2012-12-31

Dissecting the Multitimbral Patch Format of the Waldorf Blofeld Using midisnoop

Lately, I've been interested in writing a software editor for my Waldorf Blofeld. In particular, I wanted to be able to edit multi-timbral patches on my Blofeld. Unfortunately, while Waldorf has released a system exclusive message specification that contains the format for mono-timbral patches, they have not released information on the format for multi-timbral patches.

A couple days ago, I released a program called midisnoop that allows a user to send custom messages to a MIDI port and to monitor the messages that come out of another MIDI port. I wrote this program with the intention of probing my MIDI-enabled hardware, and the first hardware I decided to probe was my Blofeld.

I started by doing a little research. The Blofeld system exclusive specification contain data regarding the format of system exclusive messages that can be used to communicate with the Blofeld. Here's the basic format:

HexDescription
f0Start of sysex message
3eWaldorf Music manufacturer ID
13Blofeld ID
(DD)Device ID
(MM)Message Type ID
(HH)Location High Byte
(LL)Location Low Byte
(Data Bytes)Data Bytes pertaining to the type of message (not always necessary)
(CS)Checksum byte (not always necessary)
f7End of sysex message

The document also defines some message types:

HexDescription
00Sound Data Request
10Sound Data Dump
20Sound Parameter Change
04Global Data Request
14Global Data Dump

The sound data types above are for monotimbral patches.  The document also goes into how you can access sound parameters from each part of the currently loaded multitimbral patch, but doesn't go into how to access the actual parameters of a multitimbral patch.

There's more data in the document too, on the format of monotimbral patches, the exact format of the above message types, the format of global data, and how a Blofeld responds to device inquiry messages.  I'm not going into that here.

This data is helpful, but it didn't solve my problem.  I started looking for documentation on other multitimbral synths made by Waldorf, and came across this fantastic document on Waldorf synthesizers.  This document contained information on the MIDI implementations of the Waldorf Q, Q+, and microQ.  In particular, all three of the synths used the same general message format as the Waldorf Blofeld, and used the same message type byte to request multitimbral patch data, which is:

HexDescription
f0Start of sysex message
3eWaldorf Music manufacturer ID
13Blofeld ID
(DD)Device ID
01Multitimbral Patch Request ID
(BB)Location High Byte
(LL)Location Low Byte
f7End of sysex message

Cool!  I fired up my Blofeld, and started midisnoop.  I connected midisnoop to my Blofeld, making sure that system exclusive events won't be ignored:


... composed my MIDI message:


... and sent it off:


The Blofeld sent me back something!  Let's disect the data.  Here's the data contained in the system exclusive message:

3e 13 00 11 00 00 49 6e 69 74 20 4d 75 6c 74 69 20 20 20 20 20 20 00 7f
37 01 00 02 04 0b 0c 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 02 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 03 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 04 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 05 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 06 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 07 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 08 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 09 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 0a 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 0b 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 0c 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 0d 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 0e 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 0f 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 10 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 11 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 7b

This might seem overwhelming at first, but there are patterns here.  See the row of '7f' at the end there?  And there's another row of '00' next to it.  There's a method to this madness.

Let's start by eliminating the bytes that belong to the message and not the multitimbral patch itself.  Using the basic Blofeld message format I referenced above, I can see that the first 6 bytes belong to the MIDI message:

HexDescription
3eWaldorf Music manufacturer ID
13Blofeld ID
(DD)Device ID
11Multitimbral Patch Dump ID
(HH)Location High Byte
(LL)Location Low Byte

... and the last byte also belongs to the MIDI message:

HexDescription
CSChecksum byte

So, let's eliminate those bytes and see what we have left:

49 6e 69 74 20 4d 75 6c 74 69 20 20 20 20 20 20 00 7f
37 01 00 02 04 0b 0c 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 02 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 03 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 04 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 05 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 06 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 07 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 08 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 09 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 0a 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 0b 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 0c 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 0d 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 0e 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 0f 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 10 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 11 00 7f
01 7f 07 3f 01 3f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

Now, let's look in the Blofeld manual.  There's a section on multis, and their parameters.  A multi has the following parameters:

  • Name
  • Tempo
  • 16 parts

Each of the 16 parts has the following parameters:

  • Sound Bank (A ... H)
  • Sound Number (0 ... 127)
  • Mixer Volume (0 ... 127)
  • Pan (L64 - R63)
  • Transpose (-48 - +48)
  • Detune (-64 - +63)
  • Channel (Global, Omni, 1 - 16)
  • Low Key (0 ... 127)
  • High Key (0 ... 127)
  • Low Velocity (1 ... 127)
  • High Velocity (1 ... 127)
  • Status (play/mute)
  • MIDI (ignore/receive)
  • USB (ignore/receive)
  • Local (ignore/receive)
  • Pitch Bend (ignore/receive)
  • Mod Wheel (ignore/receive)
  • Pressure (ignore/receive)
  • Sustain (ignore/receive)
  • Edits (ignore/receive)
  • Prg Change (ignore/receive)

Let's start by finding the name.  Names of Blofeld patches are 16 letters long.  We'll change the name of the first multi using the Blofeld to "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP", save the multi, fetch the data again using midisnoop, and look for a series of 16 ascending hex bytes:


Here's the next mass of hex bytes, sans message data:

41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 4a 4b 4c 4d 4e 4f 50 00 7f 37 01 00 02 04 0b
0c 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 7f 00 70 7f 02 00 7f 01 7f 07 3f 01 3f
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 03 00 7f 01 7f 07 3f 01 3f
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 04 00 7f 01 7f 07 3f 01 3f
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 05 00 7f 01 7f 07 3f 01 3f
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 06 00 7f 01 7f 07 3f 01 3f
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 07 00 7f 01 7f 07 3f 01 3f
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 08 00 7f 01 7f 07 3f 01 3f
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 09 00 7f 01 7f 07 3f 01 3f
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 0a 00 7f 01 7f 07 3f 01 3f
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 0b 00 7f 01 7f 07 3f 01 3f
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 0c 00 7f 01 7f 07 3f 01 3f
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 0d 00 7f 01 7f 07 3f 01 3f
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 0e 00 7f 01 7f 07 3f 01 3f
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 0f 00 7f 01 7f 07 3f 01 3f
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 10 00 7f 01 7f 07 3f 01 3f
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64 40 00 40 40 11 00 7f 01 7f 07 3f 01 3f
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 32

Right at the beginning, there are 16 hex bytes in ascending order.  We now know where the name is stored!

We can do this with the rest of the parameters, changing them one at a time to figure out the Blofeld's multitimbral patch format.  I'm not going to go into detail about how to find every parameter in this post.  Suffice to say that I meticulously went through the parameters, and used midisnoop to check the Blofeld's data for each parameter.

Here are the results:

Multi Format

BytesDescription
0-15Name
16?
17Multi Volume
18Tempo
19-24?
25-31(Reserved?)
32-55Part 1
56-79Part 2
80-103Part 3
104-127Part 4
128-151Part 5
152-175Part 6
176-199Part 7
200-223Part 8
224-247Part 9
248-271Part 10
272-295Part 11
296-319Part 12
320-343Part 13
344-367Part 14
368-391Part 15
392-415Part 16

Multi Part Format

BytesDescription
0Sound Bank
1Sound Number
2Mixer Volume
3Pan
4(Reserved?)
5Transpose
6Detune
7Channel - Global (0), Omni (1), 1 - 16 (2-17)
8Low Key
9High Key
10Low Velocity
11High Velocity
12Bitfield: XS???LUM
  • S - Status: play/mute
  • ?
  • ?
  • ?
  • L - Local ignore/receive
  • U - USB ignore/receive
  • M - MIDI ignore/receive
13Bitfield: X?RESpMP
  • ?
  • R - Prg Change ignore/receive
  • E - Edits ignore/receive
  • S - Sustain ignore/receive
  • p - Pressure ignore/receive
  • M - Mod Wheel ignore/receive
  • P - Pitch Bend ignore/receive
14 - 15?
16 - 23(Reserved?)

As you can see, there are some bytes that I'm still not sure about.  I suspect that bytes 14 and 15 in the part above are the send equivalents of bytes 12 and 13 respectively, and that they only pertain to the Blofeld Keyboard (I own a Blofeld Desktop).

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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 10, 2013 at 3:27 PM

    Hi, thanks for your post :)
    As you are the blofeld sysex expert:
    Do you know how to get the current parameters via sysex? I'm using
    F0 3E 13 7F 00 F7
    and it gives me the current selected preset, but without any changes…

    ReplyDelete
  2. DevinFebruary 10, 2013 at 5:46 PM

    The above message specifies the message ID as 00, which corresponds to a sound request, but doesn't specify the actual patch that you want to the Blofeld to dump. In order to specify which patch you want to get from the Blofeld, add two hex bytes before the end of your system exclusive message that specify the preset you want. Based on your message, I'm guessing you want to get one of the patches that's loaded for playing. To do this, you can use one of the following:

    7F 00: Sound Mode Edit Buffer
    7F 00 .. 7F 0F: Multi Instrument Edit Buffer 1..16

    For example, to fetch the second instrument in the multi instrument edit buffer, send the following message:

    f0 3e 13 7f 00 7f 01 f7

    For more information on system exclusive messages used to communicate with the Blofeld, you can reference this document (created by Waldorf):

    http://www.waldorf-music.info/en/downloads/tools/424-blofeldsysexv104/download.html

    Hope this helps.

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