Do you use MIDI?

[ishboo]

I was just on the phone with Lehigh who makes our light board on the topic of the MIDI controls that they advertise are working on their console however they have yet to get around to programming it. Their reasoning was this "MIDI is very rarely used in a theatrical setting so it is the least of their concerns". I know it isn't that common but I've used it for a handful of projects so my question is this: In theatrical settings have you ever used MIDI or is it as rare as they say it is?

[JChenault]

I voted yes - but...

I am a developer of a moving light program intended to work in conjunction with a conventional console. Out product supports midi - (among other interface methods) and I am testing it in a show now.

Would I be using it if I were not using our moving light console - no. But I am using it right now in our venue.

[derekleffew]

Originally Posted by ishboo

...or is it as rare as they say it is?

One can't help but wonder why every other console manufacturer implements some MIDI capabilities if there was no demand? I can't think of a (decent) console that doesn't have MIDI!

[ishboo]

Thank you. I know it's not in the highest of demand but people do use it and I've been waiting almost 2 years for our console to implement it, I've had countless promises and excuses from Lehigh about it's coming soon when all of their spec sheets and brochures say it is a working feature. I'm glad I'm not going crazy there is some demand for MIDI.

[porkchop]

Although (on the Maxxyz at least) it's communicated through 3 pin XLR isn't SMPTE run through the MIDI protocol. Could be totally wrong but that's what I thought (looked in the glossary for a reminder but still not sure). If so all three touring High School Musical on Ice units used it for about 600 lighting cues per show and all of our video, all sent from the sound board (8 - 12+ shows a week). I'd say it was pretty important to us.

[derekleffew]

Bacon-Ax, you're confusing SMPTE LTC with MTC. Some consoles can only implement timecode via MIDI, but if it has an XLR3, it takes SMPTE directly. I'm fairly certain the Maxxyz, as with most upper-level consoles, can do either.

[porkchop]

Originally Posted by derekleffew

Bacon-Ax, you're confusing SMPTE LTC with MTC. Some consoles can only implement timecode via MIDI, but if it has an XLR3, it takes SMPTE directly. I'm fairly certain the Maxxyz, as with most upper-level consoles, can do either.

It probably can, it has one input labeled MIDI with the usual connector, but the one labeled SMPTE is 3 pin XLR. I thought I read somewhere that SMPTE was based on MIDI, but I guess not.

[NickJones]

Our vision mixer can interact with the auido desk so when I switch to a DVD or Computer, it automaticly brings up the volume for the video. Problem is we don't own a didgital audio desk, so it's not much use. It's not much use to hook up to a keyboard (piano) or anything, but I'm pretty sure that you can use it with software and a MIDI to USB controller to sync music up to lights.
Nick

[Eboy87]

Not lighting related, but on Miss Saigon, we had the Cadac fire a MIDI message to Qlab for sound effects. For those cues, just hit next on the Cadac, and not only were the correct channels unmuted, but Qlab fired the sfx with that one button press. Very handy.

[calkew5]

We also use MIDI with Qlab to activate sound cues from the light console. I understand it can work both ways, whether Qlab fires light cues or the console fires sound cues. It saves having to pay two board ops.