MIDI with the MidiGurdy

With the USB MIDI output feature, you are able to use the MidiGurdy as a MIDI controller, for example to control external synthesizers or use the instrument to input notes in a music notation editor.

Connecting to MIDI devices

To use this feature, you first need to connect the MidiGurdy to another device. There are a number of different ways on how you can make this connection.

USB MIDI to Computer or Tablet

If you want to use the MidiGurdy as an input device to write musical notation, if you want it to control a software synthesizer or other musical software running on your computer, you can simply connect your instrument to your computer as if you wanted to access the web-interface. So use a USB-A to USB-B cable, attach the USB-A plug into your computer and the (square) USB-B plug into the MidiGurdy.

Depending on your operating system, you might need to open up the Sound or MIDI device preferences.

Android MIDI

Unlike the web-interface, the MIDI function should work on Android as well!

The MidiGurdy registers as a MIDI device to your computer as soon as you plug it in, but it does not send any MIDI messages until you enable the connection on the instrument as follows:

  • Press D4 twice to go to the Configuration menu

  • Turn the rotary knob to scroll down to the “MIDI…” entry

  • Press the rotary knob to open the list of MIDI devices

  • You will see only one entry: “Main Midi…”. Select it by pressing the rotary knob

  • Turn the rotary knob to scroll down to “Output” and press the rotary knob to active the option

  • Turn the rotary knob to switch between the options “Off”, “On” and “Auto-On”

Off means the MidiGurdy does not send any MIDI messages (the default and best option if you don’t use this feature, to conserve processing power and battery consumption).

On means that the MidiGurdy will send MIDI messages via this connection. If you disconnect the USB cable and plug it back in, you will need to manually enable it again to send MIDI messages.

Auto-On means that the connection is On (MIDI messages are sent) and if you disconnect the USB cable and plug it back in, the connection will automatically be enabled again.

So as soon as the “Output” value is On or Auto-On, the MidiGurdy will start sending MIDI messages to your computer.

USB MIDI to another USB MIDI device

If you want to use the MidiGurdy to control another MIDI device that has a USB MIDI port (like a more modern synthesizer, a MIDI expander or similar), you can use the same USB-A to USB-B cable that you use for the connection to a computer.

But the way you use the cable is different: attach the square USB-B plug to your external MIDI device and plug in the USB-A plug into the vertical USB-A port on the MidiGurdy.

Open the MIDI configuration on the MidiGurdy (press D4 twice, scroll down to “MIDI…”) and you should see a new entry in the list. The name of this entry depends on how your external MIDI device registers itself. As with the previous connection method, select the MIDI connection by pressing the rotary knob, scroll down to “Output” and set it to “On” or “Auto-On”.

Connecting to an old-style (5-pin) MIDI device

If you want to control a device with the old-style 5-pin MIDI connector, you will need a USB to 5-pin MIDI adapter cable. These adapter cables can be bought in many places, many at very affordable prices (a few Euro). Any cable that requires no additional drivers for Windows will work fine with the MidiGurdy.

If you have a USB to 5-pin MIDI adapter available, connect its USB-A plug to the vertical USB-A port on the MidiGurdy.

Open the MIDI configuration on the MidiGurdy (press D4 twice, scroll down to “MIDI…”) and you should see a new entry in the list. The name of this entry depends on how your adapter cable calls itself. Often it is something like “MIDI cable #1” or similar. As with the previous connection methods, select the MIDI connection by pressing the rotary knob, scroll down to “Output” and set it to On or Auto-On.

MIDI messages sent by the MidiGurdy

The MidiGurdy outputs MIDI messages on three separate MIDI channels, one for each string type. By default, the following MIDI channels are used:

  • Melody: MIDI channel 1

  • Trompette: MIDI channel 2

  • Drone: MIDI channel 3

Which strings output via MIDI

Important: only strings that are configured (have a sound assigned to them) and enabled (green LED button is on) actually send MIDI messages. And only the first string of each type actually outputs via MIDI, so only Melody 1, Drone 1 and Trompette 1

Melody String MIDI Messages

  • Note On/Off, with a range of fixed velocities - sent in reaction to key presses and wheel start / stop

  • Expression Control (CC 11) - used for volume instead of Note-on velocity, controlled by the speed of the wheel

  • Channel pitch bend - depends on the key pressure of the highest pressed key

Keyboard Mode

Note: If you choose Keyboard mode for the melody string, no expression messages get sent and the velocity (volume) of the Note On messages is determined by the speed / force with which you press the keys. In this mode the MidiGurdy melody string behaves similar to a keyboard / piano.

Drone String MIDI Messages

  • Note on/off, with fixed velocity

  • Expression Control (CC 11) - used for volume instead of Note-on velocity, controlled by the speed of the wheel

Trompette String MIDI Messages

Which MIDI messages are sent by the trompette string depends on the internal mode of the string. The mode is determined automatically by the type of sound selected for this string. If you choose a “normale” MidiGurdy trompette sound, then it’s in the “MidiGurdy” mode. If you choose a different sound, it is automatically switched to the “Percussion” mode.

In “MidiGurdy” mode:*

  • Note on/off, with fixed velocity - Note On as soon as you move the wheel

  • Expression (CC 11) - used for volume, controlled by the speed of the wheel

  • Channel Pressure - controlled by the speed of the wheel above the chien sensitivity threshold

In “Percussion” mode:

  • Note on/off - Note On only for a coup impulse, velocity is the speed of the initial impulse)

MIDI Output Configuration

There are a few settings you can change on a MIDI output. These settings will be automatically saved and recalled when you reconnect a MIDI device with the same name as before.

  • Melody channel: Determines the MIDI channel for the melody string.

  • Drone channel: Determines the MIDI channel for the drone string.

  • Trompette channel: Determines the MIDI channel for the drone string.

  • Program Change: Controls if program and bank change messages should be sent to the external MIDI device. If this setting is enabled, every time you change a sound of a string sends a program and bank change message with the bank and program number of the selected sound. The default of this setting is off, so no program change messages are being sent.

  • Speed: Use this setting to control the maximum number of MIDI messages per second that the MidiGurdy sends over this connection. The default value of “Standard” limits the total number of messages sent across all channels to below 1000 per second, which is the maximum that most standard MIDI devices can cope with. The downside is that the resolution of the messages gets reduced and the latency of the messages is higher.

    If you connect to a MIDI device that has more processing power and can cope with more messages per second, you can try the “Fast” setting. This will limit the maximum number of messages per second to 2000. There will be much less latency and resolution loss.

    “Unlimited” does not limit the number of messages in any way, so they are sent out via MIDI as they get generated by the internal sensors and modelling. Depending on your playing style, string modes and enabled strings, it can be as much as 5000 messages per second.