Midiox software

The keypresses on the Evolution keyboard and the second computer keyboard are received by midiox software (click here for their web page) and then trigger the sending of "system exclusive" messages and control messages to the sound canvas module.  The system exclusive messages taken from the SCPOP software change "stop" sounds and the reverb settings.  The "control" messages control the volume of the different manuals.  I am not quite sure how the "coupling" works but it does!  Basically the appropriate key/button press will mean that if swell is coupled to pedal then any note played on the pedal will also at the same time play the same note on the swell.

To do all this midiox works in conjunction with two scripts that can be and have been written specially for the purpose.  Lynn Walls (click here to see his midi home page) helped enormously in writing the scripts, translating my suggestions for how I would like the system to work into midiox scripts which really did work.

So here is a brief description of what you see on the computer screen.

There are two midiox scripts.  The first deals with sending the system exclusive messages and control messages.  When you open the first script two windows appear on the computer screen.  As you see it below the left hand window is the one which actually sends the control and system messages.  With this instance of midiox a special midiox data map blocks the receiving of all note on and note off messages (i.e. the notes you play on the manuals and pedals).  The right hand window is for receiving and passing on the computer keyboard presses. First you have to press on the keyboard icon in the toolbar so that it appears red.  Then you press three times on the plus key on the right hand side of the computer keyboard.  This sets the computer keyboard to send note messages on channel 4 to the first instance of midiox.  (Midiox comes with a "keynote.ini" file which can be adjusted so that many of the computer keyboard keys can be used to send notes in this way. The octave setting of the computer keyboard can be adjusted by pressing the function keys. I have used this so that pressing F9 gives access to the keys which control the great manual, while pressing F2 gives access to the keys which control the pedals).  

The midiox script receives the channel 4 note messages (also from the little Evolution keyboard which is set to channel 4) and does not play them as notes but rather uses them as triggers for sending the appropriate system exclusive message to the sound canvas module.  This instance of the midiox script also deals with the controls such as volume (which can be controlled independently for each manual and pedals) and tremolo (independent on swell and great and with three levels). While playing the organ the computer keyboard instance of midiox (the one with the "reddened" keyboard icon) must be in the foreground.

To see the additional and final two midiox windows click here.