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PSR-K1 Owner’s Manual
About MIDI
Nearly all of the electronic musical instruments made today—particularly synthesiz-
ers, sequencers and computer music related devices—use MIDI. MIDI is a world-
wide standard that allows these devices to send and receive performance and
setting data. Naturally, this instrument lets you save or send your keyboard perfor-
mance as MIDI data, as well as that of the songs, styles and panel settings.
The potential MIDI holds for your live performance and music creation/production is
enormous—simply by connecting this instrument to a computer and transmitting
MIDI data. In this section, you’ll learn the basics of MIDI and the particular MIDI
functions of this instrument.
What Is MIDI?
No doubt you have heard the terms “acoustic instrument” and “digital instrument.” In the world today, these are the two
main categories of instruments. Let’s consider an acoustic piano and a classical guitar as representative acoustic instru-
ments. They are easy to understand. With the piano, you strike a key, and a hammer inside hits some strings and plays a
note. With the guitar, you directly pluck a string and the note sounds. But how does a digital instrument go about playing
a note?
As shown in the illustration above, in an electronic instrument the sampling note (previously recorded note) stored in the
tone generator section (electronic circuit) is played based on information received from the keyboard. So then what is the
information from the keyboard that becomes the basis for note production?
For example, let’s say you play a “C” quarter note using the grand piano sound on the instrument. Unlike an acoustic
instrument that puts out a resonated note, the electronic instrument puts out information from the keyboard such as “with
what voice,” “with which key,” “about how strong,” “when was it pressed,” and “when was it released.” Then each piece
of information is changed into a number value and sent to the tone generator. Using these numbers as a basis, the tone
generator plays the stored sampling note.
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Example of Keyboard Information
Your keyboard performance and all panel operations of this instrument are processed as MIDI data. The songs, auto
accompaniment (styles), and User songs are also made up of MIDI data.
MIDI is an acronym that stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface and it allows different musical instruments and
devices to instantly communicate with each other, via digital data. The MIDI standard is used all over the world and was
designed to transmit performance data between electronic musical instruments (or computers). Thanks to MIDI, you can
control one instrument from another and transmit performance data between the devices-taking your creative and perfor-
mance potential to even higher levels.
MIDI messages can be divided into two groups: Channel messages and System messages.
Voice number (with what voice)
1 (grand piano)
Note number (with which key)
60 (C3)
Note on (when was it pressed) and
note off (when was it released)
Timing expressed numerically (quarter note)
Velocity (about how strong)
120 (strong)
Acoustic guitar note production
Digital instrument note production
Based on playing information from the keyboard, a
sampling note stored in the tone generator is played
through the speakers.
Pluck a string and the body
resonates the sound.
Playing the keyboard
Tone Generator
(Electronic circuit)
L
R
Sampling
Note
Sampling
Note
Summary of Contents for Portatone PSR-K1
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