[sdiy] Continuous controllers

[mark verbos]

Continuous controller data is not really continuous. It is a series  
of discrete values. Each message is simply a value between 0 and 127,  
or in the case of pitch bend, 2 values. If a machine is receiving  
data from two sources it will update for each message as it comes in  
and stay at the last one. I think the MIDI spec calls them continuous  
controllers in comparison to switched values, like program changes.

Mark






On Oct 22, 2008, at 5:20 PM, Tom Wiltshire wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> A couple of questions about MIDI continuous controllers;
>
> MIDI continuous controllers like pitch bend and aftertouch aren't  
> really continuous, since MIDI is a digital serial protocol.
> Does anyone know how often these messages are sent typically?
>
> Presumably the answer to this question is variable over time  
> (1980's, 1990's, 2000's) and between manufacturers. I remember  
> hearing some digital synth years ago that had audible stepping on  
> the pitch bender if you whacked it about a bit. Presumably modern  
> ones are better in this respect. But sending information too often  
> (or at too high a resolution, say with multi-byte NRPN messages) is  
> just going to clog up your MIDI stream. For example, a later Moog  
> Voyager OS update included a feature to reduce the amount of data  
> sent by the touch pad.
>
> The second question is related;
>
> What happens if a piece of equipment receives two different sets of  
> continuous controller data?
> For example, playing back a piece of music with pitch bends and  
> aftertouch, whilst also having active pitchbend and aftertouch  
> coming from the local keyboard.
> How do you decide which to use?
>
> If anyone has any experience or thoughts to offer in this area, I'd  
> love to hear.
>
> Thanks,
> Tom
>
>
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