I just bought Power Tracks Pro to use as a sequencer instead of the one on the M1. But I'm confused about how to set the M1 to work with the sequencer. It does NOT respond in Program mode. It DOES respond in Sequencer mode. And I've just read something that says it could also respond in Combination Mode. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions?

There are just a few differences using M1 in combi or seq mode with an external sequencer. I prefer the sequencer mode, because its a bit more straitforward to use compared to combination mode.





using combi with sequencer

Im using cakewalk sequencer software and I noticed a little 'feature' with it if using M1 in combi mode. The thing is that cakewalk sends a program change code to assigned midi channel every time when 'play' is pressed. So if M1s global midi channel is set to 1 (which it usually is), and the sequencer sends a program change code to midi channel 1, it does not change the prog in channel 1 in combi but the actual combi program itself (which is what it shold do, actually). This has a an effect on how the combi should be programmed. Instead of usign midi channles 1-8 in ocmbi you must use midi channels 2-9 (or some other channels different to M1s global midi channel).


Well, this could be a handy feature too. A track on sequencer set to same midi channel as M1s global midi channel could be used to control combis used in a song. When a program change is sent to m1 on middle of a song it changes to the next combi, perhaps with a different effects setup which would be cool, of course. But there are a thing to concider here too.

1) Changing combi mode takes a while, so if a combi mode program change is sent along a number of prog changes at the same time, it might happen that the prog changes sent to control progs used in combi are lost because of the lag the combi program change takes to accomplish. I taught I was clever and used a track in sequencer to control combis and others to control progs used in combi. But I didnt understand why the progas in combi werent changed correctly whren I press 'play' on my sequencer software. I think the reason is this lag just described.

2) When fine tuning the combi itself, ie setting the effect parameters etc, and pressing 'play' in sequencer causes the program change to (current) combi. If you did not remember to write the changes made in combi to M1s memory, well, the changes are lost. This is because selecting a (new) combi or prog on M1 actually loads it from its internal memory and the current combi/prog in editing memory is lost.




These difficulties can be avoided if using midi channels other than M1s global midi channel in sequencer and combis. Or using M1s seq mode instead, of course.


Happy hacking

-Petri Loukasmäi

Sorry about that guys. The fault with the posting was here on the BBS and was the result of trying unsuccessfully to update the BBS the other day. It's hard trying to reintsall software while it is online as these are the types of glitches that happen.

Thanks for the response. For some reason I couldn't view it yesterday even though I saw there were responses to the post. Sounds as if you were having tech problems, as well.