Expresseur : FAQ keyboards

Frequently Asked Questions : Keyboard

How to connect my Midi keyboard ?

If the Midi keyboard has MIDI plugs with old format (two or three round plugs), buy an adaptator USB / MIDI. Warning: connect the OUT adapter in the IN piano (and the IN adaptator in the OUT piano).
If the Midi keyboard has a USB connector, plug it directly on the computer.
In Hardware Tab, section Midi-In, select the Midi interface that is proposed.

Which MIDi keyboard ?

Any Midi keyboard can be used.
A small Midi keyboard with good sensitivty is enough. Touch-pas can be used too (e.g. M-Audio/trigger-finger).
Knobs or Sliders are useful to tune the Expresseur mixer, track by track, or main volume (e.g. : touch-pad M-Audio/trigger-finger or keyboard EMU-XBOARD-25)

How to use the Expresseur mixer from my Midi keyboard ?

By defualt, Expresseur accepts sysex master volume, standrd Midi channel volume (CTRL-7) and E-MU controllers.
To configure other controllers, create new processors in the Midi-Thru section of the Hardware tab. Enter the controller description (see doc keyboard or logs of the Expresseur), then select the checkbox "mixer Track"

What kind of pedal?

The right pedal of the piano is very delicate. The option of high quality Realistic Piano in Expresseur contains a simulation of sympathetic resonance, as it exists on acoustic pianos. Some VST such as Pianoteq perform very nice simulations.
Their use requires a progressive pedal. Some Midi keyboards can manage this (EMU XBOARD 25). There are also very good pedal as the product CME-GPP.

Notes are never stopped

If you use an on/off pedal, check the polarity of the switch (cf. pedal user's guide)
If you use a progressive pedal, it's probably because the value does not come-back to zero. To solve this issue :
- in the Hardware tab, create a 'cursor', named 'pedal', with the two first values on zero
- create a processor in the Midi-thru section
- filter the CTRL_CHG message with 1st byte equal to 64, and select 'pedal' cursor for the second byte

Nothing on my Midi keyboard ...

Check the connection (see above).
Verify that you can play on Expresseur with the computer keyboard.
Make sure the main Expresseur window displays a small cross when you play on the piano (MIDI-In).
Make sure the Expresseur sees and plays notes (Menu view / keyboard).
Verify that the Partition selector is set (Users / Partition / Track x / Main selector ).
Activate the logs to see the traffic Midi (Tool Menu / log to start collecting, and again Tools menu / log to view the log).

Build a Midi instrument for Expresseur

It's easy and cheap to build an instrument using Expresseur.
Connect a joystick controler (eg. BU0836).
Plug buttons and sliders you want (breath controler, poisition detector, light ray cutting, any button, ...)
Tune the item Hardware/Joystick in the Expresseur. The default configuration enables 5 controlers, and 31 buttons with velocity read on Rudder axe (# 6). If default configuration is not enough powerfull for your instrument, build your own process very easily, using the template.
Midi events can be used to play Expresseur Score or translateur. Midi events can aslo be sent to other Midi softwares using the Midi-thru.
If needed, it's easy to buil a wireless connection between the instrument and the joystick controller, using a serializer and a cheap HF module.
Don't hesitate to use the contact form for additional information.