Variations exist in Roland GS compatible soundsets. The 'main' instruments in such a soundset are called 'Capitals' and they are directly accessible via Program Change numbers. Apart from the 'Capitals' such a soundset also contains alternative sounds, called 'Variations'. Those are slight nuances of a particular instrument. The Variations are stored in a different 'level' of the soundset, called a 'bank'. To access the other bank you have to send a Bank Select command. In Midi terms that's Controller number 0. The procedure according to Roland (source: Roland Sound Canvas manual) is as follows.

To change the instrument, transmit in the following order:

• Control number 0/value (variation number)
• Control number 32/value (0)
• Program number (instrument number)

Note that not every Capital has one or more Variations! Study the instrument-table of your synthesizer or for the EWS64 GS soundsets the Midi & Wavetable manual that came with the card.

A comprehensive and illustrated 'work-through' example of selecting variations from a sequencer program you will find in the Cool CuCake Forge, section Cubase, item 'How to send Control Messages to select alternative sounds (Variations)'.

Terratec support

You can choose one reverb type and one chorus type for all midi channels, but you can control the effect level for each midi channel. To do this, you have to set the REVERB SEND and the CHORUS SEND for MIDI in the FX panel to 63. Then you can control the effect level e.g. in Cubasis AV or Cubase VST via the GM/GS/XG-Editor.

• Check if you powered down the Codec. If so, read the topic The relation between Codec Power-down and Midi-2.
• In other cases: read the item Activating the Midi 2 device on this page.

When you disable the codec, you can't install MIDI 2. This is, because MIDI 2 is in narrow conjunction with the codec. What you must do is: Install the CODEC, then install MIDI 2 and then you can disable the CODEc again!

Note: in December 98 Terratec released a Codec PowerDown utility. They don't give any support on it, but it's nice to know and you can find it through our Download Page.

Contribution by Mathias Uhr

Mathias wrote a detailed description how to get Midi-2 working again after Codec Powerdown.

• Enter Windows Control Panel > System > Device Manager and remove the device "Codec".
• Enter DOS-Mode (Start-Menü > Quit > Start computer in MS-DOS Mode)
• Run ews64cfg.exe v2.7. Enter all values manually (not PnP) and use the same numbers as you wrote down before. (In two cases I think, e.g. digital control?, these I/O addresses are not available - then enter "PnP")
• Disable the Codec by choosing "---" in the topmost box of the "WSS" section. All related values should disappear now.
• Hit OK and confirm the write process to the EEprom. (After you saw the progress bar, the screen get's blank and you just see the cursor, a bug of v2.7 I guess. Has no consequences.)
• Turn OFF your computer completely.
• Boot it up again.
• At the start of Windows, one new device should be detected: "TerraTec [Disabled:Codec]" or so, and you will be prompted to enter the path to the drivers.
• Reboot again.
• Check the Windows device manager if there are no conflicts (no little yellow exclamation marks) and all the devices are enabled except the Codec and maybe the Game Port.
• Test the EWS apps and Midi2. In the EWS Control Panel, the Mix switch is now fixed to "Synth" and the Out1 selector to "B". All the faders that are of no use now are fixed and muted (or behave strange).
• To power down the Codec, you now need to run "ewspower.exe". In the DOS-Box appears a note and the last line must be "....is now powered UP / DOWN" or so. If this line is missing, something is not working, e.g. you didn't use version 2.7 of ews64cfg.exe. If the Codec is not disabled in the EEprom, a message like "Codec needs to be disabled in order to...." appears.
• You need to run "ewspower.exe" every time you start Windows.
• A good idea is to put a link to it in the Autostart folder. In it's properties, tab "Program", you can select "Execute: As Symbol" and "Close when ending". In the field "Command line", add the parameter "OFF". This way, you don't have to close the DOS box and it doesn't disturb you.

This one is in our top ten of problems. So it's time to make some general remarks about it. Of course you should first make yourself familiar with the basic principles of Midi. So read a book:-)

Things to check

• Midi-cables: make sure they're not faulty, that they are genuine (no DIN-audio cables!) and they are properly connected.
• Windows Device manager: make sure that the Midi-Port(s) your are using are enabled. There is no point in using Midi-2 if it's not installed. Check if there are no IRQ conflicts. If you don't know how to activate the Midi-2 port, have a look at the Activating the Midi 2 device on this page.
• Make sure the right port is selected, e.g. in your sequencer program (see example below).
• Most sequencer programs have an indicator that shows if there is 'Midi-traffic' going out or coming in. If those indicators work, you are sure that there's incoming/outgoing data.

Things you can try

• Very important is, that you select the rigth Midi-port in your sequencer program. The Midi-Out port is mostly easier to find than the port for Midi-In. In Cubase you will find the Midi-Out in the Output collumn. Right click and you can choose between the EWS-Play (the internal EWS-Synth) and the Midi 1/2-Out(s).
• Let's assume you have a Midi-keyboard, a software sequencer in your computer and an external Midi-module.
  • Connect a Midi-cable between your keyboard Midi Out and the Midi-In on your EWS FrontPanel.
  • Connect a Midi-cable between the Midi-Out of the EWS-FrontPanel and the Midi-In of your external Module.
  • Set (if possible/needed) your keyboard to 'Local Off'. This means the own soundsources of the keyboard are not triggered. You just use it to trigger external sources.
  • Set the sequencers Midi-settings to 'Midi Thru = On'. This enables the Midi-data to flow from the keyboard, via the sequencer to the external module.
  • Set the sequencers Output to the output (=port) the midi-cables are connected to. You can select the output per track, so select a track an set the Midi-output port.
  • Make sure that transmit (on the keyboard) and receive (on the module) channels correspond. There are more options here, but to keep it simple, do it this way.
  • Example: to 'layer' the data in track 1 and 2, set track 1 to Output 'EWS-Play' and track 2 to Output 'Midi-Out 1' (connected to the external module). Of course you should make sure that you also select the right Midi channel and instruments for the respective tracks.
• This is in short description how to get things to work. If you really don't have a clue what we're talking about here: read a book about Midi-basics, 'cause you'll need it to benefit from your EWS:-)

We discussed this subject in the Master Class section, item Cables and Connections.

[edited translation from the Terratec FAQ, updated by Jörg Knitter]

• Check if one of the following IRQ's is available on your system: 5, 7, (9), 11, 12, 15. Note: Do not use IRQ 9 for ISA on a mainboard with Intel BX chipset. See Hardware Problems, Faulty or My Fault for more information about this topic.
• Check if one of the following IO's is available on your system: 300, 310, 320, 330, 340, 350, 360, 370, 380.
• If not, your might consider to reconfigure other resources or to activate the second Midi-interface without an IRQ. In this case you can use the Midi 2 only as a Midi-OUT!
• If you have a free IRQ and IO, right-click 'My Computer', choose 'Properties' and select the Device Manager tab.
• Uninstall the Disabled Midi-2 driver.
• Go to DOS.
• Run Ews64cfg.exe. This program is located in the EWS64\Eeprom directory. Choose the desired IRQ and IO-adress for Midi-2.
• Reboot your system.
• Win95 will find the non-disabled Midi-2 and ask for the driver disk (browse to the directory where the latest drivers version resides, e.g. C:\EWS64DRV).

The methods of selecting the desired Midi-port varies from one program to another. If you have the second Midi-interface installed (the EWS64XL MIDI-2), it will show up in the choises for Output. The Input-options you will usually find in the Midi-setup option of the program.

For playback via a certain port you can also directly send the Midi Control Message number 94 + a value:

• CTRL 94 (0) makes a Midi-channel play at OUT-1
• CTRL 94 (127) makes a Midi-channel play at OUT-2
• Note that you have to specify this controller for each channel you want to route.
• You can 'distribute' the output of different channels through OUT1 and OUT2 by using the control message for panning: CTRL 10 (value 0-127). The values 0-127 control the pan-position between left and right, where 64 is right in the middle.
  • Set the desired port for a channel by using the CTRL 94 (value 0 or 127) message.
  • Set the panning for a channel on that port by using the CTRL 10 (value 0 or 127, we use the extremes in this example).
  • So: CTRL 94 (127), CTRL 10 (127) sends the midi datastream from a channel to OUT2 and positions it at the right of the stereo image.
  • For another channel you can use another port and another panning position.

Contribution by Cristoph Wilms

The difference between the MIDI-Interfaces is:

• Midi 1 is routed to the synth
• Midi 2 is routed to the codec
• In the new driver version 2.14 the Midi 1 is splitted in:
  • SYNTHESIZER
  • MIDI 1-OUT.

So you have up to 48 Midichannels: Midi 1, Midi 2 and Synthesizer.

Contribution by Cristoph Wilms

If you want to transmit much sysexdata, the best is not to use Midi 1. Use Midi 2.
Normally the problem should be gone with the new driver version, but until now I have not tested it, so I can't say it exactly.

Contribution by Cristoph Wilms

Yes, they are fully compatible, compliant to all the specs, not a kind of 'semi-compatible' without the proper buffering etc.

Contribution by Cristoph Wilms

No, you can't. The problem is, some SMD-capacitors are different, but the components can change often, if our production plant find some cheaper components, they use this. And then they can have an other color etc.

Users report that when making sysex dumps, not all Midi-data is transmitted. The answers given by Terratec and other users indicate that:

• Midi 1 is directly connected to the Synth and seems to 'filter' the data.
• Midi 1 consequently has a performance problem and doesn't handle sysex data correctly.
• You alternatively better use Midi 2 for sysex dumps!

Update 27 February 1998

Another plausible cause is a defective Frontpanel. Please read solutions on the page about hardware problems 'Faulty or My Fault?'.
If you encounter these problems in Cubase VST, also read The Cool CuCake Forge.

Contribution by Martin Uddén

According to Terratec this problem is caused by defect frontpanels. The concerned customers should contact Terratec to get their frontpanels changed.

Addition by Computer ConText

Earlier we wrote a more general approach to this problem. It's a bit out of date because of the contribution by Martin. We decided to leave it on this page however, as users may benefit from the information. This was the original story (in a bit adapted form):

We don't know the exact hardware and software configuration of  users that encounter the 'midi buffer full' problem. We assume that they are experience midi-users. Perhaps unnecessarily (but handy for more novice users) we supply a short 'trouble-shooting' list.

• Check you 'midi topology' for midi-loops. If you record and monitor via the same synth during real time recording while midi-thru in the sequencer is ON, you have a midi-loop: the notes you play are echoed back to the synth, while the sequencer is also sending the same notes to the synth. The least problem you get is a lack of available voices on the synth, but it also increases mididata-traffic.
• Check in your sequencer (midi-settings) if 'midi-thru' is on or off. If it should be on or off depends on your recording situation, e.g.: if your keyboard is set to 'local off', your midi-thru should be enabled. Note: some synthesizers have different operating modes. Sometimes not every mode supports 'local off' or even only the 'wrong' mode supports it (like in the good old Roland D-10).
• Try to find a midi-monitor program to check which data exactly are sent back to your synth. From the past we know Music Quest used to bundle such a midi-monitor program with their midi-interfaces. Different brands of synthesizers can send all kinds of 'additional' midi-data, that's not stricktly necessary.
• Take a closer look at the 'properties' of your composition. A combination of the following factors could cause some trouble: did you record a lot of tracks that have to playback at the same time? Is the song very uptempo (around 160bpm)? Lot's of chords in it? System exclusive messages? Lots of controller-events? In short: could it be possible that your synth indeed gets to digest a lot of midi-data in a relatively short period of time?
• If the midi datastream seems to be 'normal', you could try the method of 'excluding causes': try to hook up another synth(-module).
• Check if your synth uses 'active sensing' (continuous checking if the device at the other side is still 'on air'). No probable cause, but it's an additional midistream...

A probable cause can also be a defective Frontpanel. Please read the Hardware Problems section.

Contribution by Phogy

If you send Controller 74 to the EWS Synth you can control the filter cutoff frequency in realtime. But it doesn't work properly: the filter is reset when you trigger a new note.

Contribution by Menno M Jansz

You do this by sending Midi NRPN controller messages (NRPN= Non-Registered Program Numbers). In one of the manuals there is a small explication about this.
In Cakewalk you can also setup a nice panel with some sliders or knobs which you can use to send this messages. It would work nicely if it wasn't for this problem with changing the value between during notes.

Please check, if the CODEC is installed. If not, then this is the reason for the problem. First you must activate the CODEC, then you have to install MIDI 2. After this you can disable the CODEC again. To do this, best is to use the SETUP function in the ControlPanel or EWSMIXER.EXE in your EWS64 directory under real DOS.

For MIDI recording the interface needs an IRQ. To avoid installation problems due to insufficient resources the MIDI-2 driver is initially installed without an IRQ and can thus only be used for output. You can configure an IRQ for the MIDI-2 driver by selecting SETUP in the EWS64 ControlPanel.

Unfortunately, this is the way it is. The reason for this is that Windows 95/98 only presents associations with logical devices. Windows is not yet designed to recognize that a logical device in a device category can provide several devices.

Windows 95/98 can only manage a maximum of 11 MIDI interfaces. This means that you must ensure that you don't exceed this number if you are also using other MIDI interfaces. If necessary, you can disable individual MIDI interfaces of the EWS (e.g. MIDI-2 and FM-Synthesis).

You must set the MIDI effect level for REVERB and CHORUS to 63. This gives you full control of the effect levels for the MIDI tracks in your sequencer program.

In contrast to driver version 1.3, this version does not automatically load a sound set. A once-off manual
installation is required:

• Select Control Panel/System/Device Manager/TerraTec Audio Devices/EWS64 Synthesizer/MIDI.
• Tick the option 'Load Startup Banks'.
• Now use the 'Load' function to load a file (e.g. gssbk320.94b) from the EWS64 'Soundset' subdirectory and reboot Windows.

Typical latency is < 1 ms but it definitely depends on the system's processing load and therefore is
operating system dependent. Normally, however, it cannot exceed 10 ms. In this instance, Windows 95/98 shows better results than Windows NT.

The sequencer selected (16-bit or 32-bit software) is also a factor. According to experience, 16-bit sequencers such as the Cubasis AV-XL Edition (included) are more accurate than 32-bit sequencers.

© 1998-1999, Computer ConText, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, except for contributions made by others.

Latest update on page: 19-04-99

© 1998-1999, Computer ConText, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, except for contributions made by others.

Latest update on page: 19-04-99