with my MIDI equipment, and some very powerful MIDI processing capabilities as well. Although it's expensive, I've been very pleased with it right from the beginning, and it's saved me lots of cable changing and rewiring effort. I say this because many MIDI musicians still use combinations of low‑cost switching boxes and careful allocation of channels on a single‑port MIDI interface, which may work — but there again, it may not. You'd be surprised at how many people call me to sort out problems which are caused by not having a multi‑port MIDI interface and MIDI patchbay. I reckon that once you have more than four pieces of MIDI equipment, you should buy at least an 8x8 MIDI interface/MIDI patchbay before you buy anything else, for several reasons:

• Multi‑port MIDI interfaces free you from having to map out the allocation of MIDI equipment to MIDI channels.
• You no longer need to worry about not being able to make the most of multitimbrality because you don't have enough free MIDI channels.
• Manual switch boxes are such a pain to keep track of (and use) that a patchbay repays its cost in increased productivity very quickly.

The problem is that most manufacturers are quite happy to sell you the hardware and software, but never really explain how to use them. You really can do a huge amount with a patchbay — it can make things much, much easier. Cue the rest of this article.

Setting Up

The first thing to do when you start to use a patchbay is connect everything through it. This gives you a chance to sort out all those cables that you aren't sure about — and you might even label them clearly while you're at it. The software with most patchbays will give you a graphical 'picture' of how all your equipment is wired, but it's a good idea to check that this is how things really are — the Studio 5 LX lets you interrogate each port to confirm that reality matches the picture.

The MIDI setup of AYS Studios, the example used in the diagrams in this feature, is best described using the Studio Setup display from within OMS. This is a graphical version of the wiring, and can be saved as a Studio Setup file. On the left‑hand side are numbered boxes for the MIDI port numbers — the Studio 5LX provides 15 separate MIDI In and Out ports. On the right‑hand side are the instruments, modules, drum machines, and so on. When a second or third unit is shown connected to a port, this uses the Thru on the first unit — and for these additional units there is a small MIDI switch which selects which MIDI Out is connected to the Studio 5LX. These could be connected directly to a MIDI In port if a second Studio 5LX was networked to the first.

Because a Studio Setup file lets you set which channels your devices are assigned to, you can create different Setup files for different purposes. This can help to keep stuff like pop‑up menus under control — if you have lots of multitimbral devices and you give each one 16 MIDI channels, you're going to get 16 numbered versions of each devices, which produces huge pop‑up menus. A simple studio setup made from monotimbral instruments would produce only one entry per instrument in a pop‑up 'instrument select' menu, whereas a studio setup with lots of 16‑part multitimbral instruments could be up to 16 times as long! Why? It would be full of entries like TG77‑1, TG77‑2, TG77‑3, TG77‑4...

Instead of defining everything to its maximum multitimbrality, I have two major setup documents:

• One is a 'monotimbral' studio, where each MIDI device is set up to receive on just one MIDI channel — that is, it produces only one part. I use this setup for orchestration and arranging of music, where I want to be able to quickly change sounds and adjust volumes on individual parts. Having one part/sound per channel/device makes this easy — even if it often wastes polyphony. The catch is that you need lots of instruments — which makes a good excuse to buy lots of expander modules.
• In contrast, for squeezing the maximum out of one MIDI device, I use the 'multitimbral' studio setup, where each device is allocated a realistic number of MIDI channels — typically the polyphony divided by four. Sixteen different monophonic synthesizers may sound exciting, but it is a pain to try and avoid any overlapping notes which then steal notes from elsewhere. So a 16‑note polyphonic module gets four channels, which keeps the pop‑up menus reasonably short but provides enough scope for exploiting multitimbrality.

Initially, I used just one studio setup for my Studio 5LX — with lots of multitimbrality and huge numbers of patches to connect everything together. After several rationalisations, I now have a few specialist setups for doing the ubiquitous 'half a dozen impossible things before breakfast', but they are another story. For the rest of the time I use just the above two setups.

STUDIO SETUP HINT: I use the '~' symbol to indicate Studio Setup files and make them easier to find in a list of files on the computer's disk.

Patches

Patches are the key to using a patchbay. A patch sets the connections between the MIDI Ins and the MIDI Outs — but instead of real patch cables, you use 'virtual' ones, drawn on the computer screen. My Studio 5LX patches are organised into easy‑to‑remember groups, so that I can quickly select the patch I want without having to think too hard. This is especially useful when I'm using the MIDI system without my Mac turned on, because then the Studio 5LX only displays a two‑digit patch number.

Because I tend to focus on specific manufacturers when I buy equipment, I have a fairly restricted set of MIDI devices. I have some Emu expanders, some Yamaha gear, and some miscellaneous items from an intentionally wide range of manufacturers. Not surprisingly, these are separated into four groups to keep them manageable:

• All (This group contains all the equipment.)
• Emu
• Yamaha
• Others

The patches I use on the MIDI patchbay part of the Studio 5LX reflect this organisation. If I want to send the output of my master keyboard to all the equipment, I use a virtual instrument called 'All' — and I just connect from the master keyboard to 'All'. This one simple patch is equivalent to about 20 real MIDI cables.

My basic Studio 5 patches are simple and easy to remember. Patch number 1 is deliberately set to do nothing: although this sounds crazy, it actually enables the playing of keyboards individually without any stacking, which can be very useful sometimes. Too much layering can be distracting!

All of the 'All' patches have '2' as their units digit (remember tens and units from school maths?) — Patch '1' is reserved for sequencer use, and so I never use numbers ending in 1. For just trying out ideas (and keyboard practice), I tend to select either the Emu or Yamaha setting, then use the sliders on my mixing desk to choose which of the sound sources are actually heard on the monitor speakers. This gives a large palette of timbres to work with, and makes layering a standard function instead of something which has to be specially set up. I find that the easier it is to use something, the less it gets in the way of creating music. For example, have you ever seen a guitarist pick up a guitar, check the tone and volume knobs, adjust the tuning, check the whammy bar, clean the fluff from the nut, polish the frets, set up the controls on their amplifier, adjust the pedal board, dig out a plectrum or two, do some warm‑up exercises, and then get on with playing? I suspect you're more likely to have observed that most guitarists just pick up the guitar, wazz the volume up to 'loud', and get widdling...

Patches ending in '3' are used to connect to Emu equipment, whilst Yamahas end in '4', and Others end in '5'. Not only can I remember this without much effort, but I don't need to put any major effort into reading the display on the Studio 5LX. I can cope with four things to remember, and if I'm unsure, the MIDI activity LEDs on the front panels of most of my equipment soon show me what's playing.

Patches can also include clock routing. I use the 'tens' digit on the display to indicate what sort of patch is used: a '0' indicates a direct connection from the master keyboard to the destination, while a '1' shows that the MIDI Clock is also routed from the master keyboard to the drums and other devices which receive sync. Of course, clock routing can be different from the routing of notes. For example, in patch 14, the master keyboard is connected to all the Yamaha equipment (shown by the '4'), while the MIDI Clock source (usually the SY99 on‑board sequencer clock) is connected to all the drum machines. You can extend this numbering system to cover any other requirements particular to your system. For example, all patches with a '9' as the tens digit could be set up to run via a MIDI analyser for troubleshooting.

I deliberately use different types of arrows in patch descriptions, to show single and double patch leads. A '‑>' shows one connection, while a '‑‑>>' shows a double connection. Visual clues like this help to avoid the need to open up the patches for editing all the time. Double‑clicking and waiting wastes time even on a fast Mac — so the more information you can get into the text description of the patch, the better. Because I do the pruning at the audio level using my mixer, I don't have to think too hard about selecting patches on the patchbay.

Organising patches in this way not only keeps things neat and tidy — it also forces you to plan out what sort of connections you'll make. Just connecting devices together when the need arises will produce a random and confusing set of patches which you will later want to reorganise. And if you've already used the patches to automate the changes in a live set for performance, you can't change the order of patches without also editing the set plan as well. It really does pay to plan ahead when you're designing patches for patchbays.

PATCHINT: Don't worry about those one‑off special patches you create for unusual circumstances. I have the lower patch numbers allocated in a formalised way, but higher numbers are left as temporary memories — just give them a number in the 80s or 90s and a descriptive name. And remember to always make backups of your patch files!

Patch Changes

If you play live using hi‑tech instruments and you've never thought about automating your patchbay changes, you must be one of those busy people who spends lots of time pressing buttons in between songs — and who often misses their first cue!

The idea is that you configure your performance patches to suit the songs in your set, with suitable controllers and destinations (master keyboard to one set of expander modules, second/melody/lead‑line keyboard to another set of expander modules, and so on), as well as program changes and volume controller settings, all stored away and retrievable with a single patch selection on the patchbay.

If you watch well‑prepared keyboard players on stage, you'll notice that they often just press one or two buttons in between songs — and now you should know why! What automation does is allow you to make complex changes with minimum effort.

A basic patch chain might start with the master keyboard connected to all the expander modules for setting up and testing purposes during a sound check. Subsequent patches might select just the Emu equipment for one song, then just the Yamaha... Moving through the patch chain can be done by any MIDI controller. In my case, two footswitches are connected to the Studio 5 LX. Pressing the first of these will step through the performance patches one by one. (The other footswitch is used for controlling my sequencer from the master keyboard.) Manual selection of patch changes needs to be set in such a way that accidental changes are avoided. Using the Studio 5LX control software, it is easy to specify that, for example, the patch changes from the SY99 will only happen if the portamento pedal is also held down.

Each time a patchbay patch is selected, the Studio 5 LX can output a short sequence of program changes, controller values, and other useful 'housekeeping' settings. For example, selecting patch number 2 might set the program and volume for the Yamaha TX816 rack, the Kurzweil K2000, the Waldorf MicroWave, and the SY99 (including a Bank Change and Reset All Controllers, too). Finally, an All Notes Off is sent to All Instruments — this is Opcode's 'every note on every channel' variation on the real MIDI ANO message; whilst some instruments do not support the official ANO message, most support Note Off messages.

Finally, the last patch in the chain has but one purpose: it aims to restore everything to as neutral or 'default' a state as possible.

PATCH/SETUP HINT: Is that file a Patch or a Setup? I use a 'bullet' point '*' in front of the filename of patches so that they are easy to see in file lists. They all stay grouped together, and they are separate from my studio setup files, which start with '~'.

Reviews

As you may have noticed, I've done one or two reviews of synthesizers and expander modules during the first 10 years of SOS. After doing major surgery on my studio for the first couple, I decided that I needed to be more organised, so I produced a patch specifically for doing reviews. The first available tens digit was 2, and 22 seemed to be memorable, so Patch 22 became my 'Review' patch.

When a synthesizer or expander module arrives for review, I connect it up to Port 13 on the Studio 5LX, and select Patch 22. I hope none of the review equipment is superstitious! My 'Review' patch incorporates filtering and velocity mapping so that I can adjust any new arrivals to my own tastes. The master keyboard is connected to the review instrument, so that I can play it initially from a familiar keyboard. I put two asterisks in front of the device name — this automatically makes the review instrument appear near the top of the pop‑up menus (which are sorted alphabetically).

Installing a review instrument in my studio involves connecting the audio leads, MIDI leads, and the power supply — it takes about two minutes. No rewiring. No figuring out how to connect it to a suitable Thru socket. No problem with examining System Exclusive information (I just patch it to a special SysEx analyser I wrote in Max). No hassle. And it's all down to having a combined MIDI interface and MIDI patchbay. Probably one of the best MIDI investments I ever made.

REVIEWING HINT: Many studios also have a need to be able to quickly accommodate a new or hired‑in instrument for a session, and this is one way of doing it with ease.

Monitoring

Some sequencers have MIDI output monitors which can show activity on the 16 MIDI channels. With a multi‑port MIDI interface, things are a little more complicated, since you can have lots more MIDI channels. I use the Studio 5LX to patch in my MIDI monitoring gadget wherever I need to see what is happening. Normally, patching cables so that the MIDI data passes through a MIDI monitor gadget, or even getting at the Thru socket, can be quite a problem, but because port 15 has the MIDI monitor gadget connected up, it is easy to patch it anywhere. This can be very useful for troubleshooting problems — especially because it is very quick to connect the monitor to different places and see what is going on.

Next month, Martin deals with the Atari ST, master keyboards, and more...