Hey all you MIDI-gurus
(if you dance can-can that'll make you a ..... well, never mind!)

I've got a little problem (maybe a big one!) that I hope someone out there can either help me to a solution, or confirm that what I wanna do ain't possible!

It will be a quite long description, but please read on. Maybe someone can learn something from what I've done so far.
I consider myself as quite bright regarding midi and keyboards (actually I'm a midiot), but sometimes I run into problems that seem to be impossible to solve.

Of course I searched all over the WWW, and I wrote to Yamaha (Denmark) but they couldn't help me out!


Well, let's go:

I play in a pro band with 150 songs, and we'll never know what we're gonna play untill we get on stage. And there's just a few seconds between the different songs. Usually the singer turns around toward us at the end of one song and says what the next one will be. So I've got about 1-2-3-4 to find the correct setup of sounds and my notes (just startet with them a month ago, so I can't remember it all yet).

My setup is an Yamaha PSR9000, a Roland A-90 motherkeyboard and a Hammond XM-1 module.
All of our songs are sequenced in a MidiTemp, which we mainly use for clicktracks to the drummer (not that he can't keep up the beat, but it has some great advantages running it this way, but it's off topic here).

All our songs are organized with an unique number to each, so that "Smoke On The Water" will be e.g. number 125 and so on.

I need a setup for each song, setting the sounds, the volumes and the effects.
I use the PSR registrations ("regs" from now on) to do that. Unfortunately the regs can only be organized in banks of 8 (why not 10????? Would be so much easier), so I decided to put 5 songs in each bank (which will be easier to calculate, since I need to know which bank the reg for the next song is in).

Why don't I use the Music Database function on the PSR to do this???
Because the regs will save more information than the database... as far as I've found out looking at the list in the PSR manual.

So far so good... One song - One reg, and the PSR is ready to go...

Now I need the PSR reg to change the setup (program number) on my Roland A-90.
No problem... I just assign one of the PSR parts (Right 1, 2, 3 or left, I use Right 2, but will change it to Left) to be send out on the A-90 control midi channel (I use channel 5).
When the Right2 on the PSR is set to the correct XG sound, it will change the setup on my A-90.

Then there's my XM-1 module. Since I sometimes need up to 3 different sounds from my PSR in the same song, I've decided to change the sounds on XM-1 from the A-90!!! A bit tricky, but it'll work.

Everything is working this way. Find the correct reg for the song we're goin' to play, press the button - 1-2-3-4... go..

That'd be no problem if I had 30 seconds or more between the songs.... but I don't!

Well... since we have the sequencer for clicktracks on every song we play, it should be an easy task to make it change the registration on the PSR - via a program change command - it will then change the A-90 and the A-90 will change the XM-1, and I've got nothing to worry about but what key to play in!!! ........... That's what I thought..... And IMHO quite brilliant thinkin'.....

I've managed to change the regs through a program change this way: The PSR receiving midi channel must be in "Keyboard"-mode, and when the sequencer sends an MSB, LSB and Program Change the registration changes on the PSR....

GREAT.... My problem is (almost) solved.


But.... (or should I say butt)....

Changin' the regs this way will NOT send any prg changes to my A-90...???!!!!

It's so damn strange....
When the reg is selected it chooses the correct voice for the Right2-Part, and the midi-setup tells it to to send this program(-change) to the A-90.... but(t) it don't...
I've tried to record what's goin' out of the PSR when I'm doin' it like this, and it sends nothing but some Main Volumes (controller 7) with some values I've never programmed anywhere...

Pressing the reg-buttons with my fingers will send out the correct prg. ch.-commands!

I'm so confused...
Anybody knows why this is so, or what I can do to make it work????

Of course I could send a seperate prg ch.-command to the A-90 from the sequencer, but I don't wanna do this, because when we rehearse I often change a little bit in my setups, and maybe need to have another program for the A-90. It would mean that I should change the midifile (e.g. in a computer with Cubase), then load it back into the sequencer before we're ready to go. In that case the other band-members would drink too much coffee and smoke too many cigarettes while I'm away.... :-)

Another solution would be to make a midifile with the programchanges for each song and load them into the PSR-sequencer. This way I need the MidiTemp to change the PSR reg (and with that the song in the PSR), and during the count-in for the song we're playing it should trigger (start) the PSR sequencer, which then will send the prg. changes to the A-90.

But how do I start the PSR sequencer from a remote sequencer???? (remember it won't work if they start at the same time, since the miditemp needs to change the PSR reg before the PSR sequencer starts).


Are You still with me??

In that case thanx a lot for "listening".
I'm hoping someone is able to help me out.

Thanx a lot

Best regards

Ricky Jensen
Denmark
Ricky@tdcspace.dk