Midi snake cable?

[fh991586]

Does it exists anymore? I'm looking for a 6 channels midi snake to hook a Yamaha TX-616 to a Roland A-880 midi patchbay. I'd settle for a 8 channels snake at worst, but not more cables (forget about 12).

I can't make one (I don't know how), and I wanted to consider this option before using 6 single cables.

[Stab Frenzy]

You get 16 channels down a single midi cable, why do you need to do them individually?

[fh991586]

Because the Yamaha TX816 has individual midi I/O for each TF1 module. Yes, there is one main I/O in the front, but it sends the same signal to each module... So if my TF1 have different sound banks, and I only want one or two of them to trigger via midi, I need to use those individual I/O through a patchbay.



My unit has only 6 TF1 instead of 8 (hence it's a TX616), and the Roland A-880 has 6 I/O in the rear, so it would fit nicely together. I guess, I'll have to use individual cables...

[nathanscribe]

Can't you set the individual TF's to respond to different MIDI channels?

[fh991586]

I haven't found out yet, because I don't work with midi channels. No sequencer used, just one main keyboard that sends data on channel one everywhere. When I combine synths, it's always with the same notes at the same time anyway...

[Stab Frenzy]

Surely the 880 is able to patch the input from one channel to another?

[fh991586]

Maybe, but it is irrelevant to my original question.

See, the TX816 has one master midi I/O/T for the whole rack (whatever the number of TF1 module it contains), and then each TF1 module has its own midi I/O. That's all there is to understand: if you want all TF1 modules to play the same thing, you use the front. If not, you deal with individual I/O in the back. That's it.

Looks like it's too complicated to get a real answer to what I was looking for... I'll deal with individual cables then.

[nathanscribe]

Wait, so your controller is a keyboard that only outputs on MIDI channel 1. And you want to control 6 synth modules. But you want to route to them independently, despite the fact that you are sending the same information to all of them anyway... and if you only want one or two of them to actually respond, how do you do this? MIDI patchbay changes?

Good luck. Life should be easier than this.

[Ashe37]

in on first one, thru, thru, thru etc... that's how its likely usually handled.

[fh991586]

and if you only want one or two of them to actually respond, how do you do this? MIDI patchbay changes?

Yes. The A-880 is actually very easy to work with, because of the front push buttons. I have several of them in use in my racks to access every other synth. That's why I kept one apart just for the TX rack.

If every TF1 modules don't have the same patches, and I wish to play a different one on different module (ex #3 on module 2 combined with #15 on module 5 and #6 on module 6), I'll need to use independant in from behind, not the main midi in up front. With the patchbay, I can easily control every module independantly with a direct access.

I was looking for a snake to join the patchbay to the 6 modules the easiest way, to have less to worry in the cable part. If it doesn't exist, then I'll use single cables, that's all! It's not that complicated: I was only looking for an answer on the hardware part, not the way I use midi...

[fh991586]

in on first one, thru, thru, thru etc... that's how its likely usually handled.

This way would only copy the same signal to each module: why chain them thru when I could only use the main in from the front? I already know how to play them all at once. It's not what I'm looking for here.

[Stab Frenzy]

Maybe, but it is irrelevant to my original question.

See, the TX816 has one master midi I/O/T for the whole rack (whatever the number of TF1 module it contains), and then each TF1 module has its own midi I/O. That's all there is to understand: if you want all TF1 modules to play the same thing, you use the front. If not, you deal with individual I/O in the back. That's it.

Looks like it's too complicated to get a real answer to what I was looking for... I'll deal with individual cables then.

You need to set each one to a different midi channel. Do a google search for 'midi basics' or something and have a bit of a read, it's not that difficult.

[fh991586]

Ok... Now tell me how can my master kb send one command on channel one and a different one on channel 2 at the same time? I can't go through each module in real time if they are on different channels using only one keayboard! With the patchbay, it's a one click job.

Seriously, I had a question about cables, not midi basics. I can control a dozen of synths using only one channel via my patch bays, so I think I can continue doing the same here.

[fh991586]

In a different light, maybe I could use different channels through the patchbay while using the front main midi in, but I'd have to work a different routine using the A-880 (not as user friendly as how I work presently). And it would be kind of a loss to use this module only to split midi channels on one cable...

[Stab Frenzy]

In a different light, maybe I could use different channels through the patchbay while using the front main midi in, but I'd have to work a different routine using the A-880 (not as user friendly as how I work presently). And it would be kind of a loss to use this module only to split midi channels on one cable...

Yes that's what I'm suggesting. It's a midi patch bay, that's what it's designed to do.

Seriously, you need to do a bit of reading about midi, it's designed to do all of this stuff which is why there's no such thing as a midi snake.