Re: Well, maybe I'm not the last to know...

Hi John and Kay,

I do this with FTS and have the same thing that one can't
specify which note to switch off if both have the same
note number.

With my Sound Blaster Live! soundcard, sometimes both notes
get switched off! I gather that doesn't happen on high end
devices, and I wonder if there are any that take account of
the patch number when deciding which to switch off, but if
there are, naturally one can't tailor ones midi to them.

Best solution I've found so far is, if both have same note number,
then play them in different channels, even if of the
same pitch. That is what FTS does. I'll be very
interested if there is any way of doing it in a single
track

However, even with this, it is a very useful thing, and makes
many things possible that would be quite impossible in MIDI
otherwise.

It isn't part of the Midi standard at all. The standard would only
allow one voice patch at a time in a channel.

However modern implementations of Midi usually use the idea of a
track, and the devices are referred to as "multi-timbral".

From help for FTS:
"
However I've checked up on this, and in practice, modern devices
and sound cards use a concept of a track independent from channels.
Lower end of the range devices have 16 tracks . Then you can play
up to this number of voices in any channel (possibly less as it
may implement some voices using two simultaneous tracks - for
instance, for the honky tonk piano). If the total number of voices
in play exceeds the number of tracks, it uses some kind of
algorithm to decide which to leave out, as being the "least
important" one sounding at the time.

See for instance, Phil Rees's article MIDI channels, voices, timbres and
Modes (look under Multi-Mode)
"
http://www.philrees.co.uk/articles/midimode.htm

Robert