Hi all!
i’m confused on how definition files work. I have a Roland JV-1010 and I would like to be able to change the different presets and instruments that it has from the pyramid. When I read the manual I see that you can assign note names and CC but I don’t see anything regarding instruments inside for example the Roland jv-1010. When I try to access the def file I created through 2nd +TRACK and CALL I only see Roland. How can I choose the instrument I want to use from the pyramid, let’s say " Electric Piano 1" ??
This is an example of a basic definition file I created:
NAME: Roland JV-1010
OUT: A
CHANNEL: ALL
General MIDI Bank (MSB=80, LSB=0)
BANK: 80 0
0: Acoustic Grand Piano
1: Bright Acoustic Piano
2: Electric Grand Piano
3: Honky-tonk Piano
4: Electric Piano 1
5: Electric Piano 2
6: Harpsichord
7: Clavinet
8: Celesta
9: Glockenspiel
10: Music Box
Preset A Bank (MSB=81, LSB=0)
BANK: 81 0
0: Stereo Grand
1: Grand Piano
2: Upright Piano
3: Honky-tonk Piano
4: Pop Piano
5: Piano Pad
6: Electric Grand
7: Digital EP 1
8: Digital EP 2
9: Hard EP
10: Tine EP
11: FM EP
12: Electric Piano Pad
13: Harpsichord
14: Clav
15: CP-70
I don’t use definition files but I get the impression that the point of them is so that you can do things like have names that relate to a MIDI instrument’s sounds that are mapped to those MIDI note values (so for a drum module you might have Kick, snare, etc.) appearing instead of note names (C1, C#, D, etc.). It also allows you to have names for various CC messages that relate to parameter names (e.g. filter cutoff) on the same instrument instead of CC message numbers. The definition file just tells Pyramid to rename these things (if they are included in the definition file) for that specified channel (and output). I don’t think definition files do anything more and I don’t think they are intended to enable you to change ‘presets’ on your synths. You can use program change messages to change ‘presets’ on your synth, this will change the name on your synth if it displays an instrument name but I don’t know if you’d see any change on Pyramid. I don’t think the track name, for instance, would change (though perhaps it might, if it’s all laid out in the definition file) and I think any changes the definition file made to the names of sounds and CC messages would probably remain. So if you had drum sounds defined then did a program change to an ‘electric piano’ preset (if your synth had both drum and ‘electric piano’ type presets on board) on that channel I think you’d still see the drum sound names as you scrolled through the MIDI note numbers on Pyramid (though if a definition file was written to contain all this information in the right way, perhaps it could).
Like I say, I don’t use definition files so I might well be wrong. Hopefully, someone with more knowledge will chip in.