[LAU] Whysynth and MIDI channels

[Nick Copeland]

Hi Fons,

It looks like preaching to the converted I admit.

>Because in all but the simplest cases that is not what you want.

Quite. However the person that wants the simplest case is the one that does 
not want to spend time reading all the different readme files - this was 
exactly the point of the submit to this list regarding the complexity of 
just testing all these softsynths. If the default allows this connectivity 
which would be very much in the mood of the original MIDI specification, as 
opposed allowing no connections at all, then another user is catered for and 
the design is in line with the MIDI specification.

>If you have 10 sources and 10 sinks,

Then you should also know how to break all the existing connections. Put it 
this way, if you have worked out an easy way to setup all these connections 
then you should have been able to fid a similarly easy way to disable any 
default MIDI mixed connections that you did not want.

On the other hand if you don't know how to build all your ten connections 
then you probably don't even know how to build one and you are in for a 
world of hurt just getting a sound out of a softsynth. That is totally 
counterproductive. Unless the default were to connect things together.....

>what is easier, setting up 10 connections
>or working out which 90 to disconnect ? Is forcing a user to do N-1 dis-
>connects each time he starts something new making his work easier ?

I am not talking about making this work easier, however it is not making it 
that much harder for an experienced user either. This issue here is that 
when you know how do to something it is easy, when you don't know how to it 
is hard, and the default should be to reduce complexity.

>I want to be able to start an app and be sure it will not interfere
>with what is already running. So it should not auto-whatever.

Then as a capable user you should have started the whole connection toolkit 
without the defaults and just built your connections. Listen up friend, if 
you are in charge of a PA system and even trust that the default connection 
setup is "none" then you are in a dangerous position - you should make sure 
of it first by breaking connections before bring things online. You are 
again making assumptions and these ones might end up blowing your speakers 
for you. Oh, yeah, deja vu.

>Think about this. Many MIDI devices will echo their input on the output.

That is MIDI Thru and was intended to be kept that way. I don't know of many 
MIDI devices that will echo In to Out as a default since the default for 
this functionality is the Thru link - again, the capable user may configure 
this if their device supports it, but then they should know about the 
implications anyway. Interestingly enough, from your last submit to this 
list you refered to this very function as a 'trick' that if used would break 
things, now you are quoting the same MIDI mixing function (in this case 
mixing In with whatever you play on this synth) as if it were a standard 
feature which is kind of contradicting yourself, no?

Back to my original point, the MIDI specification stated that a system 
should start up in OMNI mode unless otherwise specified such that any 
keyboard could drive any sound module on power up since channel numbers 
would not be considered. A capable user could change this configuration, but 
that is their choice.

My proposal remains true to the mood of the original specification, here 
suggesting that a MIDI seq interface should consider being OMNI as well and 
allow things to be connected together by default.

Regards,

N.

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