From bruce@ashbysolutions.com Wed Sep 27 11:04:01 2006
Subject:Re: Make Doepfer D3M trigger VK-8 with top key contact?

Hi Hugh,

>Bruce -- does the CX-3 use only the top contacts of a keyboard
>connected as the lower manual? What about the XK-3 (with boards other
>than the XLK-3), I wonder?

No, it has no way of receiving the data you are looking for. The CX-3 and the VK-8 choose to create a MIDI Note On message based on the first switch, but there isn't any provision in MIDI to identify that the Note On message is being triggered by the first switch, the second switch, or a combination of the two. MIDI doesn't send 1st-contact and 2nd-contact data to the receiving devices; all of those calculations are done BEFORE the data is sent to the MIDI Out jack. The whole first switch/second switch system can only be identified INSIDE THE SENDING DEVICE. The receiving device cannot tell where a Note On message is derived, and multiple Note On messages on one channel are a violation of the MIDI spec. (Technically speaking, the CX-3/VK-8 method is a little outside of the MIDI specifications. MIDI assumes that all devices will send a single Note On message, with velocity information imbedded. In 99% of the cases, this will always happen after the 2nd switch closes.)

If the Doepfer's operation cannot be modified to change how it sends Note Ons -- i.e., based on the first switch only -- then the receiving device cannot compensate. So, your task is to convince Doepfer to create a special mode that is somewhat outside the MIDI specifications. I wish you luck, but suspect that they will decline to change their product.

Regards,

-BW

--
Bruce Wahler
Design Consultant
Ashby Solutions™ http://consult.ashbysolutions.com
978.386.7389 voice/fax
bruce@ashbysolutions.com

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