Bank changes for midi modules

Bank change messages are actually reserved controller messages like volume and pan but are assigned to change banks on instruments that have more that 128 memory locations. Say if a synth has 256 memory locations it has one bank of 128 and another with 128 for the total of 256.

Bank change messages typically consist of two control changes, CC#0 and CC#32, and are usually transmitted in pairs. First you send CC#0, value, CC#32, value, then Program change #. Some instruments may not use both and only use one of them. CC#0 is the MSB(most significant byte) and CC#32 is the LSB(least significant byte), in case you see this referenced elsewhere. The actual calculation for the bank # is (128 times MSB value) + LSB value, but this may vary from synth to synth.

The easiest way to deal with bank changes is to not use them. One is to place all the patches you use in the same bank on the instrument. So you start in one bank and just change programs within that same bank. Another method is some instruments employ "program maps". These can be very helpful too, especially if you can't put all programs in the same bank. It's just a database that stores the bank and program for each program change the module receives. Example: Setup a program maps that says program 1 = bank 1/patch 4, program 2=bank3/patch34, prgram 3=bank1/patch67. In this case if you send program change 1 to the instrument it switches to bank1/patch67. If you send program change 2, the instrument switches to bank3/patch34 and etc. This avoids the need to send bank changes altogether.

Now, if you have to use bank changes, you will have to enter it in the step entry screen. Much easier is to connect the module to the MPC input and record the bank and program change directly into a step. That way you do not have to figure it out and it would look something like this: Bank change MSB: 0 Bank change LSB: 1 Program change: 56 (going from memory) If you do this, don't bother entering a PROGRAM on the MAIN screen for the track, since the program change is part of the bank change.