Digital organs keyboards midi channel settings.

Mojo Classic or Suitcase (and in some way also the Mojo61 considering the fact that is cloning a full console especially when the lower manual is plugged) are instruments with two keyboards: how are MIDI channels managed? There isn't an universal standard but many manufacturers decided to use the same setting that we are using. A standard double manual organ full set consists of controls (like drawbars, potentiometers, buttons), upper manual, lower manual and a pedalboard set. This is the standard we are using:

Controls and upper manual are in the same MIDI channel (default is CH1) - we call this "BASIC MIDI CHANNEL"

Lower Manual is on MIDI CH2

Pedalboard is on MIDI CH3

These channels can be modified (for example for Mojo Classic and Suitcase using the editor) but they need to be consecutive; for example, you can choose to have the BASIC MIDI CHANNEL set to 5, accordingly (and automatically) the lower manual will be on CH6 and the pedalboard will be on CH7. If you set the BASIC MIDI CHANNEL to 16, lower manual will be on CH1, pedalboard will be on CH2. 

What written about also applies to Mojo61: for example when you would like to connect via MIDI another keyboard and you would like to use that keyboard as a lower manual. Be sure that it sends MIDI ON/OFF notes on MIDI CH2 (or Basic +1).

Please do not confuse the MIDI channels of the two manuals with the MIDI messages associated with the drawbars. The MIDI messages to control the lower manual do not have to be sent in MIDI channel 2, they are just a different set of control changes compared to the upper manual drawbars messages. Our instruments send CC from 12 to 20 on MIDI channel 1 for the upper manual drawbars and CC from 21 to 29 on MIDI channel 1 for the lower manual.

The Mojo Classic and Mojo Suitcase also include an interesting feature related to their ability to function as advanced master keyboards for controlling external instruments. When the Upper or Lower “Cancel” function is activated, the internal sound engine is disabled (because in Cancel mode they behave like a tonewheel organ). However, externally—via MIDI or USB-MIDI—the channels are shifted by +3 relative to the Basic Channel.

So, for example, if the Basic Channel is set to 1, then in Cancel mode the keyboard will transmit on:

• Channel 4 for the Upper manual

• Channel 5 for the Lower manual

Why is this useful?

Imagine you want to control a piano module and you want the piano sound exclusively, without hearing the Mojo Classic’s internal sound. All you need to do is set your external module to receive on channel 4, and whenever you want to play that sound alone, simply activate Cancel mode.

You can even control two external modules simultaneously: one receiving on channel 4 and the other on channel 5, driven respectively by the Upper and Lower manuals.