The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

Hi Jerry,

>Secondly, I am getting just a bit tired of midi and it's 128 steps. I 
>can hear the difference between using a low rez (ribbon, mod wheel) 
>and a high rez (pitch wheel) controller on the same parameter. This 
>is true on a number of parameters, not just filter cut-off. Even LFO 
>modulation of pitch sounds smoother to me on a free running analog 
>oscillator.

Interesting that you should point this out.  Looking over the General MIDI specifications, I see that the MMA lists CC#1 as "Mod Wheel (course)," while reserving CC#33 for "Mod Wheel (fine)."  This allows for a 14-bit mod wheel, but it requires five bytes (using running status) rather than three.  There are similar locations for some of the other common functions like volume, pan, and the data slider.  Obviously, the MMA gave some thought to reaching outside MIDI's limitations, but no manufacturers I'm aware of followed suit.

Regards,

-BW

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