Desktop Editor Software Manual
Version 1.3.1
Desktop Editor Software Manual
Introduction
The sonuus i2M mus icport is a very fast, low-latency, monophonic MIDI converter for use
with all musical instruments. It also features a high-impedance
USB audio interface so you
can directly connect your musical instrument to your computer with ease.
MIDI converter architecture is very flexible and powerful. To enable you to make full
The
use of this, we have provided a Desktop Editor Software application that runs on both
Microsoft Windows and Apple OSX. You can run this beside your other audio applications
to give you quick and simple access to any configuration parameters you want to adjust
on the i2M musicport.
The basic operation of the i2M musicport is not described in this manual. Please refer to
the Owner’s Manual that came with your i2M musicport for instructions on the basic
operation and features of this product.
This manual describes the features and options available within the
MIDI converter and
how to use the Desktop Editor Software to control these.
Application Overview
When you run the Desktop Editor Software, you will see the window in Figure 1.
Select Tabs to edit different sets of parameters
Active MIDI Configuration is highlighted
Minimise Editor window
Topmost button.
This keeps the Editor above
other application windows.
Close Editor (Quit)
Settings and configurations
can be saved and loaded
as backup, or to swap with
other users.
Signal indicators are always visible
Name of current device is always available. Click this to select other connected devices.
igure 1: Overview of the i2M musicport Desktop Editor window.
The window has standard buttons similar to other applications to minimise the window,
and to close the application. There is also a “topmost” button, which keeps the window
floating above other applications even when the other application has focus. This feature
i2M musicport
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Desktop Editor Software Manual
makes it easy to run the Desktop Editor Software alongside other applications, such as
sequencers, so it appears much like any other “floating palette” of your main application.
There are several pages of information and parameters which you can configure. These
are selected by clicking on the tabs at the top of the window.
Buttons and switches can be activated by left-clicking the mouse button while sliders and
knobs can be adjusted by left-clicking and dragging the mouse while the button is
pressed. Controls can also be adjusted by moving the mouse wheel when the mouse
pointer is above the control.
Selecting which i2M musicport to configure
You can connect several i2M musicport devices to your computer at once, but the
Desktop Editor Software can only configure one of these at a time. You can select which
device is currently being edited by clicking on the device name box at the bottom-left of
the application and choosing the required device from the menu.
So you can identify which device is which, you can give unique names to each of your
devices: see “Device Name” on page 14.
Indicators
Next to the device name box are three indicators to show when the audio signal is
clipping and when the i2M musicport is sending or receiving
The clip indicator replicates the behaviour of the light on the i2M mus icport and will
illuminate when the input signal clips. This can be useful if you can’t see the
i2M musicport.
MIDI indicators show when the i2M musicport is receiving, or sending MIDI messages.
The
This can be used to verify
indicator only responds to
MIDI routing to and from your software. Note that the receiving
MIDI that the i2M musicp ort is able to respond to, such as
controller messages used for the hold and sustain controllers.
MIDI messages.
Loading and Saving
To allow you to easily backup your settings, or to transfer them to another device, all the
settings of the i2M musicport can be saved to a f ile wit h an
“i2M_all”
can be done my clicking the “Save All” button.
When a MIDI Configuration tab is active, this button changes to a “Save midi config”
button which allows you save the currently selected
“i2M_midi”
file extension.. This can be useful if you want to copy one configuration to
MIDI Configuration to a file with the
another before editing it, or to let you exchange your favourite configurations with other
users.
The “Load” button lets you load these files. To load a
MIDI Configuration tab into which you want to load the configuration file.
i2M musicport
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MIDI Configuration, simply select the
file extension. This
Desktop Editor Software Manual
MIDI Architecture Overview
When you connect your musical instrument to the i2M musicport, before any MIDI
messages are sent via USB-MIDI, the signal passes through several processing stages,
shown in Figure 2. Understanding these stages and how they interact will allow you to
get the most from your i2M musicport.
Musical Instrument Input Pre-amp
Zones
on
1
2
3
4
5
6
gate
zone hold
MIDI
Hold Pedal
Pitch detection
pitch-bend
chromatic
range
Mode options
Instrument
Legato detect
transpose
MIDI
configuration
constrainer
MIDI
a
b
c
d
extend
channel
USB-MIDI
Figure 2: Overview of the i2M musicport MIDI architecture. This shows the signal flow
from your musical instrument to your
MIDI instrument.
To condition the analogue signal from your instrument without affecting its tone, a highimpedance input pre-amp is used. Its gain can be adjusted to accommodate signal levels
from a wide variety of musical instruments.
After conditioning, the pitch and other relevant characteristics of the signal are
determined. This forms the basis of what will be sent as
MIDI messages. Exactly what MIDI
messages are sent depends on how this pitch information is processed.
Operating Modes allow you to specify a group of options based on the characteristics of
the musical instrument you are using and what MIDI instruments you are controlling. For
example, an Operating Mode can be optimised for a particular musical instrument, such
as guitar, bass guitar or voice.
Each Operating Mode allows a set of six
MIDI zones (a MIDI configuration) to be assigned
to it, allowing a wide range of creative possibilities to be explored. The system is flexible
so that each Operating Mode can use a different MIDI configuration, or MIDI configurations
can be shared with more than one Operating Mode, depending on your particular
requirements.
i2M musicport
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Operating Modes
Desktop Editor Software Manual
Figure 3: The mode tab used to edit and select Operating Modes
The i2M musicport has four Operating Modes which affect how the MIDI conversion
behaves. Audio input is not affected by these modes in any way, and is always active.
In general use, Operating Modes are selected by pressing the mode button on the
i2M musicport. A short press will toggle the mode between modes 1 and 2, or between
modes 3 and 4. A long press (2s) will toggle between modes 1 and 3, or between modes
2 and 4, as shown in Figure 4.
The currently active Operating Mode is shown on the mode tab of the i2M mu sicport
desktop software. You can also change the Operating Mode by clicking the appropriate
mode indicator (see Figure 3).
Operating Modes can be thought of as built-in presets, where you can configure four
independent presets to use with different musical instruments or to control different
instruments.
The default factory settings of the i2M mu sicport are such that for the green modes
(Mode 1 and 2) are configured for Guitar, and the orange modes (Mode 3 and 4) are
i2M musicport
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MIDI
Desktop Editor Software Manual
(short press)
Mode 1
Mode 2
(2s) (2s)
(short press)
Mode 3 Mode 4
Figure 4: How to select Operating Modes when using the button on the i2M musicport.
configured for 5-string bass guitar, where flashing modes have chromatic mode enabled,
and non-flashing modes transmit pitch-bend messages.
Instrument
The instrument option allows the i2M musicport to be optimised for the note range, or
other characteristics, of a particular instrument. It is possible to configure each mode to
work with different instruments to allow you, for example, to easily switch between guitar
and bass guitar. Indeed, the default factory settings of the i2M musicport are set so that
green modes are configured for the Guitar instrument setting and the orange modes are
set for the 5-String Bass instrument setting.
The available instruments are shown in the table below.
Instrument Note Range Description
Guitar E1 – C7 General guitar (electric and acoustic). This works
well with most instruments, including 4-string bass
guitar, but is optimised for the note range of 6- and 7-
4-String Bass C#1 – A6 Similar to “Guitar”, but the note range is optimised
5-String Bass A0 – F6 Optimised to detect the lowest bass notes of a 5-
string bass guitar. If the lowest bass notes are not
required, the “4-string bass guitar” is preferred
because this can give faster note tracking.
Voice / Wind E1 – C7 Optimised for instruments that are naturally
monophonic (
playing multiple notes simultaneously) such as the
string electric guitars.
for 4-string bass guitar.
i.e.,
where there is no possibility of
human voice and wind instruments.
MIDI Configuration
After the signal from your musical instrument has been analysed, it must be converted to
MIDI messages so it can be sent to your computer. The i2M musicp ort has various
features which can control exactly how this
of settings a
i2M musicport
MIDI Configuration.
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MIDI information is created. We call this group
Desktop Editor Software Manual
There are four MIDI Configurations labelled: a, b, c, d. Each Operating Mode can be set to
use any of these
The default factory settings of the i2M musicpor t (described above) are such that nonflashing modes are set to use
modes are set to use
MIDI Configurations.
MIDI Configuration a (pitch-bend mode) and flashing
MIDI Configuration b (chromatic mode).
Top Tip: When editing a
changes you make as you make them. The currently active
Configuration is indicated by a hilight on the appropriate
Configuration tab (see Figure 1). When you edit a
always check if the one you are editing is the active one, otherwise
you may edit the wrong configuration and not hear any change to the
MIDI
output if that configuration is not currently active.
MIDI
Configuration, you usually want to hear the
MIDI
Configuration,
MIDI
MIDI
Legato Detection
When you transition between two notes and there is no obvious change in level, for
example by hammer-ons, pull-offs, and slides, normally the new note will be detected as
a pitch-bend from the first note (assuming the pitch-bend range allows this and
chromatic mode is not active). This is often undesirable when you want the attack of the
MIDI instrument to occur on each new note you play. When legato detection is enabled,
these notes are detected and sent as new
MIDI notes rather than pitch-bend messages.
Sometimes sending pitch-bend data is preferred, for example when using a guitar
tremolo to “dive bomb”. In this case, simply disable legato detection.
Breath Controller
The real-time loudness (envelope) of the your instrument can be monitored and MIDI
breath controller messages generated from this. This is typically used for wind
instruments where your “breath” is used to control aspects of the synthesized sound.
However, it is also useful on other instruments where the signal level can be controlled —
for example playing an electric guitar using an EBow.
Top Tip: You can use breath controller messages to shape the sound of your
soft synth where the loudness of the input signal can be used to
control other apects of your sound, such as filter cut-off.
By default, the
MIDI breath controller is used, but you can change this to any other MIDI
controller. This is useful if your synth only responds to controllers other than the breath
controller.
i2M musicport
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Program Change
It is often desirable to change modes (presets) without having to touch the
i2M musicport or using the Desktop Editor Software, for example during a live
performance when you want to change settings in different parts of a song.
To make this possible, modes can be selected using the
By default, modes do not respond to these messages. To make a mode selectable via
MIDI program change message.
MIDI
program change simply select a program number on the program change field. When
the i2M musi cport receives a corresponding program change message, the appropriate
mode will be activated.
If you are using a sequencer, you can configure it to send the appropriate program
change messages at the correct times so that mode-switching is fully automated.
Alternatively, use a third-party
MIDI foot controller which can be programmed to send MIDI
program change messages and route these messages to the i2M musicport.
Velocity Filter
The i2 M musi cport is very responsive to how hard you play notes, so you can easily
generate both loud and quiet
strings sufficiently to prevent unwanted quiet notes being played. These notes, when
they are of very short duration, can sound like audio glitches.
To prevent this, you can enable the velocity filter. When set, only notes whose velocity is
equal to or above the prescribed value will allowed.
Top Tip: When using the i2M m usicport to transcribe your music, it can be
useful to set a reasonably large value for the
only notes that you play loudly and clearly will be converted to MIDI
which can reduce the number of wrong notes that are transcribed.
MIDI notes. However, some musicians find it difficult to mute
velocity filter
, then
Velocity Curve
The velocity of a MIDI note is used to indicate how hard that note was played.
Correspondingly, notes with high velocity are usually played louder than notes of low
velocity.
By default there is a linear relationship between how hard you play a note and the
velocity used to describe this. Often, you want more control over how your playing is
translated to sound on your
velocity curve to transform the original
i2M musicport
MIDI instrument and this can be achieved by applying a
MIDI velocity into a new MIDI velocity.
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MIDI
Desktop Editor Software Manual
Figure 5 illustrates the velocity curves in the i2M musicp ort that can be selected. They
vary from an extreme compressor-type behaviour (Compressor 6), to an extreme
expander-like behaviour (Expander 6).
Increasing
Compression
Increasing
Expansion
Figure 5: Curves used to adjust the MIDI response for velocity and breath controller.
Breath Curve
Similar to MIDI velocity, the real-time loudness of your instrument can be converted to MIDI
control data. And for the same reasons given above for velocity, you may want to adjust
how this control data is created from your playing. A breath curve can be selected, using
the same curves described above for
MIDI velocity.
MIDI Configuration (Zones)
The basic element in a MIDI configuration is a zone. For MIDI to be generated, at least one
zone must be active. Six zones are provided to allow you to create elaborate sonic
textures by layering different sounds from different MIDI instruments, or by creating
harmonies on the same
Zone Enable (on/off)
Zones can be turned on and off independently. There is no restriction on which, nor how
many, zones are enabled or disabled. Indeed you can have all zones disabled which can
be a convenient way to allow a “no
i2M musicport
MIDI instrument.
MIDI” Operating Mode to be selected.
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Figure 6: MIDI Configuration / Zones. The currently active MIDI Configuration is highlighted so you know if the one you are editing is currently active or not
By default, only one zone is active to provide basic MIDI output functionality. Using
additional zones can be a good way to control multiple
MIDI instruments which require
different settings.
Note Gate
The Note Gate acts as an input filter to block or allow notes from your instrument from
being processed by the zone, and then sent as
MIDI messages. This lets you be creative
where, for example, you can have some zones that only respond to bass notes and others
that only respond to treble notes. Each of these zones could be configured for different
MIDI channels and then connected to different MIDI instruments. Then when you play your
instrument, different
By default, the Note Gate is configured to accept all notes (range = C
MIDI instruments can be triggered when you play different notes.
).
−1–G9
Hold Enable
As mentioned in “Setup—settings” on page 16, the Hold pedal control allows you to hold
MIDI notes while you continue to play your instrument. To make this feature even more
i2M musicport
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useful, you can configure zones to respond, or to not respond, to the hold pedal. In this
way, some zones will hold when you press the Hold pedal, and some zones will remain
unaffected. This can be used, for example, to sustain synth-pad sounds while playing a
lead synth on top of it.
If the “hold” option is on, the zone will respond to the Hold pedal. If it is off, the Hold pedal
will not affect that zone.
Chromatic Mode
The i2M musicport accurately tracks the pitch of notes and outputs pitch-bend MIDI
messages but sometimes it is preferable to send notes without pitch-bend information
(
e.g.,
when playing piano sounds). This can be done by selecting the chromatic option.
When this is selected, the pitch bend option will be disabled because these two options
are mutually exclusive.
Chromatic mode essentially quantises notes to the nearest semitone. By enabling the
scale option, notes can be further quantised to only those notes within a particular
musical scale, so it becomes impossible to play out of key.
Top Tip: When using the chromatic option, it is very important that your guitar
is tuned accurately and has good intonation. Otherwise the
produced may not match those you are fretting. Moreover, if you mix
these chromatic notes with the original guitar sound, or with notes
from other zones supporting pitch-bend, there can be dissonance
which can sound unpleasant.
MIDI
notes
When scales are used, the transpose option (see below) will not transpose the
NOTE:
note by a fixed number of semitones, but will instead transpose by a fixed number of
notes in the chosen scale.
In scale mode, when you play a note that isn’t part of the selected scale, the nearest note
within the scale will be played instead. By enabling gap mode, playing out-of-scale notes
will result in no
MIDI notes being sent.
Top Tip: You can make practising musical scales simpler by using the
option with
you play a note that’s not in the scale because you won’t hear
anything from your synth — no
gap mode
enabled. It is then very easy to know when
MIDI
is sent for out-of-scale notes.
scale
Pitch-bend Mode
When pitch bend mode is activated, the pitch-bend range control becomes available.
This lets you select the semitone range which corresponds to the maximum range of the
MIDI pitch-bend controller. By default this is set to 2 semitones (which is the most common
setting) but it can be adjusted from 1 to 36 semitones (36 semitones = 3 octaves).
i2M musicport
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NOTE: If different pitch-bend ranges are used on different zones, these zones should be
configured to use different
MIDI channels otherwise the pitch-bend will not (and cannot)
be correct on all of these zones.
Pitch-bend information can also be sent on another MIDI controller in addition to normal
pitch-bend
MIDI messages. This allows you to setup more advanced modulation on your
synth to control other sonic parameters when bending notes. To enable this, enable the
send ctrl button. The MIDI controller used can be configured on the Setup page, see
“Setup—settings” on page 16
Tr an s p os e
The transpose option (trans) lets you apply an offset to the note you played on your
instrument before it is sent as
transposes on multiple zones to produce chords by playing single notes on your
instrument. Or, transpose a single zone so that it can harmonise with the original signal
from your instrument. Alternatively, because tracking is always faster on higher notes, you
can play the fastest parts on a higher register and transpose the
results you need. This is particularly effective when sequencing fast bass lines, for
example.
When scales are used (see above), notes will not be transposes by a fixed number
NOTE:
of semitones, but will transposed by a fixed number of notes in the chosen scale. This
makes it possible to play scale-based harmonies or chords based on the scale where
each zone is configured to play a different note of the chord.
MIDI. This has many uses. For example, you can set different
MIDI notes to get the
Top Tip: Often when you use bass-synth patches, these patches are
configured to play a note one octave below the
triggered them. If you want the patch to play in the same octave as
your bass guitar, set a Transpose of +12 to compensate for the synth.
MIDI
note that
Note Constrainer
The Note Constrainer allows MIDI notes to be limited to a particular note range, regardless
of the note actually played on your instrument, and regardless of any transpose applied
to that note (see above). This works by adjusting the octave of the note until it lies within
the specified range.
Any note range can be specified, but ranges that cover 1 or 1½ octaves work particularly
well.
When the constrainer is disabled, the specified note range will be retained so it is easy
to experiment with toggling this feature on and off.
Top Tip: Configure one zone with the Note Constrainer enabled with a note
i2M musicport
range of B0 to E2 and assign this to a bass
play lead passages, you will get a convincing effect of a bass
accompaniment. To further enhance this effect, put this zone into
chromatic mode and add a ±4, 5 or 7 semitone transpose to it.
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MIDI
instrument. When you
Desktop Editor Software Manual
Note Extend
To mask gaps between notes when playing is not smooth (
note gaps to avoid glitches) note extend can be used. When set, a note-off will be
extended for the prescribed number of milliseconds, or until the next note-on is issued. In
this way, very fluid melodies can be produced, even if you are playing in a staccato
fashion.
If the next note is played while the old note is being sustained, the new note-on is issued
before the old note-off is issued. This ensures that a receiving synth can smoothly
transition between notes in “mono-legato” mode without retriggering the new note.
A value can be set from 0 ms (note extend disabled), to 996 ms. The value used must be
a multiple of 4 ms, and will be rounded down to the nearest multiple of 4 ms if required.
e.g.,
if you are accentuating
Top Tip: Different zones can have different
the response for different synth patches, or to give more distinction
between zones to enhance the ensemble effect when multiple zones
are active simultaneously.
note extend
values to optimise
Sustain Enable
As mentioned in “Setup—settings” on page 16, the Sustain pedal control allows you to
hold
MIDI notes after you have stopped playing your instrument. To make this feature even
more useful, you can configure zones to respond, or to not respond, to the sustain pedal.
In this way, some zones will sustain when you press the Sustain pedal, and some zones
will remain unaffected.
SUS” option is on, the zone will respond to the Sustain pedal. If it is off, the Sustain
If the “
pedal will not affect that zone.
MIDI Channel
The final option controls on which MIDI channel the MIDI messages should be sent. There
are many uses for this.
If you set each active zone to transmit on the same
transpose values on each active zone, you can play chords and harmonies on your
instrument. If your MIDI instrument has an arpeggiator you can enable this and get it to
play patterns quickly and easily.
If you set each active zone to transmit on a different
setting), you can control several independent
MIDI instruments, using different zone
settings for each.
NOTE: If different pitch-bend ranges are used on different zones, these zones should be
configured to use different
MIDI channels otherwise the pitch-bend will not (and cannot)
be correct on all of these zones.
MIDI channel but set different
MIDI
MIDI channel (this is the default
i2M musicport
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Setup—manage
Desktop Editor Software Manual
Figure 7: The setup tab lets you change global settings, manage your device and gives information on the version of hardware and firmware in your i2M musicport.
The setup tab (shown in Figure 7) contains various global options and information about
the currently connected i2M musicport. The options available in the manage section are
described below.
Device Name
To allow you to personalise your i2M musicport and to make identification of it simpler,
you can give it a Device Name. This can be useful when you have several i2M musicport’s
connected to the same computer. The Device Name can be anything you choose
provided it is 16 characters or less in size.
The Device Name is shown in the manage section of the setup tab . Clicking the name
field will let you edit it.
i2M musicport
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Reset to Factory Settings
The i2M musicport has many settings which you can customise. However, you may want
to restore these to the default factory settings. This can be done easily by selecting the
reset to factory settings option.
Once the default factory settings have been restored, you cannot recover any
NOTE:
changes you have made. If you want to do this, make sure you have first saved your setup
to an
“i2M_all”
file on your computer so this can be used to restore your settings again.
Update Firmware
The firmware (internal software) of the i2M musicport can be upgraded with new
versions which fix problems or add new features. You can do this using the sonuus
Firmware Loader application, and the update firmware option gives you an easy way to
access this utility.
Simply select this option and choose the firmware update file that you have downloaded
from the sonuus web site. The Firmware Loader will then launch automatically and
perform the firmware upgrade. When complete, the Desktop Editor Software will
reactivate and you can continue as before, with the new firmware running on your
i2M musicport.
For more details on the upgrade process, there is a separate manual available for the
Firmware Loader application.
Pot Control Method
This is an editor option (it is not stored on the device) which lets you set the method used
for controlling pots (knobs) with the mouse. This can be rotary (where the pot position
follows the position of the mouse) or x–y (where left-right movement gives fine position
control, and up-down movement gives coarse position control). You can set this to the
method you find most intuitive.
Show Note Names
Notes that are displayed can be shown in two ways: either as musical notes (
as
MIDI note numbers (
e.g.,
36). You can set this to the setting that is most useful to you.
e.g.,
C2) or
Latency Test
When using the i2M musicport, sometimes the latency of the MIDI conversion seems
longer than expected. Usually, this is the result of additional latency added by your
computer when it converts the MIDI data into a sound. To help you work out where this
latency arises, a special latency test feature can be enabled. This disables the normal
MIDI conversion of the i2M musicport and instead outputs a periodic MIDI note (middle C).
At the exact instant this
is illuminated. You can then watch this visual guide and listen for the sound from your
computer: they should both be perfectly in sync, with no noticeable delay. If this is not the
case, the latency setup of your computer needs to be optimised to get the best results,
and lowest latency, from the i2M musicport.
i2M musicport
MIDI note is sent to the computer, the light on the i2M music port
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NOTE: In this mode, the light will flash alternately green and orange, unlike any other
mode, so you can clearly recognise that this mode has been activated.
Top Tip: To quickly leave latency test mode, for example if this was enabled by
mistake and you need to stop the test notes that are produced in this
mode, simply press the button on the i2M musicport and this will
immediately return you to normal operation.
Setup—settings
There are some options which always apply, regardless of the currently selected
Operating Mode. These global settings are located in the settings section of the setup
tab, and are described below.
Pre-amp Gain (Volume)
The gain of the input pre-amp can be adjusted to optimise the i2M musicport for different
signal levels. The gain can be adjusted from −12 dB to +15 dB in steps of 3 dB. Standard
line-level (sometimes shown as −10 dBV) corresponds to 0 dB. There are two ways to
adjust the gain.
The first way to adjust the gain is to use the i2M musicport Desktop Editor Software. This
lets you adjust the gain quickly and also lets you see the correct gain level in dB, which
can sometimes be useful to know. Using the Desktop Editor Software, simply click and
drag the Preamp Gain slider to select your desired gain level.
The second way to adjust the gain is to use the volume control on your operating system
to contol it. However, sometimes this can be awkward to find, or it may not correctly show
the gain values (for example some operating systems will only show an adjustment range
of 0–100).
Usually, when you adjust the pre-amp gain using the i2M musicport Desktop Editor
Software, your operating system will detect this change and update it’s volume control to
match. Unfortunately, some operating systems don’t support this feature. In these cases,
when you adjust the pre-amp gain slider, everything works as expected until you
disconnect and reconnect the i2M musicport. During reconnection, the operating
system may reset the volume to its last known value (which now doesn’t match what you
selected!). To prevent this and ensure the pre-amp gain is controlled only by the Desktop
Editor Software, you can enable the exclusive button. When this is enabled, the pre-amp
gain can no longer be controlled using the operating system’s volume control, and it will
not be changed unexpectedly whenever you connect the i2M musicport to your
computer.
Send Pitch-Bend Sensitivity RPN
Pitch-bend sensitivity is the setting on a MIDI instrument which controls the semitone
range that can be spanned by the pitch-bend
pitch-bend range to be set from 1 to 36 semitones. For your
i2M musicport
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MIDI control. The i2M musicport allows the
MIDI instrument to sound in
Desktop Editor Software Manual
tune with the i2M musicport, it is essential that the pitch-bend sensitivity on the MIDI
instrument matches the pitch-bend range set on the i2M musicport.
Although there is no standard value of pitch-bend sensitivity, the most common setting is
2 semitones, this means that pitch-bend messages can bend a note up or down by 2
semitones. This is also the default setting of the i2M m usicport. However, it is often
desirable to set a larger range such as 12 or 24 semitones (1 or 2 octaves, respectively),
for example to allow long pitch changes when using a guitar tremolo, a theremin, or
trombone.
To make setting pitch-bend sensitivity simpler, many
bend sensitivity RPN” message (RPN = Registered Parameter Number). By default,
whenever the pitch-bend range of the i2M musicport changes, this RPN message will be
sent on all active zones to allow the
MIDI instrument to configure itself to match the
current pitch-bend range setting.
If you prefer for this RPN message not to be sent, it can be disabled by turning off the
send PB sensitivity RPN option.
MIDI instruments support the “Pitch-
Top Tip: When you first connect a soft synth to the i2M musicpor t
Not all MIDI instruments respond to this RPN message, so you may still have to
NOTE:
it may not be set to use the correct pitch-bend sensitivity. To send the
MIDI
channels.
mode
RPN message to configure this, simply press the
to change Operating Mode, then press it again to return to the original
state. The act of changing Operating Mode will send the Pitch-Bend
Sensitivity RPN message to the appropriate
MIDI
output,
button briefly
configure the pitch-bend sensitivity manually.
Pitch-Bend Controller
Pitch-bend is sent using the dedicated pitch-bend MIDI controller. However, it is possible to
also send this on another
MIDI controller so that pitch-bend can be used to control other
parameters as well as, or instead of, pitch-bend. See “Pitch-bend Mode” on page 11.
pitch-bend controller lets you select which controller(s) will be used when a MIDI zone
is configured to use this feature. The data can be sent as 14-bit (
controllers) for maximum precision or as 7-bit (
MSB only, using one controller).
MSB and LSB, using two
Power Save
The i2M mu sicport has a glowing LED indicator on the front to show status. This doesn’t
consume much power (< 20 mA), but sometimes you may want to minimise power
consumption, for example if you are using a small battery-powered computer.
Alternatively, you may be working in a dark environment where the
distracting.
Enabling the power save option will turn off the
LED indicator. If any change of state
needs to be shown, for example when changing mode or when the signal clips, the
will illuminate briefly to show the new state.
LED could be
LED
i2M musicport
© Copyright 2012 Sonuus Limited 17
Desktop Editor Software Manual
MIDI Hold/Sustain Pedal
When using MIDI and audio together, it is often desirable to be able to hold a MIDI note
while continuing to play your instrument normally. For example, you can trigger bass
notes on your synthesizer then play over these with your normal instrument sound.
Like “hold”, a “sustain” feature can also be desirable. The difference between hold and
sustain is what happens when you play a new note. With hold, a new note will be ignored
allowing the held note to continue. With sustain, a new note will turn off the previously
sustained note and this new note will then sustain.
The i2M musicport enables this by allowing a
another
MIDI controller to act as the sustain control. The default settings allow MIDI
controller 4 (foot controller) on any MIDI channel to be used as the hold control and MIDI
controller 64 (sustain controller) on any MIDI channel to be used as the sustain control.
However, this can be changed easily.
For the hold or sustain feature to work, a
sustain enabled. See “MIDI Configuration (Zones)” on page 9.
HOLD/SUS lets you select which controller to view and configure.
channel lets you select on which
MIDI channel the i2M musicport should look. A special
“omni” setting allows it to work with the controller received on any
controller lets you select the
MIDI controller which should act as the Hold/Sustain pedal.
For example, it may be easier to use different controllers in some applications.
latching lets you configure whether the Hold/Sustain pedal is latching or non-latching.
When set to latching, pressing then releasing the pedal will toggle the hold/sustain state.
This can be useful if you want Hold/Sustain active for a long time and you don’t want to
keep the pedal pressed. When set to non-latching, you must keep the pedal pressed to
keep hold active. As soon as you release the pedal, hold/sustain will deactivate;
works like a piano sustain pedal.
MIDI controller to act as the hold control and
MIDI zone must be configured with hold or
MIDI channel.
i.e.,
it
Top Tip: If you unplug the jack lead from the i2M mu sicp ort it will turn off all
i2M musicport
currently playing notes and reset the Hold/Sustain pedal state to “not
held/sustained”. This can be useful if your hold or sustain pedal stops
working for any reason.
© Copyright 2012 Sonuus Limited 18
Desktop Editor Software Manual
Setup—info
The info section gives you various pieces of information about your i2M musicport and
the Desktop Editor Software. This is read-only and cannot be edited.
Firmware version
This shows the version number of the currently installed firmware. This can be updated
using the sonuus Firmware Loader application, using appropriate firmware updates
available from the sonuus web site.
Hardware version
This shows which version of i2M musicport hardware you have.
Desktop version
This shows the version number of the Desktop Editor Software you are using.
Device ID
The Device ID is stored on the hardware of the i2M musicport and allows your computer
to uniquely identify each device.
This is not the same number as the product serial number printed on the serial
NOTE:
number sticker on the back of your i2M musicpor t.
Setup—mode selection
This section of the setup tab shows a graphic reminder of how to change the Operating
Mode when using the button on the i2M musicport.
i2M musicport
© Copyright 2012 Sonuus Limited 19
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