| M-Audio Trigger Finger: Program/Bank Changes
M-Audio’s Trigger Finger makes it easy to program important MIDI messages
 The Trigger Finger has 16 memory locations. Each one of these memory locations contains the MIDI note and channel transmitted by each of the 16 pads, the MIDI CC to be used for transmitting pressure messages from each of the 16 pads, the Locked Velocity values for each of the pads, and Program/Bank Change values for each of the 16 pads.
There are two types of program changes that can be accomplished with MIDI. First, there is the basic Program Change. The Program Change message has a number attached to it (in the range of 0 to 127) that corresponds to a patch within your synth or sampler. When MIDI was first developed, synths did not have the enormous sound banks that they do now, so the Program Change spec only allowed recall of 128 sounds (or less). With the advancements in memory technology, it’s hard to find a synth these days that has only 128 sounds. Now, you’ll find synths that have multiple banks—each bank containing a set of sounds (128 or less).
The Program Change message by itself can only recall a patch within the current bank. In order to overcome this deficiency, a method for changing banks within a synth was introduced: The Bank Change message (the second method). This was built around the original MIDI spec by using two other MIDI CC messages to specify a bank right before a Program Change is sent. These two additional messages are known as the Bank MSB and Bank LSB. Additionally, with the advent of multi-timbral synths (where each MIDI channel can have a different sound), it also became necessary to specify the MIDI channel for the Program/Bank Change.
The Trigger Finger sends both the bank and program information every time a Program/Bank Change is issued. This means that each Program/Bank Change results in four MIDI messages being sent from the Trigger Finger—the MIDI Channel, Bank MSB, Bank LSB, and Program Change all in one burst. So, for each Program/Bank Change you want to perform, you must program four values into the Trigger Finger.
The way the Trigger Finger does this is by allowing you to assign these four values simultaneously to one pad. You’re probably already familiar with how to change memory presets on the Trigger Finger (press Memory Recall, then press the Pad corresponding to the memory location you want—pressing Pad 5 recalls memory location 5). The same process is used for issuing a Program/Bank Change. You’ll press the Program/Bank Change button, followed by the Pad that contains the Channel, Bank MSB, Bank LSB, and Program Change values you want to send.
The trick here is to program those necessary values into the pads of the Trigger Finger so they’re ready to use at performance time. There are two ways to do this: from the Trigger Finger itself or by using the Enigma Software librarian. It’s pretty easy to do from the Trigger Finger itself.
To use the Trigger Finger to change the values assigned to a Pad (or any other control of the Trigger Finger), you must first enter Edit Mode. This is done by pressing both the Memory Recall and Program/Bank Change buttons simultaneously. You’ll know you’re in Edit Mode if the lights above the Memory Recall and Program/Bank Change buttons are blinking.
Once in Edit Mode, you’ll need to specify which pad you wish to re-program by tapping it. So, if you want to change the Program/Bank Change values for Pad 3, you’ll press Pad 3 at this time.
Now that you’ve specified the pad to edit, you can start changing its values. This is done by using the four knobs across the top of the Trigger Finger. They’re labled PGM (the Program Change number), MSB (the Bank MSB), LSB (the Bank LSB), and P CH (the MIDI Channel for transmitting the Program/Bank Change). So, if you want Pad 3 to send Program Change 50, Bank MSB 0, Bank LSB 0, on Channel 10, you’d twist the PGM knob until 50 is displayed, twist MSB so 0 is displayed, do the same for the LSB, and finally twist P CH to 10.
After setting these values, you’ll still be in Edit Mode, so you can tap another pad to change its values.
Once you’re done setting the values, you’ll want to save them to a Memory Location so they can be recalled at a later time. You’ll do this by pressing the Save & Exit button (you’ll see that the Memory Recall button has “Save & Exit” written under it in blue—all the blue labels are active whenever in Edit Mode) followed by the Pad for the location you want to store to. So, if you want to save this all to memory location 7, press Save & Exit followed by Pad 7.
Now, when you press the Program/Bank Change button followed by Pad 3, the Program and Bank values programmed to that pad will be sent.
PLEASE NOTE:
As mentioned at the beginning of all of this, each pad’s Program and Bank info is stored within a memory location. So, if you recall another memory location, such as 10, the pads will transmit different Program and Bank messages. Please keep this in mind while building your setups. If you wish Pad 3 in memory location 10 to send the same Program and Bank messages as Pad 3 in memory location 7, you’ll need to program the Pad in both memory locations with the same info. In other words, for every memory location there are 16 unique Program/Bank Changes (256 in all).
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