OpenMMT-8 manual

What OpenMMT-8 adds

OpenMMT-8 is a new sequencer firmware for the MMT-8, compiled from C. The original functions work the way your unit’s manual describes them. This page covers only what OpenMMT-8 adds, and the plugin that runs it in a DAW.

Not affiliated with Alesis. A part is one pattern. A track is one of the eight tracks in a part. Hold a function key to use its pages. Release the function key to close the page.

Which image to burn

openmmt8_stock_rom.bin has tape save, load, and verify on the TAPE key. It does not have the part-edit extensions on this page. Use the tape procedure in the manual of the unit. Burn it when you still load and save on tape. The MIDI dump is the last page of the TAPE key.

openmmt8_rom.bin is the other way around: the extensions are present, and tape save, tape load, and tape sync are not. The TAPE key holds only the MIDI dump page.

Part edit

These extensions run during part edit, in openmmt8_rom.bin only. Open part edit with the procedure in the unit manual.

The four option pages

1. Open part edit.
2. Hold MIDI FILTER.
3. The first page is EDIT DATA KNOB.
4. Press PAGE UP or PAGE DOWN to move through the four pages.
5. Press + or − to change the value. The number keys set the controller number.
6. Release MIDI FILTER.

The unit stores the four values with the other settings. A controller number of 0 shows OFF.

Data knob

1. Set a controller number from 1 to 119.
2. Stop the transport.
3. Close every function page.
4. Send that controller to MIDI in.

The first message does not move the field. The next message moves the current field by the change in the value. The unit does not send that controller message to MIDI out. At the end of the track, the knob does not change a value.

Audition

1. Set PLAY NOTES to ON.
2. Stop the transport.

The current note plays for a short time after a change to that note. The note also plays after fast-forward, rewind, or a track change. An empty step does not play. Audition uses the MIDI channel of the track. When the track channel is no change, audition uses the channel in the note.

Move by the quantize grid

Set BY QUANTIZE to ON. Fast-forward and rewind then move through the events on the current step, then to the next step or the previous step. The step size is the quantize value. When the step has no event, line 1 shows the time and (EMPTY). Line 2 shows GRID and the quantize value. Set BY QUANTIZE to OFF for the original event move.

Time in bars

Set IN BARS to ON. The time shows the bar, the beat, and the sub-beat. A bar has 4 beats. The beat in the bar is 1 to 4. The sub-beat is 0 to 95. The display form is bar.beat.sub-beat. Example: 001.1.00 is bar 1, beat 1, sub-beat 0. Set IN BARS to OFF for the original time display.

Enter a note from MIDI

1. Stop the transport.
2. Close every function page.
3. Send a note-on message.

When the current event is a note, the note number changes. The velocity of that note also changes. Hold RECORD to write the note at the current step. The note length is one quantize step. Release RECORD to leave step entry.

During step entry, line 1 shows STEP AT and the time. Line 2 shows PLAY NOTES and the quantize value. When memory is full, the display shows the memory-full message.

Undo the last edit

Undo restores the event from before the last field change. The unit stores one undo. A different event starts a new undo.

1. Change a field.
2. Hold ERASE.
3. At the end of the track, the line shows UNDO LAST EDIT when undo is available. On an event, press PAGE UP or PAGE DOWN until the line shows UNDO LAST EDIT.
4. Press RECORD.

The display shows EDIT UNDONE. When memory is full, the display shows the memory-full message.

Send memory over MIDI

Hold TAPE and press RECORD. The display shows “send everything over midi” while TAPE is held. In the stock ROM, this is the last page of the TAPE key.

The message is an OpenMMT-8 dump. It starts with F0 7D 4F 4D 38 01. OpenMMT-8 loads that message back into its memory and restarts. An original unit does not load this dump. OpenMMT-8 does not load a dump made by an original unit.

In the plugin

The CLAP plugin runs the same images. The display, the lamps, and the keys follow the ROM. Build it from the build page. The rest of this section applies only to the plugin.

The panel window

The panel window is in the Windows, Linux, and macOS builds. The Linux panel uses X11, so the host must provide an X11 window. The macOS panel has not been tested on a Mac.

Send all keyboard input to the plugin.

1. Press the left mouse button to hold a key.
2. Release the left button to release the key.
3. Press the right button to latch a key.
4. Press the latched key again to release it.
5. The FOOTSWITCH control works the same way.

The ROM menu

The ROM menu is at the top right of the panel. The plugin starts with OpenMMT-8, the ROM with the part-edit extensions.

1. Select Use built-in OpenMMT-8 to return to that ROM.
2. Select Use built-in JAM-8 for the loop ROM. The JAM-8 guide starts there.
3. To load the stock profile, select Load ROM file and choose openmmt8_stock_rom.bin. On Windows, pick the file in the dialog. On Linux, type the path and press Load.
4. Select Power off and on to restart the unit.

Power off and on keeps the memory. A loaded ROM file starts with empty memory. Load a ROM file only when you have the right to use that file.

DAW sync, click, and tape

DAW sync is on by default. The plugin sends start, stop, continue, song position, and clock from the host. The dot is bright when the host sends a tempo and a beat position.

Set the clock source to midi + internal. That source is the default. The unit then follows the tempo of the host. The clock-source procedure is in the manual of the unit. Set DAW sync off to stop those messages.

The Click output carries the click from the ROM. The output is stereo. Move the CLICK control to set the level, from 0% to 100%. The default level is 80%.

Tape In is a mono input. It drives pin P3.2. Tape Out is a mono output, pin P3.4. The built-in ROM does not use these ports for tape save or tape load. A loaded ROM can use the ports when that ROM has tape functions.

What a project stores

The host project stores the songs, parts, and settings, the built-in ROM choice or the loaded ROM file, DAW sync, the click level, and the panel width.

The source of this text is MANUAL.md in the repository.