The Midi Output Details window opens when you press the Output Details button on the Midi Setup page. 

It shows the properties of the selected Midi Output device, and offers several options for using it.

Each Midi Output device has its own set of options.  When you change the device selection, ChordWizard uses the options of the new device instead.

Controls

Midi Output

Displays the title of the device.  This is the same title that appears in the Midi Output list on the Midi Setup page.

Properties

Displays the device properties that are being reported by the device driver, supplied by the manufacturer.  Depending on the device, these may or may not contain meaningful values.

Define Voices

Specifies which set of voice names to use for the musical sounds generated by the device.  Voice names are the labels used when selecting voices in the Instruments page and the Sound page.

Some devices may have different sets of voices available, which require the selection of a custom voice name set.  Most devices will at least support the default General MIDI set.  Voice name sets are defined in definition files that are part of the installation.

Define Drums

Specifies which set of drum names to use for the percussion sounds generated by the device.

Some devices may have different sets of drums available, which require the selection of a custom drum name set.  Most devices will at least support the default General MIDI Drums set.  Drum name sets are defined in definition files.

Master Volume

There are three methods commonly used in Midi for controlling the Master Volume of the generated sound, and this setting allows you to select your preference.

It changes the way that Midi streams are generated internally, but does not affect how you work with your song.  Normally you would change this setting only if the Master Volume control is not working properly.

Sys Ex - Uses the Master Volume system exclusive message.  This is the simplest method, but some devices do not support it.

Expression - Uses the Expression controller message for each track.  This will be automatically mixed together with any Expression controllers from the musical events in your song.

Chan Volume - Uses the Channel Volume controller message for each track.  This will be automatically mixed together with the track levels used in your song.

Latency Out

Many Midi Output devices (particularly software synthesizers) have a degree of Latency, which is a delay between when it is told to generate a sound, and the moment when the sound actually begins. 

Monitor Gain

ChordWizard is designed to monitor the audio output being generated by the Midi Output device.

The Monitor Gain boosts (or reduces) the level of the monitor line after capture, and can be adjusted to get the optimal sound level for display and audio files.  It can vary between 0% (which turns monitoring off) and 1000%.

Monitor Line

Windows 98 through Window XP maintain a shared audio input mixer which selects the input line for monitoring, typically this would be Midi Synth for a hardware device or Wave/MP3 for a software synth.

ChordWizard needs to reselect this line every time it starts monitoring, in case the selection has been changed by another program.  You can use the Calibrate process to help you find the best line to monitor.

Windows Vista andWindows 7 has a different audio mixer structure which prevents programs from interfering with each other's mixer settings, so this feature is not used.  It will usually just have a single (default) item available.

Monitor Level

This allows you reduce the audio level on the monitor line before it is captured.  You would only need to do this if you find that the captured audio is distorted (clipped) and reducing the Monitor Gain does not help.

This setting is disabled if a specific Monitor Line is not selected, such as in Windows Vista.

Send GM Reset

Indicates whether to send a General Midi reset message to the device when it is opened.  Usually, this is recommended, but with some devices it can prevent them from being able to access their extended banks, in which case is should be turned off.

Reset

Resets all options to their default settings.

Calibrate

Opens the Calibrate Device window, which runs some audio tests to try and determine the best settings for Latency Out, Monitor Line and Monitor Gain.

This process can be helpful, but many devices are difficult to assess accurately, so it still may be necessary to manually adjust these settings afterwards.

OK

Accepts all settings and closes the window.

Cancel

Closes the window without making any changes to the original settings.

Help

Opens ChordWizard Help at this topic.