wow lol, fire up!!

I think I'll sit this one out, but here's a statement I thought quoteworthy for no particular reason....

You never used midi then how can you judge whether it's useful?[/quote

I never said it wasnt useful. I just said I dont need it. READ DANIEL SON!!!

sorry 先生, it's daniel SAN. unless you were trying to call him your son in which case it would musuko (or daniel chan, which is like a toddler OR just someone younger than ya). either way, it's a different language just like...

MIDI
.

Hey guys this is my first post but i wanted to jump in. Since this is a forum dedicated to the SP and assuming that everyone here is actually using one of the SPs you are all using MIDI. Every single operation that you do on the SP is controlled by MIDI. Every wonder why the volume goes from 1 to 127 instead of something else like 1-10 or 1-100? That is because MIDI CCs (Continuous Controllers) go from 1-127 (ok XG goes to 128, but screw Yamaha). Every time you trigger a sample, tweak an effect those operations are being controlled by MIDI. I could bore you with what MIDI is but basically it is a language for controlling parameters, trigger events like notes on a synth or samples on a sampler etc. MIDI doesn't contain those sounds or samples just all parameters concerning them. Even the famous MPC quanatize and swing are controlled by MIDI.
MIDI is pretty cool because products from different companies can "talk" to each other. It is really only one of the true standards in music making.
The modern day DAW would not have been possible without it. Obviously you don't need it to record Audio but you do need it to set a BPM or sync an LFO or Delay with it (without doing the math). Virtual instruments and effects would simply not be possible without MIDI and the fact that they (mostly) play nice with each other is not by accident. All digital synths are controlled by MIDI and even almost all modern analog synths like the Lil Phatty and the Evolver and the new Prophet 8 all have midi in the mix somewhere.
My opinion with which you are free to disagree, is that MIDI is a tool and a tool is neither good or bad ie not a moral agent. You can use MIDI to make soulless crap or a beautiful evocative piece of art. As musicians we can only benefit from having powerful tools and the knowledge to use them. Thanx for letting me play-gos

Well said indeed!

word, gospel.

imo, when you master midi, you transform into an octopus-armed aural manipulating , time-travellin extra terrestrial.

how else can you play the same notes on 4 keyboards at the same time?

how else can you play something sloppily and then travel back in time and at your discretion quantize your mistakes? (extremely useful at times)

how else can you beat-match several robots and keep them in playing in sync for eternity?

it sure comes in handy when you want to slow your track down or speed it up and your midi data is soooo on point. (excluding long samples or loops, ... ableton's on some next-level elastic tip)

midi allows us to make robots our byitches.

i thank god for midi every sunrise, before i go to sleep.

damn, people are getting MIDI-evil over here!

(couldn't help myself)

^

thanx pt3r and driz. appreciate the big up. i recently got a SP-555 because of that beautiful midi out port. i also got a MIDI Solutions Quadra Thru which is takes one MIDI in and spits it to 4 MIDI outs. My entire hardware collection can sync to the clock of the SP-555. OMG it is sick.
i am glad no one thought i was dissin' them cause i wasn't. being competent on a sampler, drum machine or a synth is just as valid as any other instrument. so get to know your wonderful machines inside and out, you won't be disappointed. MIDI really isn't that difficult to use. good luck-gos

that quadra merge thing/thru is pretty tite! i googled and saw 2 of em. a "thru" 1 in 4out. and the "merge" that is 4 in 1 out. i could see wonderful uses for each...especially with some sound modules. my homeboy, vintage rocks a hardware midi-sequencer brain type of machine, now that's just crazy. some of the old skool midi sequencers look pretty complicated.. hats off to anyone who doesn't use a computer to record. that truly is "knowing your hardware inside and out"

Yeah, MIDI Solutions stuff is excellent and inexpensive or as they say across the pond "cheap and cheerful". To be exact on the quadra, it is a 1 in and 4 out, but the outs are thrus which means the quadra doesn't filter or add anything to the MIDI messages it just splits them into 4 streams and dumps them out the back. You obviously have to set up your other gear to receive the messages you want. Oh and the quadra is an active box but doesn't need a power supply, it is MIDI bus powered. Not bad for $49. -gos