About Program and Bank Changes

The MIDI protocol lets you choose from a range of 128 programs (0–127). However, most MIDI instruments have several banks of 128 programs. To specify a bank, a bank select message must be sent. Some instruments use Controller 0 to switch the bank while others use Controller 32; some use a combination of the two. The Patch Select dialog in Pro Tools lets you use either of these bank select messages when inserting a program change event. Refer to the manufacturer’s documentation for your MIDI device to see which Controller value it uses.

If you do not know what bank select command your instrument uses, you can record MIDI to Pro Tools while making a bank change from the instrument. Then review the bank select information your instrument has recorded into Pro Tools in the MIDI Event List.

Some older MIDI devices (such as the Kurzweil K1000) use a program change instead of a Bank Select message to switch banks. For these devices you may find it necessary to send two program change messages to access a particular program, where the first sets the bank and the second sets the program.