Staff Instrument Dialog

Command Location: Staves Menu / Choose Staff Instrument

There are 3 types of 'Instrument' Dialog:

The Staff Instrument dialog allows you to:

The dialog is very similar to Staff Manager but the key difference is that the Staff Instrument dialog can be opened during playback (via the Staves Menu or Staff Tools) and certain staff properties may be edited ‘on the fly’.  The Staff Manager cannot be opened during playback.

Apply/Apply Now The Apply button applies all of the changes made without the need to close the dialog box by hitting the OK button.

If you would like your changes to be made immediately, use The Apply Now button. When this button is used any changes made to the staves will be reflected on the score straightaway, without the need to click the Apply button.

Applying Instrument Changes Quickly

As well as using the Apply/Apply Now buttons, you can instantly apply instrument changes by double-clicking an instrument name in the instrument list.  If the Apply button is available, double-clicking the list will have the effect of pressing this button, effecting the new instrument immediately.

Name Displays the Full Name of the selected staff, e.g. Staff 1 (Acoustic Grand Piano). The Name may be edited.

Staff namings are displayed as rich text objects so font formatting is possible using the right-click context menu in the edit boxes.

Short Displays the Short Name of the selected staff, e.g. a staff with the full name of ‘Staff 1 (Acoustic Grand Piano)’ may have ‘Aco Gra Pia’ as its short name. The Short Name may be edited.
Device Assuming more than one device is available, others can be selected using this drop down box. To change the list of devices see the MIDI Playback tab in Program Options.
Channel Any channel from 1 to 16 may be selected from the drop down box.

Note: Generally Channel 10 is used to play a particular group of drum instruments. If a given staff is using Channel 10, then MidiIllustrator will assume it contains drum notes.

For more information see the MIDI Channels and Drum Instruments section.

Transpose This drop down box enables you to transpose only the note sounds on a selected staff.  See Transpose note sounds in the MIDI Configuration section of the Staff Manager Dialog for more information.
Bank 0 Allows you to access different banks on the current MIDI device using the Coarse Adjust Method (#0).

For more information see Bank Select.

Bank 32 Allows you to access different banks on the current MIDI device using the Fine Adjust Method (#32).

For more information see Bank Select.

Volume Level The volume level can be changed using the slide control. The range is 0 (muted) to 127 (maximum volume).

The default setting for MIDI files that do not specify a value for volume is 64.

Pan A pan setting of 64 means that the stereo balance is equal on the left and right channels, and this is the default behaviour for MIDI files that do not specify a value for pan.

You may wish to change the stereo balance so that it is higher or lower on one side using the slide control. The lower the number the more the balance is on the left channel, and conversely the higher the number the more the balance is on the right channel.

Audition Instrument When an instrument has been selected from the Instrument Display Window, press this button to hear what the instrument sounds like.
Instrument The Instrument Display Window lists up to 128 instruments, any one of which may be selected for a specific staff or staves.