Please help. I want to change performances (that I have pre-programmed) using Ableton. I am trying to use an External Instrument to send the messages to the MX49 which I have connected with a USB cable. I have tried setting numbers in Bank, Sub, and Pgm drop-downs on the external instrument in Ableton but they change individual patches within my performance. Any help would be appreciated, or if I need to more clearly articulate my routing/setup let me know.  Thank you in advance for your help!

I don’t use Ableton, so I can’t tell you how to enter and send the correct data from it. However, just to make sure some basic things related to the MX are correct…

Bank Select MSB/LSB and Program Change values are in the Bank Select table on page 57 of the MX Data List (https://usa.yamaha.com/files/download/other_assets/0/892970/mx49mx61mx88_en_dl_c0.pdf).

Whether Bank Select and/or Program Change messages are transmitted and received is determined by MX Utility mode settings. You might want to verify that BankSel is on. See page 65 of the MX Reference Manual.

If any Ableton users have additional information, please post.

Hi,

One thing to check is whether you are in performance select mode? I’m not sure if this affects the MX’s ability to receive program changes, but try pressing the button under the wheel so it’s lit.

The proper bank change change messages are MSB 063 / LSB 080 then the performance number. In the Melas editors the performances are numbered 1-128, but I’m not sure if thats’s the actual program number being sent, so it could 0-127.

I’ve made this work so that my MOX6 sends Bank/Program changes to the MX to select specific performances, so its definitely doable. If this doesn’t help check the midi receive channel for the MX and make sure it matches Ableton’s.....

Thanks 5pinDIN!

Ok, I checked both page 65 of the MX Reference Manual (yes, I did have the Bank Select option set to “on")
and page 57 of the MX Data List, so let me be more detailed:

page 57 of the MX Data List shows a Bank Select Table indicating (on the bottom line) that Performances 0-127 are at MSB (Hex) = 63 (3F), and LSB (Hex) = 80 (50).  I dod not know what Hex means, so I have so far been unable to understand What the 3F and the 50 are for.

As far as MSB = 63 and LSB = 80, these are the numbers that I entered into the External Instrument drop down, in the Notes section of the MIDI clip (dummy clip). Underneath Pgm Change are three drop downs: Bank, Sub, and Pgm.  When I set Bank to 63 and Sub to 80, and then Pgm to a random number, I will, in fact get a program message sent to My MX49.  The problem is, it is changing the second instrument in the performance to another instrument, and I want to change the entire performance and not an individual instrument within a performance. 

Thank you to anyone who can shed some light!

Hi benj00!

Thanks for the reply.  I *had not* been in performance select mode so I tried that.  The same thing happened, playing the dummy clip sent the program change message that changed the lower of the two voices in the performance, but the entire performance did not change. 

Am I correct to be entering the MSB value (63) into “Bank” and the LSB value (80) into “Sub” on the Ableton External Instrument?

Also I tried entering the value -63 as per your instructions into “Bank” where I had formerly entered “63” but it would not accept a negative value, just 1-128 are accepted.

Thank you for taking the time to respond and please let me know if you think of anything else!

One more thing, I realized that I had the “MIDI TO” channel strip drop down in Ableton set to “2”, which is why the Program Change had only been triggering the lower of the 2 instruments in each Performance to change.  When I changed that “MIDI TO” channel strip drop down to “1”, now it changes the first instrument of the performance in MX49. 

What I want to send however, is not a message to change an individual instrument, but a message to change an entire Performance.

Thanks Again and God bless

Hex is hexadecimal, or base 16...this is what computers understand. 3F in hexadeicmal = 53 in decimal, 50 in hexadecimal = 80 in decimal. The manuals show both formats because some tools require entering the numbers in hex, others require the numbers to be in decimal.

Numbering can be 0-127 or 1-128. The MX uses the numbering of 0-127, if Ableton Live uses 1-128 try changing the values to 54 and 81 and see what happens.

What MIDI channel are you sending the program change message on? From the MX manual:

You can also use an external MIDI instrument to change MX49/MX61 Performances with the proper program change messages. To do this, you’ll need to match the MIDI Transmit channel of the external MIDI instrument with the basic MIDI Receive channel of the MX49/MX61. For details on setting the basic MIDI Receive channel of the MX49/MX61, follow the instructions below.
1 Press [UTILITY].
2 Use the Cursor U and D buttons to select “02:MIDI,” then press [ENTER].
3 Use the Cursor U and D buttons to select “BasicCh (Basic Channel),” then check the channel.
If necessary, change the channel to the same channel as the MIDI transmit channel of the external MIDI instrument.

That means you must send the program change from Ableton on the basic MIDI Receive channel of the MX.

stephen21 - 18 February 2016 12:59 AM

Thanks 5pinDIN!

Ok, I checked both page 65 of the MX Reference Manual (yes, I did have the Bank Select option set to “on")
and page 57 of the MX Data List, so let me be more detailed:

page 57 of the MX Data List shows a Bank Select Table indicating (on the bottom line) that Performances 0-127 are at MSB (Hex) = 63 (3F), and LSB (Hex) = 80 (50).  I dod not know what Hex means, so I have so far been unable to understand What the 3F and the 50 are for.

You’re welcome!

“Hex” is short for “hexadecimal”, which is a number system with base 16. The system we usually use every day is “decimal”, base 10. The Bank Select table gives both the decimal and hex values, and you use one or the other, depending on what your software requires. The Data List has a conversion chart in the left-hand column on page 53.

 

stephen21 -

As far as MSB = 63 and LSB = 80, these are the numbers that I entered into the External Instrument drop down, in the Notes section of the MIDI clip (dummy clip). Underneath Pgm Change are three drop downs: Bank, Sub, and Pgm.  When I set Bank to 63 and Sub to 80, and then Pgm to a random number, I will, in fact get a program message sent to My MX49.  The problem is, it is changing the second instrument in the performance to another instrument, and I want to change the entire performance and not an individual instrument within a performance. 

Thank you to anyone who can shed some light!

Try adding “1” to the MSB, LSB, and Program Change numbers.
So MSB = 64, LSB = 81, Program Change as wanted + 1.

EDIT: meatballfulton posted while I was researching the problem and typing. We said similar things, but his numbers for the MSB are off by 10. (3Fh = 48 + 15 = 63)

stephen21 - 18 February 2016 01:08 AM

Hi benj00!

Thanks for the reply.  I *had not* been in performance select mode so I tried that.  The same thing happened, playing the dummy clip sent the program change message that changed the lower of the two voices in the performance, but the entire performance did not change. 

Am I correct to be entering the MSB value (63) into “Bank” and the LSB value (80) into “Sub” on the Ableton External Instrument?

Also I tried entering the value -63 as per your instructions into “Bank” where I had formerly entered “63” but it would not accept a negative value, just 1-128 are accepted.

Thank you for taking the time to respond and please let me know if you think of anything else!

Hi,

It wasn’t supposed to be -063, that was just a typo. I corrected the original post…

Ok, thank you meatballfulton!

I have Basic Channel in MX set to the default channel 1.  In Ableton on the channel strip I have “MIDI From” set to “NO Input” and “MIDI to” set to “MX49” on the first drop down and “Channel 1” on the dropdown underneath that. 

This is still sending only individual instrument changes to the 1st instrument in the performance.

Thanks everyone for your help.

Problem Solved: Thank you Everyone!
5PinDIN you said

Try adding “1” to the MSB, LSB, and Program Change numbers.
So MSB = 64, LSB = 81, Program Change as wanted + 1.

That is the solution:
On External Instrument Clip in Ableton under Pgm Change
Bank = 64
Sub = 81
Pgm = whatever number performance you want between 1-128

Thanks to everybody who helped me out and God bless!

I’m glad you got the problem resolved.