Chokeable cymbals, a td-5, and an emu sampler

[MDoggie]

Hello everyone. I have had my Emu ESI 2000 sampler for about a month now, and I thought I had mastered it. However, when I got my chokeable cymbals (they are sent from the td-5) , they work fine just through the td-5, but when trying to use the sampler with it, the cymbal itself works fine but the choke portion does NOT work.
First of all, I'm pretty sure the td-5 can send the "choke" message through midi ok, right?
And second, why is the sampler not registering the choke? What am I doing wrong?

[MDoggie]

Just to expand on my previous message a little, my problem specifically lies in the sampler (at least, I'm almost positive its the sampler and not the td-5. I can't see any reason why the td-5 is "malfunctiong" its polyphonic key pressure messages.)

On the EMU sampler, theres a MIDI Global menu that defines where the info for the pressure control (aftertouch) is coming from: there is the option to set it to a midi controller number 0-31 (I think those are the right numbers) , Pitch wheel, or channel pressure.

I'm assuming Channel pressure is the one I want to go with. Is this right?

Now, after that, you need to go into a menu that tells me what to do with the pressure control. I set it to VCA level because that controls the volume.

Yet after this, and many other fiddlings with the sampler, it doesn't recognize the chokes at all.

If this all looks right, and its still not working, does anyone know of any work arounds to this? There's no way I can specifically set each midi "choke" to a specific midi controller number is there?

[MDoggie]

Thanks for the reply. What exactly am I supposed to be looking for in this thread (sorry to sound dumb, but I'm a drummer by nature and only within the last year or so really delving into the MIDI communication between devices)

Getting back to my original point. If the Td-5 sends its choke info through polyphonic key pressure, is "Channel pressure" the correct option to receive it by in the sampler?

any help would be appreciated. Sorry to bother anyone if there is an obvious answer to this. I don't consider myself a total newbie at all this, so, I don't see the "duh" answer that I may not be seeing.

[oldrocker]

Here is something to try
(not being encumbered by the thought process,
and not owning either the TD-5 or the sampler)

Get a midi monitor or what ever they call it (freeware or shareware software)
And see exactly what the TD-5 is sending for the choke.

Type midi monitor in google

Hope this helps

[seanb]

Cymbal choke uses Key aftertouch (also called pressure) and not channel aftertouch, so channel aftertouch in your sampler won't do it.

I've done some empirical testing and I've discovered that regardless of which cymbal sound was most recently played - rim or pad - the TD-8 sends TWO key aftertouch messages for each choke event - one for each note the cymbal is programmed for.

Also, "choke on" sends a value of 127 and "choke off" sends 0. The TD series interprets these values conversely to the way many sound modules react to aftertouch. For example, many of the patches on my D50 keyboard (which uses channel aftertouch) get louder if you press the key harder while sustaining a note, whereas on the TD-8 a choke value of 127 stops the current cymbal sound dead.


For more on the bits-and-bytes of the midi message types check the spec......

http://www.midi.org/about-midi/table1.htm