Obtained from Archive.org - www.mmt8.com/sysex.php corrupted Word file download.
The following information is provided as a guide for programmers wishing to modify the data received via MIDI from the MMT-8 for the purpose of interchanging parts from separate block dumps, modification of part names, MIDI channel assignments, etc. Great care must be taken to insure that all modified addresses are valid, since one incorrect value (the length of a part, for example) could result in all data being lost in the MMT-8. These errors may not show up immediately, since the incorrect values may not be accessed by the MMT-8 until a particular part or song is selected. Therefore, it is recommended that any data manipulation programs be thoroughly tested after loading into the MMT-8 by selecting and recording on many parts before assuming that the data is valid.
A system exclusive MIDI data dump from the MMT-8 is initiated by holding the TAPE button down, pressing (and releasing) the PAGE DOWN button once, and then pressing the RECORD button. The data sent out MIDI is in the following format:
| HEX | COMMENTS |
|---|---|
| F0H | SYSTEM EXCLUSIVE STATUS BYTE |
| 00H | |
| 00H | |
| 0EH | ALESIS I.D. NUMBER |
| 00H | MMT-8 I.D. NUMBER |
Following the above 5 bytes will be a block of data representing the contents of the MMT-8's memory. In order to optimize the data transfer, 8 MIDI bytes are used to transmit each block of 7 MMT-8 data bytes. If the 7 data bytes are looked at as one 56-bit word, the format for transmission is eight 7-bit words beginning with the most significant bit of the first byte, as follows:
SEVEN MMT-8 BYTES:
| Byte | Contents |
|---|---|
| 0 | A7 A6 A5 A4 A3 A2 A1 A0 |
| 1 | B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B1 B0 |
| 2 | C7 C6 C5 C4 C3 C2 C1 C0 |
| 3 | D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0 |
| 4 | E7 E6 E5 E4 E3 E2 E1 E0 |
| 5 | F7 F6 F5 F4 F3 F2 F1 F0 |
| 6 | G7 G6 G5 G4 G3 G2 G1 G0 |
TRANSMITTED AS:
| Byte | Contents |
|---|---|
| 0 | 0 A7 A6 A5 A4 A3 A2 A1 |
| 1 | 0 A0 B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 |
| 2 | 0 B1 B0 C7 C6 C5 C4 C3 |
| 3 | 0 C2 C1 C0 D7 D6 D5 D4 |
| 4 | 0 D3 D2 D1 D0 E7 E6 E5 |
| 5 | 0 E4 E3 E2 E1 E0 F7 F6 |
| 6 | 0 F5 F4 F3 F2 F1 F0 G7 |
| 7 | 0 G6 G5 G4 G3 G2 G1 G0 |
In order to use the data properly, it must be decoded properly into MMT-8 byte format. The following list gives the data locations within the "unpacked" (decoded) block of data, starting with the first byte of the block being 000. NOTE: All absolute addresses must have an offset of 400H added to them (e.g., an absolute pointer to a part that starts at 35AH should have the pointer value 75AH).
| Hex | Description |
|---|---|
| 000H | MSB of absolute pointer to part 00 |
| 001H | LSB of absolute pointer to part 00 |
| 002H | MSB of absolute pointer to part 01 |
| 003H | LSB of absolute pointer to part 01 |
| 004H | MSB of absolute pointer to part 02 |
| 005H | LSB of absolute pointer to part 02 |
| ... | ... |
| 0C6H | MSB of absolute pointer to part 99 |
| 0C7H | LSB of absolute pointer to part 99 |
| 0C8H - 0CEH | DON'T ALTER |
| 0CFH | LSB of absolute pointer to 1st byte past SONG 99 data (start of free mem) |
| 0D0H | MSB of absolute pointer to 1st byte past SONG 99 data (start of free mem) |
| 0D1H - 0D2H | DON'T ALTER |
| 0D3H | LSB of FF00H minus data in 0CFH & 0D0H (length of free mem) |
| 0D4H | MSB of FF00H minus data in 0CFH & 0D0H (length of free mem) |
| 0D5H - 101H | DON'T ALTER |
| 102H | MSB of absolute pointer to song 00 |
| 103H | LSB of absolute pointer to song 00 |
| 104H | MSB of absolute pointer to song 01 |
| 105H | LSB of absolute pointer to song 01 |
| 106H | MSB of absolute pointer to song 02 |
| 107H | LSB of absolute pointer to song 02 |
| ... | ... |
| 1C8H | MSB of absolute pointer to song 99 |
| 1C9H | LSB of absolute pointer to song 99 |
| 1CAH - 1FFH | DON'T ALTER |
| 200H - ? | PART 00 DATA |
The part and song data must be dealt with in a specific manner:
- All part and song data must be in consecutive order, i.e., part 05 data cannot be before part 02 data. The order for the data should be part 00 through 99, followed by song 00 through 99.
- If a part or song does not exist, its MSB pointer will = 0, which is an illegal pointer address. Since there will be no data for this part, it is skipped, i.e., if part 04 is empty, part 05's data follows after part 03's data.
- There can be no gaps in the data. Part 01's data must follow directly after part 00's data, etc.
- Locations 0CFH-0D0H (start of free memory) and 0D3H-0D4H (length of free memory) must be kept valid.
The following is the format of each part, starting with the address pointed to byte the absolute pointer to the part (offset by 400H):
| Hex | Description |
|---|---|
| 00H | LSB of number of bytes in part, including header. |
| 01H | MSB of number of bytes in part, including header. |
| 02H | LSB of offset from start of part to address of start of track 8 data |
| 03H | MSB of offset from start of part to address of start of track 8 data |
| 04H | LSB of offset from start of part to address of start of track 7 data |
| 05H | MSB of offset from start of part to address of start of track 7 data |
| 06H | LSB of offset from start of part to address of start of track 6 data |
| 07H | MSB of offset from start of part to address of start of track 6 data |
| 08H | LSB of offset from start of part to address of start of track 5 data |
| 09H | MSB of offset from start of part to address of start of track 5 data |
| 0AH | LSB of offset from start of part to address of start of track 4 data |
| 0BH | MSB of offset from start of part to address of start of track 4 data |
| 0CH | LSB of offset from start of part to address of start of track 3 data |
| 0DH | MSB of offset from start of part to address of start of track 3 data |
| 0EH | LSB of offset from start of part to address of start of track 2 data |
| 0FH | MSB of offset from start of part to address of start of track 2 data |
| 10H | LSB of offset from start of part to address of start of track 1 data |
| 11H | MSB of offset from start of part to address of start of track 1 data |
| 12H | LSB of number of beats in part in BCD format (0 beats = empty part) |
| 13H | MSB of number of beats in part in BCD format (0 beats = empty part) |
| 14H | MIDI channel for track 8 (0=unchanged, or 1-16) |
| 15H | MIDI channel for track 7 (0=unchanged, or 1-16) |
| 16H | MIDI channel for track 6 (0=unchanged, or 1-16) |
| 17H | MIDI channel for track 5 (0=unchanged, or 1-16) |
| 18H | MIDI channel for track 4 (0=unchanged, or 1-16) |
| 19H | MIDI channel for track 3 (0=unchanged, or 1-16) |
| 1AH | MIDI channel for track 2 (0=unchanged, or 1-16) |
| 1BH | MIDI channel for track 1 (0=unchanged, or 1-16) |
| 1CH - 29H | 14 digit ASCII name of part |
| 2AH | ? Data for track 8 |
| ? | Data for track 7, etc... |
Note: setting the number of beats = 0 corresponds to an empty part. The MIDI channel must be either 0, meaning "UNCHANGED" or between 1 and 16.
Part data must follow these rules:
-
Track data must be in the order track 8 through track 1.
-
An empty track must exist as a track with no notes in it. The data for an empty track would be 7 bytes long, as follows:
80H, x (LSB), x(MSB), 00H, 80H, 00H, 00Hwith x = the number of clocks in the part, i.e., number of beats * 96. The number of clocks must be divisible by 96.
-
Adding the number of bytes in a part to the absolute pointer of a part should point to 1 byte past the last byte of the part.
Each data event within a track consists of either 7 or 5 bytes, depending on whether or not other events exists on that same clock step. The 7 byte format is as follows:
| Byte | Format | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1nnnnnnn | note or controller number |
| 2 | xxxxxxxx | absolute start time lsb |
| 3 | yyyyyyyy | absolute start time msb |
| 4 | zvvvvvvv | note/controller flag, velocity or controller amount |
| 5 | 0000cccc | MIDI channel number |
| 6 | 0aaaaaaa | note duration msb or pitch bend lsb |
| 7 | bbbbbbbb | note duration lsb or pitch bend msb |
The 5 byte format is similar, but does not include a start time:
| Byte | Format | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0nnnnnnn | note or controller number |
| 2 | zvvvvvvv | note/controller flag, velocity or controller amount |
| 3 | 0000cccc | MIDI channel number |
| 4 | 0aaaaaaa | note duration msb or pitch bend lsb |
| 5 | bbbbbbbb | note duration lsb or pitch bend msb |
Note that the most significant bit of each packet determines the length of the packet: A 7 byte packet has its 1st byte msb set to 1, while a 5 byte packet has the 1st byte msb set to 0. Each packet contains one of the following seven events: Note event (with duration), controller 0-121 event, program change event, after touch event, pitch bend event, sysex event, or end of track event. The five byte packet versions of these events are shown below. If the event is a seven byte packet, the second and third bytes will contain the clock count at which the event should occur. Each clock count = 1/384th note (4 times MIDI clock resolution), with 0000 = first beat of sequence. 5 byte packets always occur on the clock specified by the nearest 7 byte packet preceeding it.
Note format:
| Format | Description |
|---|---|
| 0nnnnnnn | Note number 0-127 |
| 0vvvvvvv | Velocity 1-127 |
| 0000cccc | MIDI channel number 0 through 15 |
| 0aaaaaaa | Note duration msb (number of clocks until note off) |
| bbbbbbbb | Note duration lsb (number of clocks until note off) |
Controller 0-121 format:
| Format | Description |
|---|---|
| 0nnnnnnn | Controller number 0-121 |
| 1vvvvvvv | Controller amount |
| 0000cccc | MIDI channel number 0-15 |
| 00000000 | not used |
| 00000000 | not used |
Program change format:
| Format | Description |
|---|---|
| 01111010 | Program change flag (122) |
| 1vvvvvvv | Program number 0-127 |
| 0000cccc | MIDI channel number 0-15 |
| 00000000 | not used |
| 00000000 | not used |
After touch change format:
| Format | Description |
|---|---|
| 01111011 | After touch flag (123) |
| 1vvvvvvv | After touch amount 0-127 |
| 0000cccc | MIDI channel number 0-15 |
| 00000000 | not used |
| 00000000 | not used |
Pitch bend format:
| Format | Description |
|---|---|
| 01111100 | Pitch bend flag (124) |
| 10000000 | not used |
| 0000cccc | MIDI channel number 0-15 |
| 0aaaaaaa | Pitch bend lsb |
| 0bbbbbbb | Pitch bend msb |
Sysex format:
| Format | Description |
|---|---|
| 01111101 | Sysex flag (125) |
| 1vvvvvvv | sysex byte 0-127 |
| bccccccc | b=1=EOX, b=0 then c=sysex byte |
| 00000000 | not used |
| deeeeeee | d=1=EOX, d=0 then e=sysex byte |
A sysex message ends (and an EOX is sent) whenever bits b or d are high, or a new 7 byte packet occurs, or a packet other than sysex occurs. The sysex message can be as long as necessary by having consecutive 5 byte sysex packets.
End of track format:
| Format | Description |
|---|---|
| 80H | # clocks lsb, # clocks msb, 0, 80H, 0, 0 |
The number of clocks should equal the number of beats in the sequence multiplied by 96.
The following is the format of each song, starting with the address pointed to by the absolute pointer to the part (offset by 400H):
| Byte | Description |
|---|---|
| 00H | LSB of number of bytes in song, including header. |
| 01H | MSB of number of bytes in song, including header. |
| 02H | Tempo of song, in BPM |
| 03H-10H | 14 digit ASCII name of song |
| 11H | Step 1 part number (00-99) |
| 12H | Step 1 play tracks (bit 0=track 1, bit 7=track 8; 0=off, 1=on) |
| 13H | Step 2 part number |
| 14H | Step 2 play tracks |
| 15H | etc.... |
| xxH | Part number 0FFH (end of song) |
Song data must follow these rules:
- Part numbers 100-254 are not allowed.
- There cannot be more than 255 steps in a song.
- Adding the number of bytes in a song to the absolute pointer of a song should point to 1 byte past the last byte of the song.