Tascam Digital Audio Production Environment SX-1 Reference Manual

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 TASCAM SX-1 Reference Manual 151
Standard MIDI Files
The SX-1 sequencer can import and export Type 0 or 
1 SMFs (Standard MIDI Files). Once imported, these 
files are added to the project’s 
Take Browser tab.
TIP
To learn how to load a Take into a track, see the SX-1’s 
Quick Start Guide.
VGA SMF Management Tab
To reach this tab, from the MAIN DISPLAY MODE 
section, click on the 
SMF Management tab.
Import Volume This is the disk where the SMF 
files that you want to import are located.
Folder icon Press to step up or back through the 
volume’s folder hierarchy.
CD icon This button unmounts and ejects a disc in 
the CD-RW drive.
Import Files This window displays the SMF files 
that are available for import.
Export Volume Selects the volume to which you 
will export the SMF files.
Name (In Export Folder) Use this field to give 
the file that you are exporting a name.
VGA Main Menu SMF Commands
The Project menu on the VGA menu bar also features 
handy shortcuts for the 
SMF Management tab on the 
VGA 
Project screen. Both the 
Import SMF and Export SMF commands immedi-
ately open the 
SMF Management tab. 
						

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MIDI Monitoring
The Overview screens are recalled by pressing the 
OVERVIEW key in the MAIN DISPLAY MODE sec-
tion, and then clicking on the corresponding tab for the overview you want to see. These screens show all 
the signals running through the mixer at a glance.
MIDI Overview Screen
This tab displays all the MIDI activity being output 
by the SX-1’s sequencer.
TIP
If a MIDI module is not responding and you’re not sure 
why, one of the Overview screen’s 
MIDI Out tabs is a 
great way of verifying that the SX-1 sequencer is out-
putting MIDI data on the proper channels. Other trou-bleshooting tips would include using the keyboard on 
the Piano Roll tab to see if notes were registering, and 
using the MIDI LED to ascertain whether or not MIDI is 
leaving the SX-1. 
						

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LCD MIDI In Overview Screen
Press OVERVIEW from the MAIN DISPLAY MODE 
section, and then press the 
MIDI IN soft key.Use this screen to view the MIDI data coming in the 
SX-1’s MIDI IN port.
LCD MIDI Out Overview Screen
Press OVERVIEW from the MAIN DISPLAY MODE 
section, and then press the 
MIDI OUT soft key. Use this screen to view the MIDI data going out each 
of the SX-1’s MIDI OUT ports. 
						

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MIDI Naming Tab
This tab is found on the VGA’s Routing screen. Here 
you can name the channels for each MIDI Out port. 
						

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Chapter 19 – MIDI Editing
Tools & Screens
The TRACK screen and its associated Piano Roll tab pro-
vide one of the main work areas for MIDI note and 
region editing on a VGA display. These work areas 
are mirrored on the LCD display by the 
TRACKS and 
PIANO ROLL screens. The Tracks screens allow coarse 
editing and region selection on one or more tracks. 
The 
Piano Roll screens provide a larger view of the 
MIDI performance for more detailed editing.
A recap — onscreen tools for working with MIDI events
There are several tools located in the VGA’s Main 
Menu Bar that determine the behavior of the mouse’s 
cursor.
Right-click on the tool icon (like those pictured here) 
to select the tool you wish to work with. 
Region Select Tool Use this tool for 
selecting (highlighting) regions to edit. 
Click and drag to select a region. It works in 
both the 
Track and Waveform screens.
Event Select Tool Use this tool to select 
audio and MIDI events. Just click on the event or group of events you want to select. It works 
in both the 
Track and Waveform screens (and the Piano 
Roll
 screens for MIDI events).
Pencil Tool Use this tool for drawing in 
data (automation, continuous controller 
data, and MIDI notes). Simply click, or 
click and drag where you want the data 
drawn. It works in the automation’s 
Auto Track and 
MIDI track 
Piano Roll tabs.
Curve Tool Allows precise curves to be 
drawn in for automation controllers and 
MIDI control data.
TIP
MIDI notes and regions can be treated quite similarly to 
audio waveforms and regions. Even the editing opera-
tions accessed by the keys in the 
EDITING section are 
applicable. To read about these editing operations, see 
“Editing Audio” on page 127.
Using the Tools
The SX-1 has two editing modes that might not be 
obvious to the uninitiated user. However, these 
modes provide powerful tools - which can vastly 
speed up certain aspects of controller editing. You 
can reach the Pencil and Curve tools from the VGA’s Main Menu Bar either by right-clicking on the tool 
icon itself, or just pressing the [ESC] key repeatedly 
to cycle through the choices (shown above). It should 
be noted that both of these editing tools only work in 
the VGA screen. 
						

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Pencil Tool The first mode consists of a pencil 
tool. The Pencil Tool can draw MIDI Continuous 
Controller events on the 
Piano Roll tab or Automation 
events on the 
Automation VGA screen.The example below is of the 
Automation screen’s Auto 
Track
 tab. The pencil tool has been used to draw in a 
number of curves for the kick drum’s fader to follow.
This next example below is from the 
Piano Roll tab on 
the 
Tracks screen. The bar at the bottom of the screen 
is currently displaying MIDI Note On velocity.Using the pencil tool, the Note On Velocities of all 
the notes have been drawn in. 
						

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This screenshot below shows that when the Pencil 
Tool is selected, menus for 
Duration, On Velocity and Off 
Velocity
 become visible. It is possible to click directly 
onto the 
Piano Roll tab and enter notes (this is how the notes were entered in the preceding example). These 
three fields determine the length (duration) and vol-
ume (On/Off Velocity) of notes entered in this 
manner.
Curve Tools This edit tool allows smooth curves 
to quickly and easily be drawn into both the Piano 
Roll’s MIDI controller display and the 
Automation Screen’s 
Auto Track tab. The figure below shows the 
previous 
Auto Track tab example after clicking and 
dragging with the Curve Tool. 
						

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The figure below shows the previous Note On Veloc-
ity readout after a quick click and drag with the 
Curve Tool.
The figure below shows the three fields that appear 
on the 
Piano Roll tab when the Curve Tool is selected. 
The 
Curve Type field can be set to any one of four curve shapes to facilitate editing versatility. The choices are 
Linear, Logarithmic, Exponential, and Cosine.
Curve Steepness This field allows you to select 
anything from a very mild to an extremely steep 
curve.Curve Randomize This field allows you to set a 
value for variance, where the higher the entered 
value, the less perfect the curve. At the highest val-
ues the curve drawn will resemble static. 
						

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MIDI Piano Roll Screens
Piano Roll screens are available on both the VGA 
and the LCD screens.
VGA Piano Roll
From the Tracks screen on the VGA, click on the Piano 
Roll
 tab to reach this window.
Track Click on the arrow to select the MIDI track 
you want to view.
Controller Selects the type of MIDI controller or 
Control Change message you want to view or edit. 
When a MIDI data type is selected, a window to dis-play this information opens below the Piano Scroll. 
When 
none is selected, the window is hidden.
TIP
The MIDI Controller View window is only available 
through the VGA display. The LCD 
Piano Roll screen does 
not have this feature.
Edit Operation
Once a MIDI note, event, or region is selected, a 
variety of edit operations are possible. Click on the 
arrow in this field to open the 
Edit Operation menu to 
choose an edit operation. These operations are 
described on the following pages.
Add Note Use this operation to add a specific note 
at a particular location.
Start Time This field allows the start time of the 
note to be entered.
Note This field designates which MIDI note will be 
entered on the track.
On Velocity This field sets the velocity of the note, 
from 0-127.
Off Velocity This field allows the user to determine 
the Note Off velocity, from 0-127.
Duration This field determines the point where the 
new note will end.
Add Program Change This operation allows 
you to manually enter MIDI Program Changes.
Time Use this field to set the point where the pro-
gram change will occur.
Program Number This field lets you select a pro-
gram change number from 0-127.
Adjust Duration This operation lets you change 
the duration (or length) of a selected note (or notes).
Adjust % This field represents the percentage that 
the selected notes are lengthened.
Adjust Velocity This operation lets you change a 
selected note’s Note On velocity value. One or more 
notes can be processed simultaneously.
Adjust % This field represents the percentage that 
the selected notes’ velocities are changed. 
						

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Apply to This field allows you to choose whether 
the adjust velocity operation will effect the Note On, 
Note Off, or Note On and Off values.
Crescendo Use this operation to create a MIDI 
crescendo or decrescendo.
Mode Determines whether change values will be 
absolute or percentage based.
Start % In this field, enter the Note On velocity 
value for the beginning of the crescendo.
End% This field sets the Note On velocity value for 
the end of the crescendo.
Curve This field allows the shape of the crescendo to 
be set. The choices are: 
Linear, Logarithmic, Exponential, 
and 
Cosine.
Steepness Determines the grade of the crescendo’s 
curve.
Randomize Determines the amount of variation 
introduced into the crescendo’s curve.
Event Editor
After selecting an event using the Event Select tool, and 
selecting 
Event Editor from the Edit Operations tab, a num-
ber of fields will appear to the left of the 
Piano Roll.
Time This field allows the start time of the event to 
be modified.
Duration This field allows the duration of the event 
to be set.
Pitch This control determines the pitch of the event.
On Velocity This slider determines the event’s On 
velocity.
Off Velocity This slider determines the event’s 
Off velocity.
HyperSelect
This operation allows you to select events in different 
ways by applying up to ten “rules”. A rule is created 
by filling in the fields described below.
Edited data can be modified or sent to other tracks.
Select from This field allows you to select data 
from the current track, all MIDI tracks, or all audio 
tracks.
Done action This field gives you three choices of 
what type of action to take on the selected data: 
retain selection, split to consecutive tracks, or split 
and merge to a single track.
Must pass This field determines whether the 
selected data must pass all rules or any rule selected.
Rule This field selects from any of the ten rules.
Type This field selects which specific data will be 
selected by the Edit Operation (such as aftertouch, 
pitch, sustain, etc.).
Select if This field adds a modifier to the selection. 
That is, choices like “is equal to” or “is greater than” 
determine how the data in the 
Type field pertains to 
the selection in the 
Value field.
Value This field sets the specific value that the Select 
if
 field uses to select events. For example, if Pitch was 
chosen in the 
Type field, and “greater than” was cho-
sen in the 
Select if field, and C2 was chosen in the Value 
field, then any note from 
C#2 and above would be 
selected by the HyperSelector.
Move
Use this operation to move events by a specified 
amount, earlier or later in time.
Apply to This field defines whether the move 
operation will affect the selected event’s beginning, 
end, or both.
Move Events This field determines whether the 
events are moved sooner or later in time.
Amount Use this field to define the amount by 
which the events are moved. The field can be: 
SMPTE, hours:minutes:seconds, bars:beats:ticks, 
feet:frames, or samples.