How to select keyboard voice with MIDI Program Change (e403, Ableton)

Joined
Jul 12, 2019
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Hi I'm new to the forum and new to using MIDI keyboards. I'm trying to record a piece of music in Ableton. This is probably basic but it's driving me mad! I've can play a passage on the keyboard, a Yamaha e403, and have Ableton record it as MIDI. And I can then send that signal to the e403 as an output to play on the keyboard. But how do I get it to use a specific Voice from the e403? I see I can select Program 1 to 128 but these don't align with Voices 1 to 128 on the e403. How do I find out which voice is triggered by Program 1 to 128 and can I change it?
Thanks.
 

SeaGtGruff

I meant to play that note!
Moderator
Joined
Jun 6, 2014
Messages
4,147
Reaction score
1,780
Welcome to the forums!

Yes, you can do that.

Yamaha and Ableton both use 1 through 128 for the Program numbers, so that's not a problem.

But you'll also need to tell Ableton what Bank number to use, and you'll need to adjust Yamaha's numbers to Ableton's numbers.

Ableton has three fields under the "Pgm Change" label, in the box to the left of the MIDI clip's piano roll editor. From top to bottom, these three fields say "Bank ---," "Sub ---," and Pgm ---."

The "Bank ---" field is where you enter the MSB value from the PSR-E403's Voice List, except you'll need to add 1 to Yamaha's MSB value. For instance, Voice No. 007 on the PSR-E403 is "Cool! Galaxy Electric Piano," and its MSB value is listed as 000, so you'll need to enter 1 in the "Bank ---" field.

The "Sub ---" field is where you enter the LSB value, except again you'll need to add 1 to it. For instance, for Voice 007 the LSB is 114, so you'll need to enter 115 in the "Sub ---" field.

The "Pgm ---" field is where you enter the MIDI Program Change #, exactly as Yamaha lists it, except you don't need the leading zeros. For instance, for Voice 007 the Program Change is listed as 005, so enter 5 in the "Pgm ---" field.

When you play back the MIDI clip and send it to the PSR-E403 with those three values, it should play the notes using Voice 007.
 

SeaGtGruff

I meant to play that note!
Moderator
Joined
Jun 6, 2014
Messages
4,147
Reaction score
1,780
You're welcome! Let me know if you need more information about it. :)
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
14,399
Messages
89,673
Members
13,349
Latest member
jsfmedida

Latest Threads

Top