Ep-133 midi bug

Pocket Operators
#1

When connecting the OP-Z to the EP–133 via USB and sending MIDI notes from the OP-Z to the EP-133, I observed that adjusting the notes in the Sounds > MIDI menu appears to be reversed. When I have recorded notes on the OP-Z and adjust from C2 to C5 on the EP-133, they sound lower in pitch, and vice versa. I’m uncertain if this is a bug or just an oversight on my part. Should I contact TE for clarification, or am I simply misunderstanding something?

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#2

I agree that it’s confusing but I think it’s intentional. I’ve tried to wrap my head around it and this is my best attempt at explaining it:

In the Sound Edit → MID menu, the Y knob adjusts the MIDI root note, which specifies which note the sample on that pad is tuned to.

It assumes a sample is tuned to C4 by default, so if you play in C4 and have the root note set to C4, you’ll hear the original sample.

If you instead have a sample tuned to C5, you’ll want to set the root note to C5 to match it. This means, though, that playing C4 will cause the sampler to play the sound back an octave lower since it’s now assuming the original sample was tuned to C5.

edited to add: for that same reason, specifying a root note of C3 will mean that C4 will play the sample back an octave higher than the original sound.

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#3

Thanks for the reply. Wow, that’s tough to wrap my head around. Just to make sure I understand it correctly, when I have both of them set to C5 and I repeatedly push the C note on the OP-Z while moving the EP–133 MIDI note up to, let’s say, D5, that would cause the pitch to go down, right? That is very confusing but is starting to make sense.

#4

Yep, that’s how it’d work. Personally, I find the midi root note function to be most helpful if I’m wanting to transpose up/down more than an octave but mostly avoid it for smaller adjustments.

Thankfully it’s not your only option for tuning a sample. You can tune +/- an octave in semitone increments two other ways:

  • The Y knob in the sound menu (not sound edit) for an individual pad
  • The Tune fader, which will tune all pads in the group
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#5

This makes sense. I really appreciate it.