VS1053b / VS1103b MIDI Controls

[pasi]

I have collected the implemented midi messages here. Some like tempo are used in file mode only.

• meta: 0x51 : set tempo
• other meta: MidiMeta() called (user code can send out lyrics and other meta information)
• SysEx device control: 0x01 : master volume (only in file mode!)
• channel message: 0x80 note off, 0x90 note on, 0xc0 program, 0xe0 pitch wheel
• channel message 0xb0: parameter
  • 0x00: bank select (0 is default, 0x78 and 0x7f is drums, 0x79 melodic)
  • 0x06: RPN MSB: 0 = bend range, 2 = coarse tune
  • 0x07: channel volume
  • 0x0a: pan control
  • 0x0b: expression (changes volume)
  • 0x0c: effect control 1 (sets global reverb decay)
  • 0x26: RPN LSB: 0 = bend range
  • 0x40: hold1
  • 0x42: sustenuto
  • 0x5b effects level (channel reverb send level, channel-specific, default is 12)
  • 0x62,0x63,0x64,0x65: NRPN and RPN selects
  • 0x78: all sound off - immediately fade all notes on this channel
  • 0x79: reset all controllers on this channel
  • 0x7b, 0x7c, 0x7d: all notes off - put all notes to release (except ones with hold or sustenuto)

The channel-specific level and overall 'duration' of reverb can be adjusted, "expression" adjusts the volume of audible notes on that channel, and pitch-wheel adjusts the note frequencies.

All 16 channels and multiple notes per channel are available. The total simultaneous audible notes depends on the clock frequency and what instruments are used (different instruments take varying amounts of processing power).

Reverb
vs1053b: There are 15 different default Reverb settings in the low 4 bits of the parametric_x.config1 register (X:0x1e03). Values 2 to 15 select a default room size (internal 350 to 4900). 0 will enable the reverb depending on the value of CLOCKF (3.0x or higher clock enables reverb). 1 means reverb is disabled.
vs1103b: There are 15 different default Reverb settings in the low 4 bits of the parametric_x.midiConfig register (X:0x1a03). Values 2 to 15 select a default room size (internal 350 to 4900). 0 will enable the reverb depending on the value of CLOCKF (3.0x or higher clock enables reverb). 1 means reverb is disabled.

When you control Reverb through MIDI controls (Parameter / effect control 1), all control values from 0 to 127 are valid (internal 0..4064).

In vs1103b Reverb is mutually exclusive with EarSpeaker.

Real-Time MIDI
The UART buffer is a bit too short and it is possible to overflow it with constant UART transmit if too many notes are active at the same time. A fix is available in the RTMIDI Application: http://www.vlsi.fi/en/support/software/ ... tions.html .

Addendum
It seems the size of the UART FIFO is only an issue when sending the midi data through SDI. If my math below checks out, there should not be issue when you use the 31250bps RT-MIDI UART speed. Issues with the original 16-byte UART FIFO might arise due to MIDI messages that are longer than 15 bytes, specifically sysex and meta messages. These should be removed and not sent.

1. RT-MIDI can send 16 bytes in 16/3125=5.12ms
2. The MIDI decoder produces 64-sample blocks, so for full polyphony the sustained maximum time is 64/44100=1.45ms for 16 bytes of MIDI data. This time can be temporarily exceeded if a lot of notes come on at the same time and other notes need to be decayed/faded out. Even if it takes double time, there would still be plenty of time to get back to decoding MIDI messages. The higher the clock and the lower the polyphony, the shorter time is spent generating the instruments.

Instrument List for reference
Note that the instruments are enumerated from 1, while in the MIDI messages the instruments start from 0, so remember to do the conversion.

1. Acoustic Grand Piano
2. Bright Acoustic Piano
3. Electric Grand Piano
4. Honky-tonk Piano
5. Electric Piano 1
6. Electric Piano 2
7. Harpsichord
8. Clavi
9. Celesta
10. Glockenspiel
11. Music Box
12. Vibraphone
13. Marimba
14. Xylophone
15. Tubular Bells
16. Dulcimer
17. Drawbar Organ
18. Percussive Organ
19. Rock Organ
20. Church Organ
21. Reed Organ
22. Accordion
23. Harmonica
24. Tango Accordion
25. Acoustic Guitar(nylon)
26. Acoustic Guitar(steel)
27. Electric Guitar(jazz)
28. Electric Guitar(clean)
29. Electric Guitar(muted)
30. Overdriven Guitar
31. Distortion Guitar
32. Guitar Harmonics
33. Acoustic Bass
34. Electric Bass(finger)
35. Electric Bass (pick)
36. Fretless Bass
37. Slap Bass 1
38. Slap Bass 2
39. Synth Bass 1
40. Synth Bass 2
41. Violin
42. Viola
43. Cello
44. Contrabass
45. Tremolo Strings
46. Pizzicato Strings
47. Orchestral Harp
48. Timpani
49. String Ensembles 1
50. String Ensembles 2
51. Synth Strings 1
52. Synth Strings 2
53. Choir Aahs
54. Voice Oohs
55. Synth Voice
56. Orchestra Hit
57. Trumpet
58. Trombone
59. Tuba
60. Muted Trumpet
61. French Horn
62. Brass Section
63. Synth Brass 1
64. Synth Brass 2
65. Soprano Sax
66. Alto Sax
67. Tenor Sax
68. Baritone Sax
69. Oboe
70. English Horn
71. Bassoon
72. Clarinet
73. Piccolo
74. Flute
75. Recorder
76. Pan Flute
77. Blown Bottle
78. Shakuhachi
79. Whistle
80. Ocarina
81. Square Lead (Lead 1)
82. Saw Lead (Lead)
83. Calliope Lead(Lead 3)
84. Chiff Lead (Lead 4)
85. Charang Lead (Lead 5)
86. Voice Lead (Lead 6)
87. Fifths Lead (Lead 7)
88. Bass + Lead (Lead 8)
89. New Age (Pad 1)
90. Warm Pad (Pad 2)
91. Polysynth (Pad 3)
92. Choir (Pad 4)
93. Bowed (Pad 5)
94. Metallic (Pad 6)
95. Halo (Pad 7)
96. Sweep (Pad 8)
97. Rain (FX 1)
98. Sound Track (FX 2)
99. Crystal (FX 3)
100. Atmosphere (FX 4)
101. Brightness (FX 5)
102. Goblins (FX 6)
103. Echoes (FX 7)
104. Sci-fi (FX 8)
105. Sitar
106. Banjo
107. Shamisen
108. Koto
109. Kalimba
110. Bag Pipe
111. Fiddle
112. Shanai
113. Tinkle Bell
114. Agogo
115. Steel Drum
116. Woodblock
117. Taiko Drum
118. Melodic Tom
119. Synth Drum
120. Reverse Cymbal
121. Guitar Fret Noise
122. Breath Noise
123. Seashore
124. Bird Tweet
125. Telephone Ring
126. Helicopter
127. Applause
128. Gunshot

[microtherion]

What's the difference in sound between bank 0 and bank 0x79? I went through all the instruments, playing a minor chord, and at best, the two banks sounded identical. For some instruments, bank 0x79 played only one of the three notes in the chord.

Are there parameter settings in which bank 0x79 sounds better than bank 0?

[pasi]

For some instruments, bank 0x79 played only one of the three notes in the chord.

All melodic banks should behave the same. The chord problem may be something related to note dropping (when notes are quiet enough or there are too many, the quietest ones are removed) or some bug in the real-time code.

[gmccomb]

For master volume I take it this is a SysEx command, and follows normal byte sequence for these. All of the other MIDI control statements appear to be working except this one. Do you have an example SysEx byte sequence for this?

In case it matters, I'm using a VS1053 and RT MIDI via UART. For testing I'm using only one channel with just one or two notes, turning them on and off after one second delays.

[fundorin]

Am I right that there's no datasheet or list of possible midi commands for VS1103и except this forum message?

[pasi]

For master volume I take it this is a SysEx command, and follows normal byte sequence for these. All of the other MIDI control statements appear to be working except this one

I'm guessing that the following sequence would work in file-mode. However, the real-time parser is much simpler and it seems it ignores all sysex messages (skips everything until the 0xf7 marker).

0xf0 //sysex
0x06 //<varinum> bytes to read
0x00 //realtime/non-real-time
0x00 //device ID (ignored)
0x04 //ID1 4: device control
0x01 //ID2 1: master volume
0x00 //volume LSB ignored
vol //volume MSB used
0xF7 //sysex end mark

Do you have SCI connected? I could provide a workaround to directly write the master volume variable.

[gmccomb]

SCI isn't connected and can't be. For this particular project (it's for an article in a popular magazine here in the US) we're using the SparkFun MIDI Instrument Shield, which only supports UART RT-MIDI.

[kellli01]

Hello:

I have a prototype running the VS1103B and I can get some MIDI files to play and not others.

What are the things to look for in a MIDI file that would prevent it from playing? Do you know of any prohibited events or commands?

I am careful to use format 0 General Midi files. I also run in file mode, not real time MIDI using the SCI bus. I run ADPCM on the SDI bus and it mixes successfully when the MIDI file works. I suspect this chip does not fully support the MIDI command set.

Here are some other findings:

1. If I take working MIDI file, load it into Anvil and just save it with no modifications, the file will cease to work. It looks like Anvil adds some metadata at the beginning so the hex file is a little different, but it should be legal. Such metadata is in other files that work.

2. I always do a search for multiple instances of the text "Trk". There can be only one if it is to have a chance of working. However, having just one instance does not guarantee a working file.

3. Most files don't work. However, I did get a really complicated file to work. At first, I thought maybe you could only have one instrument play or something like that.

[pasi]

Hi,
Can you include a file that does not play, so we can check what the potential issue is?

[rom3]

Hi,
I'm programming a sequencer program and use a VS1053 in real time midi mode. All worked fine but I have a problem with the midi control. Panning and volume worked fine, but i can't control the reverb. Source can found here https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/ro ... -ii-b5d169. Have any a idea what I'm making wrong. For any help, I'm thankful.