by A musician who wishes to remain anonymous finds his instrument suddenly silent. He writes:
Chris, this is a pretty obscure question, but your blog indicates that you’re a keyboard player so I’m hoping you have an answer. My 8-year-old synthesizer lost power during a gig last night and my custom programs were wiped out. Today I looked on the manufacturer’s website and see that a firmware update is available (which I hope will cure the problem), but it’s in the form of a MIDI file. How can I install this thing? And, is there anything I can do to back up my synth once it’s restored?
Now this takes me back. And it does because what you’ve encountered is a MIDI file full of system exclusive (SysEx) data. In the days before synthesizers had better ways to transfer information (such as a built-in USB port, for example) you had to move raw data between your synth and a computer over a MIDI connection—basically “playing” it from the synth and “recording” it on your Mac. Given your instrument’s age (and the nature of that firmware update file) I’m going to assume that this is the method you’ll use.
Perhaps I’ve built this up as something that’s difficult to do. It’s not, really. You just require the right connections and gear. First, you’ll need a USB-to-MIDI interface (or a FireWire-to-MIDI interface). You can find these things for around $35 at music stores and online (see the image above). If the interface doesn’t come in the form of a cable (with a USB connector on one end and In and Out MIDI connectors on the other) you’ll need a couple of MIDI cables. You then need a software application that can transmit and receive SysEx data. All of today’s modern software sequencers and digital audio workstations (DAW) have this feature, though you may have to dig around a bit to find it.
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