4 PC1600 Presets - Polyphonic Aftertouch Controller Messages PolyATouch 0-31 PolyATouch 32-63 PolyATouch 64-95 PolyATouch 96-127 The four PC 1600 presets can be used to generate Polyphonic Aftertouch MIDI messages. This type of message is completely different from the more common type of message which is called Channel Aftertouch. If you have a synthesizer or sampler with a keyboard, you'll be more more likely to encounter Channel Aftertouch than Polyphonic Aftertouch. Normally, aftertouch messages are used to send clavier (keyboard) pressure sensitivity information to a synthesizer - how hard you press a key will determine the controller value that gets sent. Channel Aftertouch (Controller 2) sends a single continuous controller value and is global for the entire keyboard. So, whichever key you are pressing the hardest will determine the value of the single controller. A long metal or plastic bar or pad serves as a single key pressure sensor for many moderately priced keyboard synthesizers. Channel Aftertouch is widely used and is a cost effective way to control vibrato and other effects. On the other hand, Polyphonic Aftertouch sends a separate controller value for each key on the keyboard. So, you could conceivably get a different vibrato depth for each note you are playing in a chord. It costs a great deal more to implement Polyphonic Aftertouch. Every key on the keyboard needs a separate sensor. You will find this feature only on more expensive synthesizers like the Ensoniq ASR-10 and the Sequential Circuits Prophet T8. Hopefully you'll find these presets useful. They can be used with synthesizers like the Emu Proteus MPS which can't transmit Polyphonic Aftertouch messages but can recognize and make use of them. More importantly, because of the way the MIDI standard defines Polyphonic Aftertouch, you can also think of these messages as if they were ANOTHER set of 127 continuous controllers. For instance, you could use Polyphonic Aftertouch to send an additional collection of 127 controller messages to Native Instrument's Reaktor softsynth - helpful if your selected ensemble has a lot of knobs. Also, if Reaktor is being used as a VST instrument in Logic Audio, you could use Polyphonic Aftertouch to send way more controllers than the limited number of 64 controllers that Reaktor registers within Logic - Logic Audio passes Polyphonic Aftertouch messages unaltered to VST instruments. The four presets listed at the top of this document divide up the entire keyboard range starting from Note 0 (the first fader in PolyATouch 0-31) and ending with Note 127 (the last button in PolyATouch 96-127). Each fader sends a value between 0 and 127. Each Button sends a value of 0 on the first press and a value of 64 on the second press. Preset : PolyATouch 0-31 Faders : 1 - 16 <==> Note Aftertouch 0 - 15 Buttons: 1 - 16 <==> Note Aftertouch 16 - 31 Preset : PolyATouch 32-63 Faders : 1 - 16 <==> Note Aftertouch 32 - 47 Buttons: 1 - 16 <==> Note Aftertouch 48 - 63 Preset : PolyATouch 64-95 Faders : 1 - 16 <==> Note Aftertouch 64 - 79 Buttons: 1 - 16 <==> Note Aftertouch 80 - 95 Preset : PolyATouch 96-127 Faders : 1 - 16 <==> Note Aftertouch 96 - 111 Buttons: 1 - 16 <==> Note Aftertouch 112 - 127 Please note: These messages transmit on MIDI Channel 1. You'll need to use something like MIDI-OX to transmit on a different MIDI Channel. Other than that, your only recourse would be to edit the first byte of all strings FROM A0 TO AX where X is the MIDI Channel number between 0 and F (hex 1 - 16). Questions? Comments? slholmes@polyphonicstudios.com