MIDI and Johannus Organs

When I was asked to research the MIDI capabilities of our church's Johannus Rembrandt 2900 digital organ, I discovered there was some information available about using MIDI with other manufacturers organs, but little information about using MIDI with Johannus organs. I hope this page will help others who are trying to use MIDI with their Johannus organs.

Specifically the organ I am working with is a Johannus Rembrandt 2900 Platinum Edition. It is a two manual instrument. It is a digital organ only, no pipes. Johannus http://www.johannus.com is a Holland-based company that historically had built primarily digital organs. However, recently they have also began building some “hybrid” organs, which contain a mix of pipe ranks, and digital stops.

I found very little information specific to Johannus' MIDI implementation available on the Internet. I did find this page http://www.tadstone.com/Stop_schemes.htm which does explain several other manufacturer's schemes for selecting stops on organs. Unfortunately Johannus is not listed. Johannus uses a scheme similar to Wyvern, but thankfully Johannus included a means to turn all stops off (i.e. 'General Cancel'). Johannus uses a SYSEX command for general cancel.

What you will need

1. Of course an organ with MIDI capability (these pages are dedicated to Johannus' MIDI implementation)

2. A Computer-a laptop is very convenient as it can be carried to and from the organ (much easier than the organ can be moved to the computer!)

3. A MIDI cable. I am using a USB-MIDI cable, which was ordered on Ebay. They are generally less than $10.

4. Some type of sequencing software. There is a lot of this available, some free, and some rather expensive. Cakewalk Sonar is probably the best known, but can be expensive for the hobbyist. I have been using and strongly recommend Anvil Studio http://www.anvilstudio.com You can download a free version which is quite capable. They sell various options which expand upon the capabilities of the free version. More about Anvil later.

5. MIDI-OX software. MIDI-OX http://www.midiox.com is a free MIDI utility program. It may not be absolutely required, if you can find documentation for the program numbers your organ uses for its various stops. But MIDI-OX is a useful MIDI tool that allows you to find out what those program change numbers are for each stop on your organ. Johannus does not have a standardized list of program numbers for each stop. (at least if they do, I have been unable to find it). So the pedal Gedackt 8' stop may be program number 4 on one instrument, but the same stop could have a different program number on a different Johannus organ. With MIDI-OX you can run the software, and individually turn each stop on and off, and as you are doing so document the program change numbers that the organ is sending to MIDI-OX.

6. An owner's manual for your organ. Again this may not be absolutely necessary, but is likely to be very helpful. I will try to give you enough information here to get started, but a book for your instrument will likely have more useful specific information for your organ.

7. You will need some MIDI files to play. If you are musically inclined and reading this you probably already know how to make your own. My primary interest is music for Lutheran worship services, and there is a nice library of public domain hymns published by Rev. Richard Jordan at http://www.lutheran-hymnal.com Another resource which sells collections of MIDI files at reasonable prices is http://www.lutheranmusic.com Doing an Internet search for MIDI files, will turn up many more resources.

Cabling

I am using a USB to MIDI cable. The "MIDI out" from the computer cable plugs into the "MIDI in" on the organ, and the "MIDI in" from the computer cable is plugged into "MIDI seq" on the organ.

Johannus MIDI implementation

Johannus uses channel #1 for the lowest keyboard (or manual) on an organ, then counts up for the manuals, and the pedals are always the last number (yes I know the pedals are lower than the lowest manual, but that's just the way it is). Channel 12 is always used for stop information. All stop information for all the keyboards (including the pedalboard) is transmitted on channel 12. You will sometimes see the word “division” used instead of keyboard or manual. The stop information is sent as "Program Change" commands. Sending a program change on channel 12 will toggle a specific stop.

So for example, on a two manual organ; channel #1 is the great manual, channel #2 is the swell keyboard, channel #3 is the pedals, and channel #12 is devoted to the stops.

On a three manual organ: channel #1 is the choir keyboard (or division), channel #2 is the great division, channel #3 is the swell division, channel #4 is the pedal division, and channel #12 is used for stops.

The Johannus Rembrandt 2900 Platinum Edition I am working with is a two manual organ. I am including a list of the stop numbers for it, but it is possible that your stop numbers may be different (even if you have a Rembrandt 2900). That is where MIDI-OX is useful.

The SYSEX command to turn all stops off is F0 00 4A 4F 48 41 53 7F F7

Important: In Anvil Studio, go to Edit->Preferences, select the “MIDI” tab, and check “Record and Play SysEx MIDI events.” If you do not do this, then all your stops will not turn off when you send the SysEx command.

Note that the numbers you see in the list above are what will appear when you look at the program change events in the event list. Because of the way MIDI numbers programs, you would add 1 to those if you were inserting the program changes from a list of programs. For example, in “General MIDI” the programs start at patch #1 (which happens to be Acoustic Grand Piano), but if you insert that program change into your MIDI file, you will see that the program change event inserted is actually to a number 0. This becomes relevant because Anvil Studio offers multiple ways you can insert program change events into a MIDI file.

Sequencing Hardware/Software

Johannus MIDI Sequencer

As this is a site about using MIDI with Johannus' products, I would be remiss if I did not mention the Johannus MIDI Sequencer +. I have not (yet) had the opportunity to use one, but have had a chance to read some documentation for it. It is basically a sequencer that is designed to be both simple to run, and to aesthically complement a Johannus organ. (A laptop or computer monitor setting on/next to the organ console may put off some people). The Johannus MIDI sequencer uses an SD card to store songs, and has a very few buttons for control. If you have the budget for one, and only need to play back hymns, preludes, etc. that were originally recorded at the organ, or sequenced on a computer, then this device is likely quite useful. If any readers have experience with the Johannus MIDI sequencer, and would like to share their comments, I will make an attempt to collect them and post them here. But all of my experience to date has been using computer software (specifically Anvil Studio) for the sequencing application.

From what I can tell, a PC running sequencer software can do anything this Johannus MIDI sequncer can do, but the Johannus product has less of a learning curve, and just looks nicer. I believe the Johannus product sells for approximately $1600.

Anvil Studio

If you want to be able to manipulate MIDI files, then you are likely going to want some kind of MIDI sequencer software that can run on a computer. When I started with this project I found and used Anvil Studio because it was free. I learned that it not only is very capable, but has excellent support. I began with ver 2009.11.08, and am now using 2011.04.01. The older version seems more stable, but the new version has a very nice feature which allows you to Insert a Program Change on another track.

I started with the free version and used it for quite a while. I did eventually purchase the “Combo Pack” for $59. It includes several features. The multi-track feature lets you view multiple tracks in the “composer” view simulteonesly. This is a nice feature for viewing the great, swell, and pedal tracks.

I generally set up four tracks in my MIDI files. One for the great (channel 1), one for the swell (channel 2), one for the pedals (channel 3), and finally one for the stops (channel 12). The first three tracks will have notes, while the fourth will not need notes, but will have program change events, and probably a SYSEX event to turn all stops off at the beginning of the song.

Tip: In Anvil Studio send a SYSEX command at the beginning of a song before you turn any stops on. If you don't do this you won't know the state of stops, and a Program change could be turning off stops that are already on.

Tip 2: Wait at least 10 ticks after an “All stops off” command, before turning on the first stop. I have found that if I don't do this sometimes the first stop I turn on gets turned back off. I assume this is happening because it takes longer for the SYSEX to finish running, than it does for the Program Change to occur.

I usually use the “Insert MIDI controller” to insert program change events. This gives you more granular control of the exact time when commands are sent, than the “Insert Program Change” Event does. But the “Insert Program Change” is very useful when looking at sheet music (i.e "Composer" view) and you want to insert a stop change somewhere in the music.

Sample MIDI files

Scale, then Add Stop and Play Another Scale

This is a very simple MIDI that plays two C major scales on the great manual. Before the first scale is played a SysEx is sent to turn all stops off. Then 10 ticks after that, a program change 28 is sent on channel 12 which turns on the Great-Mixture VI stop. After the first scale is played a program change 25 is sent on channel 12. This turns on the Rohrflute 8' stop on the great. Then the second scale is played. After this piece finishes both the Mixture VI and the Rohrflute 8' stop will still be on. The screen shot below shows the Event list view (for the "Stops" track) in Anvil Studio. Event 5 sends the SysEx to turn all stops off, event 6 turns on Mixture VI, event 7, sends the program change to turn on Rohrflute 8. stops2-prog-change-after-sysex.mid