The above picture shows the internal MIDI connections of my gig-rig and the connections from the gig-rig to my home studio equipment.
For those who don't know what MIDI (Musical Instrument Digtal Interface) is about, a good explanation can be found at www.midi.org.
There are two MIDI input devices in the gig-rig. The Yamaha WX-5 wind controller and the Palm Pilot IIIxe using IttyMIDI software so it acts as a MIDI file player. The WX-5 is not connected directly to the Emagic AMT8, like the Palm, but to the transmitter of the Kenton MIDISTREAM wireless MIDI system. The MIDI OUT on the receiver of the system connects to the AMT8 MIDI IN port.
The MIDI OUT of the Alesis S4+ is only connected to the AMT8 to be able to receive MIDI data (soundbanks, SYSEX, settings, etc.) from the S4+ to store in the PC for back-up.
When the gig-rig is connected to the Home-Studio the MIDI OUT of the Oberheim MC1000-88 master keyboard is also connected to a MIDI IN port of the AMT8 to work as a MIDI input device.
The Emagic AMT8 works as a router to guide MIDI data that it receives to all the devices. So the MIDI IN ports of both VL70-m's, the Alesis S4+ and the Digitech Studio S100 are connected to the MIDI OUT ports of the AMT8. The AMT8 automatically starts in stand-alone mode, in which it uses certain pre-programmed patches that set-up the routing chart. These can be programmed using the Emagic Unitor software. When it is connected to a PC or MAC, using either USB, RS232 or RS422, it will switch to automatic mode when a MIDI software is started.
My Oberheim MC1000 88-key master keyboard is equipped with a expansion board, the Yamaha DB50-XG, an older model XG daughterboard soundcard. So in my Home-Studio set-up I have an extra 16 MIDI channels with XG and GM soundbanks and it makes it possible to use the master keyboard as a stage piano and synthesizer.
The main AUDIO/MIDI soundcard in my PC is the Yamaha SW1000XG, to my opinion one of the best in its class, great sounds and easily controllable through its own XGEdit software. It contains 20MB of wave samples in its ROM and has 6 24bit digital effects processors. The 1267 XG voices and 46 drum kits are a improved set partly taken from the MU100r/MU90, the VL70-m and CS1x. The card is capable of 64 note polyphony and 32 part multi-timbrality in XG mode, is GM compatible and can be expanded with XG Plug-in boards like the PLG 100-VL.
I use Steinberg's Cubase VST 5.1 sound software for home recording, setting up MIDI files and Audio tracks. I use several extra VST instruments like the Halion SoftSampler and the Halion String Edition. I also use Band-In-A-Box to easily get a nice starting point for creating backing tracks. These seprate tracks are then transferred into Cubase to make them sound better.
MIDI files created in this way are then stored into IttyMIDI on the Palm to be played back on one of the MIX programs of the Alesis S4+.
By inserting MIDI SYSEX commands into a separate track, I'm able to change the settings of all my MIDI gear. For example, when playing a melody or solo on my WX-5 and the two VL70's accompanied by the backing tracks played on the Alesis, I can use SYSEX commands to switch from one sound to another (program change) when the next chorus starts, or change the instruments' key (transpose), etc., without the need to manually change the settings.
