TEST SEQUENCE INFORMATION by Craig Anderton I created the following test sequences to aid me in my musical endeavors, and am happy to let Passport distribute them so that they may make your life easier too. I would like to thank Ian Gilby, editor of England's Sound-On-Sound magazine for giving me the idea of creating test sequences in the first place. For more information on test sequences and customizing them for particular applications, refer to the December 1988 issue of Electronic Musician magazine (6400 Hollis #12, Emeryville, CA 94608). PROGRAM CHANGE TEST This sequence steps through a synthesizer's programs sequencially, and plays one measure of notes per program change. This sequence is very helpful when evaluating units with a substantial number of programs, such as the Oberheim Matrix-1000. Track 1 contains the notes. The first note is C below middle C (C3); the remaining notes play various octaves of C. You may want to transpose this track (e.g. if you're listening to bass patches, transpose it down). Track 2 contains program changes, starting at program change 00. Track 3 also contains program changes, but starts at program change 01. Note: do not play tracks 2 and 3 simultaneously. Only one should be active at any given moment. Track 4 is set up to record for the following reason. Suppose you are listening to a collection of synth programs with the intention of choosing particular programs for a project. When you hear an appropriate program, press a key. This will register a note on the song editor window. If the synth received its program changes from Track 3, then each measure that is recorded (shown in black on the Song Editor window) corresponds to an equivalent program number. For example, if measures 5, 12, and 37 are black, then you have "flagged" programs 5, 12, and 37 as they were playing. If the synth received its program changes from Track 2, then subtract 1 from the measure number. In the example above programs 4, 11, and 36 would have been "flagged". TUNE AND CHANNEL TEST This sequence re-triggers an A-440 note every measure for tuning, and also tests which instruments respond to different MIDI channels. Tracks 1-16 send out notes on like numbered channels. To tune one instrument to another, set the appropriate tracks to play, and play the sequence. As the sequence plays, tune the instruments. To test which instruments respond to individual channels, either solo one of the tracks 1-16 and check which synth responds, or play Track 17. This track generates an A-440 on channel 1, then channel 2, then channel 3, and so on up to channel 16. This is useful if you want to do a quick check of a MIDI system, and see which channels are triggering instruments. The measure number is the same as the MIDI channel over which data is sent. Note that instruments set for OMNI mode, and multi-timbral instruments, will trigger on more than one channel at a time. TAPE TEST TONES The Yamaha TX-802 can serve as a sine wave generator for alignment and testing purposes. This sequence generates notes appropriate for obtaining 100Hz, 1k Hz, and 10k Hz frequencies from the TX-802. You will need to adjust the 802's output level for your particular system. To properly set up the TX-802: 1. Select a Performance and place the cursor on any voice. Edit the performance so the selected voice is assigned to MIDI channel 1. 2. Press Voice Select and, from Utility Menu page 5, initialize the Voice edit buffer (this produces a simple sine wave). Do not save the initialized voice! 3. Run the sequence. Because you didn't save the initialized voice, as soon as you select another voice the initialized voice will return to its original settings. Using the sequence: Track 1 contains the 100 Hz tone (G1 with +15 pitch bend). Track 2 contains the 1k Hz tone (B4 with +14 pitch bend). Track 3 contains the 10k Hz tone (D#8 with +5 pitch bend). Play whichever one you want to use. When changing tones, stop the sequencer, go back to the beginning, select the new tone, then re-start the sequence. At 40 BPM, each tone lasts two minutes. At 80 BPM, each tone lasts 1 minute. At 160 BPM, each tone lasts 30 seconds. TUNE YOUR GUITAR This sequence generates the standard E-A-D-G-B-E notes used for tuning guitars. It is looped, so that once tuned, the sequence repeats and you can verify tuning. This is particularly necessary with guitars that use vibrato tailpieces, since bringing strings up to tension may sometimes loosen the tension on other strings. TUNE YOUR BASS This sequence generates the standard E-A-D-G notes used for tuning basses. It is looped, so that once tuned, the sequence repeats and you can verify tuning. GUITAR SYNTH COMPATIBILITY TEST Many guitar synths are optimized to work in MIDI mode 4 ("Mono" mode). For synths to work well with MIDI guitar, each voice should be able to respond to its own MIDI channel, and provide a monophonic response on that channel. Furthermore, playing a new note on a string before releasing a previously-played note on that same string should not trigger a new attack. This sequence generates one measure of notes on each of the 16 MIDI channels. Play the sequence; you should hear the measure repeated once for each of six contiguous channels. If you hear the measure once instead of six times, the synth is in Poly mode instead of Mono. If you hear the measure 16 times, the synth is in Omni mode. If you hear the measure more than 6 times but less than 16, the synth is probably in Mono mode, but some of the voices may be assigned to channels that the guitar synth will not trigger, since a Mono mode guitar sends out data on only six channels. The notes in the measure are arranged so that the second note's attack occurs before the first note is released, and the third note's attack occurs before the first and second notes are released. This allows you to test for legato response. If the notes do not re-trigger, all is well. If each note re-triggers, or if the first note continues sounding after the second and/or third note triggers, then the individual strings are responding polyphonically (albeit over a single channel). The latter response works well with sounds that have long delays, but is less commonly used with MIDI guitar. For more information on how to set up synths for MIDI guitar, see the article "TX-81Z Tips for the MIDI Guitarist" in the October 1988 issue of Electronic Musician magazine. MIDI NOTES 1-127 This steps through each MIDI note from 1-127 (it does not play MIDI note 0). The measure number is the same as the note number (e.g. measure 60 contains MIDI note 60). This test is useful for checking how a MIDI synthesizer responds to notes at the high and low ends of its range -- does it not resppond, double back to a different octave, etc. It takes approximately 50 seconds to sweep through all 127 notes.