Yamaha Clavinova PF P-100 Owner's Manual - page 35

Terminals

Before we jump into a detailed description of the

P-100’s MIDI configuration, we should consider the

hardware used to communicate MIDI data. MIDI

devices transmit messages to each other via cables,

which are connected to the devices using specially-

shaped sockets called MIDI terminals. There are three

types of MIDI terminals: IN, OUT, and THRU.

Not all MIDI devices have three MIDI terminals; but

most, like the P-100, do. A device with all three termi-

nals will receive incoming data through its MIDI IN

terminal, and output its own data through the MIDI

OUT terminal. The MIDI THRU terminal merely

echoes the data received at the MIDI IN terminal.

This allows the device to be connected in the middle

of a “daisy chain” of instruments, so that the third

instrument in the chain will receive the data trans-

mitted by the first instrument rather than that trans-

mitted by the second.

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Some MIDI instruments, such as the P-100, have a

MIDI merge feature which essentially combines the

functions of the MIDI OUT and MIDI THRU

terminals in a single terminal. In the case of the P-100,

when the MIDI merge function is turned on, the MIDI

OUT terminal will output a combination of the

P-100’s own data and the messages it receives from

the MIDI IN terminal. Any instrument receiving this

data will be controlled by both the P-100 and the

device connected to the P-100’s MIDI IN terminal.

One possible application of this handy feature is given

on page 48.