QUICK START GUIDE
If you are new to MIDI, new to music apps on the iPad and iPhone, or for any other reason you can't get your St. Just in Roseland Church Organ to make sounds, follow this step-by-step guide. If you reach the end of this, you will be making music. Here we go.
FIVE STEPS
There are five short and simple steps to getting you up and running -
1) Check that your device can see your MIDI controller keyboard(s)
2) Check that the St. Just in Roseland Organ app can see your MIDI controller keyboard(s)
3) Correctly configure the MIDI settings of your keyboard(s) for your intended use
4) Correctly configure the MIDI settings of the app for your intended use
5) Make sure your audio settings in the app are correct
There are five short and simple steps to getting you up and running -
1) Check that your device can see your MIDI controller keyboard(s)
2) Check that the St. Just in Roseland Organ app can see your MIDI controller keyboard(s)
3) Correctly configure the MIDI settings of your keyboard(s) for your intended use
4) Correctly configure the MIDI settings of the app for your intended use
5) Make sure your audio settings in the app are correct
1) Check that your device can see your MIDI controller keyboard(s)
We strongly recommend that you download MIDI Wrench - this will let you set up your device and keyboard(s) independently of the St Just in Roseland Organ app - once you are past this step you can focus on the app.
You need to connect your keyboard or keyboards to your device. Whether you have an iPhone or iPad, this step is the same.
You will need a 'Camera Connection Kit' to allow your device to connect to USB MIDI keyboards. If you are using an old iPad 2 or iPad 3, they look like A) - a 30-pin dock connector on one side, a USB port on the other.
If you have a more modern 'lightning' interface device you can use either an Apple 'USB3 to Lightning' connector or one of the inexpensive clones which work fine - B)
Some keyboards require more power than the device can provide, and will not work when plugged directly into the camera adapter. If this is the case with your keyboard, you will need to buy a 'Powered USB Hub'. With a powered hub the keyboard draws its power from the hub rather than from the iPad / iPhone. You will definitely need a powered hub if you want to use 2 keyboards, or 2 keyboards and pedals with your St Just in Roseland Church Organ.
Now you have your MIDI keyboard(s) connected to your device, start Midi Wrench. Here you can see an iPad connected directly to a keyboard, with MIDI Wrench running, and you can see that MIDI Wrench has recognised the keyboard, it is seeing the volume control being changed and notes being played.
We strongly recommend that you download MIDI Wrench - this will let you set up your device and keyboard(s) independently of the St Just in Roseland Organ app - once you are past this step you can focus on the app.
You need to connect your keyboard or keyboards to your device. Whether you have an iPhone or iPad, this step is the same.
You will need a 'Camera Connection Kit' to allow your device to connect to USB MIDI keyboards. If you are using an old iPad 2 or iPad 3, they look like A) - a 30-pin dock connector on one side, a USB port on the other.
If you have a more modern 'lightning' interface device you can use either an Apple 'USB3 to Lightning' connector or one of the inexpensive clones which work fine - B)
Some keyboards require more power than the device can provide, and will not work when plugged directly into the camera adapter. If this is the case with your keyboard, you will need to buy a 'Powered USB Hub'. With a powered hub the keyboard draws its power from the hub rather than from the iPad / iPhone. You will definitely need a powered hub if you want to use 2 keyboards, or 2 keyboards and pedals with your St Just in Roseland Church Organ.
Now you have your MIDI keyboard(s) connected to your device, start Midi Wrench. Here you can see an iPad connected directly to a keyboard, with MIDI Wrench running, and you can see that MIDI Wrench has recognised the keyboard, it is seeing the volume control being changed and notes being played.
You need to get to this point, where your device is seeing MIDI inputs from your keyboards - MIDI Wrench is an excellent diagnostic tool, and it is free - we highly recommend it.
Once you reach this point, onto step 2.
Once you reach this point, onto step 2.
2) Check that the St. Just in Roseland Church Organ app can see your MIDI controller keyboard(s)
Once your device can detect the presence of your MIDI keyboards, this part should be straightforward. Launch the St. Just in Roseland Church Organ app. This image is from an iPhone SE, it will be a slightly different aspect ratio on an iPad, but otherwise identical.
Once your device can detect the presence of your MIDI keyboards, this part should be straightforward. Launch the St. Just in Roseland Church Organ app. This image is from an iPhone SE, it will be a slightly different aspect ratio on an iPad, but otherwise identical.
The three 'indicator LEDs' on the console will flash when they see MIDI activity on the keyboards (manuals and pedalboard).
Initially we want to verify that we are seeing MIDI within the app, so go into app 'Settings' (press the white gear wheel icon at the bottom left of the screen). This will take you into the iOS 'Settings' app. Scroll down until you find the setting labelled 'Single keyboard / OMNI mode' and turn that setting ON.
This tells the organ to respond to treat all connected keyboards, no matter what MIDI channel they are transmitting on, as though they were the Great.
Now go back to the organ app. Now when you play any notes on the keyboard, the blue indicator light by the word 'GREAT' should flash. If this happens, your app is seeing MIDI activity from your keyboards.
There are only two cases where this might not happen, and you need to be aware of them. MIDI channel 16 is reserved for internal use by the organ. Make sure your MIDI keyboards are not transmitting on MIDI channel 16.
Similarly, MIDI channel 10 is historically associated with drums. This historical connection means that the vast majority of MIDI keyboards that feature 'Drum Pads' will use MIDI channel 10 to transmit drum pad information. We use Drum Pads to control Pistons within the app, so if your keyboard is programmed to send notes on MIDI channel 10, change it to something else.
Do not pass this point until your blue light is flashing! What this means in practice is, MAKE SURE YOUR MIDI KEYBOARD IS NOT SENDING NOTES ON CHANNEL 16 OR CHANNEL 10.
If you have reached this point, your MIDI controllers are connected, your device is seeing them, and the organ is seeing them. Nearly there!
Initially we want to verify that we are seeing MIDI within the app, so go into app 'Settings' (press the white gear wheel icon at the bottom left of the screen). This will take you into the iOS 'Settings' app. Scroll down until you find the setting labelled 'Single keyboard / OMNI mode' and turn that setting ON.
This tells the organ to respond to treat all connected keyboards, no matter what MIDI channel they are transmitting on, as though they were the Great.
Now go back to the organ app. Now when you play any notes on the keyboard, the blue indicator light by the word 'GREAT' should flash. If this happens, your app is seeing MIDI activity from your keyboards.
There are only two cases where this might not happen, and you need to be aware of them. MIDI channel 16 is reserved for internal use by the organ. Make sure your MIDI keyboards are not transmitting on MIDI channel 16.
Similarly, MIDI channel 10 is historically associated with drums. This historical connection means that the vast majority of MIDI keyboards that feature 'Drum Pads' will use MIDI channel 10 to transmit drum pad information. We use Drum Pads to control Pistons within the app, so if your keyboard is programmed to send notes on MIDI channel 10, change it to something else.
Do not pass this point until your blue light is flashing! What this means in practice is, MAKE SURE YOUR MIDI KEYBOARD IS NOT SENDING NOTES ON CHANNEL 16 OR CHANNEL 10.
If you have reached this point, your MIDI controllers are connected, your device is seeing them, and the organ is seeing them. Nearly there!
3) Correctly configure the MIDI settings of your keyboard(s) for your intended use
What you need to do next depends on whether you want to use one keyboard or two with the organ.
I am using a single keyboard
You are good to go to step 4
I am using a two keyboards
You need to set your MIDI keyboards to transmit on different channels. This is usually very straightforward from the front panel of your keyboard, but you may need to read the user manuals of your keyboards. Our preferred setting is
GREAT : MIDI channel 1
SWELL : MIDI channel 2
PEDAL : MIDI channel 3
Once you have set up the MIDI channels of your keyboards, make sure the blue light still flashes when you play notes on either keyboard. All good? Step four!
What you need to do next depends on whether you want to use one keyboard or two with the organ.
I am using a single keyboard
You are good to go to step 4
I am using a two keyboards
You need to set your MIDI keyboards to transmit on different channels. This is usually very straightforward from the front panel of your keyboard, but you may need to read the user manuals of your keyboards. Our preferred setting is
GREAT : MIDI channel 1
SWELL : MIDI channel 2
PEDAL : MIDI channel 3
Once you have set up the MIDI channels of your keyboards, make sure the blue light still flashes when you play notes on either keyboard. All good? Step four!
4) Correctly configure the MIDI settings of the app for your intended use
If you are using a single keyboard, just leave the app in 'Single keyboard / OMNI mode' and you are done - go to step 5
If you are using two keyboards, enter the Settings app again (white gearwheel, bottom left)
Now do the following :
Turn off 'Single Keyboard / OMNI mode'
Within the same group of settings you will see settings for
Great channel
Swell channel
Pedal channel
Simply set these up to match the MIDI channels your keyboards are transmitting on. Again, for simplicity we recommend Great on 1, Swell on 2, Pedal on 3.
Once these are set up, you should see a change - now when you play the Great keyboard, the blue LED on GREAT will flash as before. But when you play Swell you should see the green LED on Swell flashing. If so, you are in good shape. If you are lucky enough to have a set of pedals, configure the pedals in the same way - set your physical pedals to output on a different channel to your Swell and Great manuals, and set the receiving Pedal channel in the app to match that.
Now you should see the purple LED flash when you play the pedals.
Now you MIDI setup is pretty much done, but again if you are lucky enough to own a set of pedals you will want to configure your Swell and possibly Crescendo pedals - now you know how to do this, it is straightforward. And when you press the Swell pedal, you will see one of the LEDs flash if the swell pedal channel corresponds to Great, Swell or Pedal.
At this point you are ready to play the organ. But one last step - make sure your audio is configured correctly.
If you are using a single keyboard, just leave the app in 'Single keyboard / OMNI mode' and you are done - go to step 5
If you are using two keyboards, enter the Settings app again (white gearwheel, bottom left)
Now do the following :
Turn off 'Single Keyboard / OMNI mode'
Within the same group of settings you will see settings for
Great channel
Swell channel
Pedal channel
Simply set these up to match the MIDI channels your keyboards are transmitting on. Again, for simplicity we recommend Great on 1, Swell on 2, Pedal on 3.
Once these are set up, you should see a change - now when you play the Great keyboard, the blue LED on GREAT will flash as before. But when you play Swell you should see the green LED on Swell flashing. If so, you are in good shape. If you are lucky enough to have a set of pedals, configure the pedals in the same way - set your physical pedals to output on a different channel to your Swell and Great manuals, and set the receiving Pedal channel in the app to match that.
Now you should see the purple LED flash when you play the pedals.
Now you MIDI setup is pretty much done, but again if you are lucky enough to own a set of pedals you will want to configure your Swell and possibly Crescendo pedals - now you know how to do this, it is straightforward. And when you press the Swell pedal, you will see one of the LEDs flash if the swell pedal channel corresponds to Great, Swell or Pedal.
At this point you are ready to play the organ. But one last step - make sure your audio is configured correctly.
5) Make sure your audio settings in the app are correct
One final warning - device volume and MIDI volume.
Device Volume
iOS 12 (and possibly earlier versions as well) seems to remember the previous volume setting of individual apps, and automatically apply that when the app launches. So if your organ is silent even with lots of stops out, check the volume setting on your device, it may have gone down as you launched the organ.
MIDI Volume
MIDI controller 7 is used by the app to set overall organ volume. If your keyboard has a 'Volume' slider, that will output MIDI Controller 7, and the app will respond by changing the volume of the organ. So if everything is silent or quiet, make sure your MIDI volume is not all the way down.
One final warning - device volume and MIDI volume.
Device Volume
iOS 12 (and possibly earlier versions as well) seems to remember the previous volume setting of individual apps, and automatically apply that when the app launches. So if your organ is silent even with lots of stops out, check the volume setting on your device, it may have gone down as you launched the organ.
MIDI Volume
MIDI controller 7 is used by the app to set overall organ volume. If your keyboard has a 'Volume' slider, that will output MIDI Controller 7, and the app will respond by changing the volume of the organ. So if everything is silent or quiet, make sure your MIDI volume is not all the way down.