The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

I've had the an1x for about a year. No problems at all, however I am
wondering what sort of midi data the thing is constantly sending?? I
have a unitor 8 and the an1x is the only device that is causing the
unitor to constantly flash on it's corresponding midi channel. I
have flipped thru all submenus, but cannot find the cause. Anyone
know what this thing is constantly sending, can it be disabled?
Its not a problem, I am only curious.

>I've had the an1x for about a year. No problems at all, however I am
>wondering what sort of midi data the thing is constantly sending?? I
>have a unitor 8 and the an1x is the only device that is causing the
>unitor to constantly flash on it's corresponding midi channel. I
>have flipped thru all submenus, but cannot find the cause. Anyone
>know what this thing is constantly sending, can it be disabled?
>Its not a problem, I am only curious.

It's called "active sense" or "running status." Whenever the synth is not
actively used, it sends out an "I'm still here" message every
~300mSec. It's supposed to prevent stuck notes by detecting when devices
drop off the line, but various manufacturers seem to respond differently to
it, and it actually seems to CAUSE stuck notes in some combinations,
because the receiving device has to filter it out of the
stream. Personally, I wish it could be turned off. I notice that my
MIDIMan 8x8 patchbay accepts the command (input flashes) but doesn't pass
it along (output light stays off), even when in Patchbay and Thru modes.

Regards,

-BW

--
Bruce Wahler
Design Consultant
Ashby Solutions"
www.ashbysolutions.com
CloneWheel Support Group moderator
978.386.7389 voice
978.964.0547 fax
bruce@...

--- In AN1x-list@y..., beelyle@m... wrote:

> I've had the an1x for about a year. No problems at all, however I

am

> wondering what sort of midi data the thing is constantly sending??

I

Hello,

Friday, July 13, 2001, 4:51:00 PM, you wrote:

--- In AN1x-list@y..., "basile v. vorontsov" <bvv2k@m...> wrote:

> Hello,
>
> Friday, July 13, 2001, 4:51:00 PM, you wrote:
>
> >> have a unitor 8 and the an1x is the only device that is causing

the

> >> unitor to constantly flash on it's corresponding midi channel.

I

> >> have flipped thru all submenus, but cannot find the cause.

Anyone

> >> know what this thing is constantly sending, can it be disabled?
> >> Its not a problem, I am only curious.
> jyc> Unless I'm mistaken, this is the Active Sensing message

provided by

> jyc> the AN1x. Mine exhibits the same behavior but it's never posed

a

> jyc> problem. Don't believe there is a command to disable it. Gary,

Bruce,

> jyc> or Reg might know otherwise...
>
> By the way, don't you guys have problems with the sequencer memory
> filled away with those messages?

No. It's just a handshake message - it's not recorded as a MIDI Note
event or MIDI CC message.

Jon

Yes, the message is Active sense....almost all Yamaha keyboards send
this message. Its part of the MIDI spec and is in general a good idea.
(If you check the AN1x MIDI implementation chart you will see that the
message is both transmitted and received by the device)

No, there is no way to turn it off on the An1x (or at least I don't know
of any way to disable it ;-(

The message is designed for live performance situations, to avoid hung
notes. For example if someone kicks the MIDI lead out, then the
receiving device will turn off any sounding notes.

All sequencers that I am aware of simply consume the message (they do
not store it or forward it).

Regards

Gary Gregson

Email:gary@...
http://www.yme.co.uk/yme

In article <000201c10d28$25a07450$0200a8c0@bigpc>, Gary Gregson
<gary@...> writes

>Yes, the message is Active sense....almost all Yamaha keyboards send
>this message. Its part of the MIDI spec and is in general a good idea.
>(If you check the AN1x MIDI implementation chart you will see that the
>message is both transmitted and received by the device)
>
>No, there is no way to turn it off on the An1x (or at least I don't know
>of any way to disable it ;-(

Dead right, But if you have a Midi Controller between the Keyboard and
the Midi in you may be able to Filter 'Active Sensing', I don't know if
the control Freak does, but the Peavey 1600 certainly does.

>
>The message is designed for live performance situations, to avoid hung
>notes. For example if someone kicks the MIDI lead out, then the
>receiving device will turn off any sounding notes.
>
>All sequencers that I am aware of simply consume the message (they do
>not store it or forward it).

I got told something slightly different, From Nick Howes, that VST
consumes them and 'Re-sends' it's own, which I thought quite odd, as I
have never seen any 'Active Sense' Messages in Midi OX at all, even when
monitoring the Midi in direct.

The only reason I became aware of active sensing is because the Dopefer
Pocket control that I have has a midi activity indicator light on it
that flashes away when my controller keyboard is hooked up to it.

The 2 things that helped were filtering via my peavey, or a Philip Rees
'2S' midi Selector, so when I am not using the Keyboard, I switch it via
the Box and that way I don't get the light flashing and annoying me
while I am trying to concentrate.

The Peavey is an expensive solution (Around £250-£300), whereas the
Philip Box cost me £12 which is considerably cheaper.