PX-330 midi question

[Krypto]

I’m new to using midi on my px-330.  So, I’m not sure how to describe my problem correctly.  But here goes…When I midi connect my px-330 to another keyboard (Korg Poly 61M) the only sound that is received is a piano sound.  When I make a preset change on the px-330 it still is the piano patch heard on the Korg.  It’s as if the px-330 only transmits the piano patch through midi.  Any feedback would be appreciated, thanks!

[Brad Saucier]

If you select from GM tones on the 330, that will transmit standard general MIDI patch change messages to the other device.

 

To select different sounds in the 330 through MIDI, it will need to receive the same messages.  For non GM tones, the 330 needs to receive specific messages as shown in the tone charts in the user manual/appendix. 

[Jokeyman123]

Obviously yoiu have the poly-61 with the midi interface upgrade-the originals (I had one of the first) did not have this. You need to know the specs of that interface-does it recognize midi in prgram change messages? Does it send midi program change messages out?  There are now a few different midi retrofit kits for the Poly 61, some allow reception and transmission of control changes, others don't. And, depending upon what is in your Poly-61, you may or may not be able to change midi channel assignments-might be hard-wired to send and receive only on midi channel 1. Do you know which interface is in yours, did you install it or did it come like this? 

Edited August 26, 2021 by Jokeyman123

[Krypto]

Hey guys thank you for your help!!

 

Brad…I tried selecting various GM tones but unfortunately it had no effect.  Also, thanks for referring me to the tone charts! That’s how I figured which tones I was hearing and their program change values. (see below)

Jokeyman123…I purchased my Korg back in 87’ so I’m pretty sure it’s all original.  If you can recommend a retrofit kit, that would be great!

 

So I tried connecting the PX to my Ensoniq Mirage DSK and discovered something interesting.  In the Mirage parameters I can select the midi channel.  If I have the Mirage midi channel set on 1-9 & 11-16, the PX’s GM Piano 1 tone is heard (this patch has a program change value of 0). If the Mirage midi channel is set to 10, the PX’s GM Standard Set 1 tone is heard (this patch also has a program change value of 0).  No other tones are heard.

 

Based on this, I’m guessing my Korg only sends/receives tones with a program change value of 0?

On a side note…when I reverse the midi connections and send tones from the Korg to the PX, everything works great. Probably because the PX is 30 years younger, lol.

 

[Jokeyman123]

So then you have the original midi retrofit that was installed in the Poly-61 if it is that old. The original Poly-61 did not have midi connections at all, I had that early one. I think the midi features on the original updated midi retrofit were pretty limited and were Korg's own. I had considered it at the time-but it was pretty expensive for what it did. I think it only allowed for midi transmit/receive on one channel. and I'm not sure it even would send program change messages to other midi keyboards. I'd have to find an old Korg midi manual for the retrofit kit. I might have it laying around, I'll look. if you change tones on the Korg, is it changing tones on the PX330 when you do that? If so, that means you are getting program changes out of the Korg-but you would still also need to send a "bank change" message plus a program change message out the Korg-to get the PX330 to switch to any tones that are not "GM" tones. This can be done with software, but i doubt the Korg can do that. and you have to find out which midi channel the Korg is using to transmit-usually channel 1 from the factory. If the PX330, or any other keyboard is not set to receive on channel one, nothing will happen.

 

Channel 10 has been designated the 'dedicated"  midi channel for use with drumkits as part of the GM standard way of allocating midi channels, why this switches over to the drumkits automatically.

[Krypto]

you asked…if you change tones on the Korg, is it changing tones on the PX330

 

setup:

midi in on Korg

midi out on PX

When I select tones on the PX it automatically and randomly selects tones on the Korg.  But changing tones on the Korg does not change the selected PX tone.

 

setup:

midi in on PX

midi out on Korg

The selected tone on the PX has no effect on the Korg.  If I change tones on the Korg, I get the selected Korg tone and a random tone from the PX.

 

Hope that makes sense.