Control Change
Control Change carries continuous gestures such as volume and sustain, one controller number at a time.
Related
Notes say which key was pressed and how hard. Volume, pedals and filter brightness travel as Control Change.
The problem
No pedal on playback, flat strings, or a fader that moves without effect usually means a wrong CC number or channel. A CC is a channel message, so the wrong channel puts the whole curve on another part.
Protocol or message
CC uses 0xBn, then a controller number and a value, both 0 to 127. 7 is volume, 10 pan, 11 expression, 1 modulation, 64 sustain, 71 resonance, 74 cutoff and 91 reverb. Controllers 100 and 101 select an RPN, which 6 and 38 then write. 14-bit controllers pair 0 to 31 with 32 to 63. 121 resets all controllers and 123 stops all notes.
Settings and practice
Keep expression and volume separate, expression for phrasing and volume for balance. Sustain is off from 0 to 63 and on from 64 to 127. Select an RPN before writing its value, or the order fails. Curves need fewer points than expected,.
What to listen for
CC11 on a long string note sounds like breathing. CC64 on piano stacks chords into one surface. CC7 changes overall loudness without changing timbre.
Common misunderstandings
CC is not the same as an automation curve, which is only an editing view. CC7 is not velocity. The same CC can behave differently on another instrument.
Listen in the library
All tracks from midicn-lib — inline badge is the license tier (C1 commercial / C2 non-commercial / C3 study only).
Sources
- MIDI 1.0 规范的控制器编号表，依 MMA 公开规范核查，未抄文本
- CC 与 RPN 的实际用法，依通行合成器文档核查，未抄文本
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.