MIDI Program Change Reference: Bank and Patch Formats for 51 Stage Devices
The MIDI specification explains bank select and program change in the abstract. What it does not tell you is that a Nord Stage 4 wants A:11, a Kemper wants a performance and a slot, and a Roland FA-08 is listening on channel 16 rather than channel 1.
This is that missing layer: the addressing scheme for 51 devices that actually turn up on stages, taken from the device profiles Gigmeister ships. If you need the underlying theory first, how MIDI program changes work in a live band covers it.
What Do MSB, LSB, and PC Mean?
Section titled “What Do MSB, LSB, and PC Mean?”A Program Change (PC) is a single MIDI message carrying a value from 0 to 127. That gives 128 addressable programs — enough for a vintage synth, nowhere near enough for a modern workstation.
Bank Select extends the range. It is two Control Change messages sent immediately before the program change:
- CC 0 — Bank Select MSB (Most Significant Byte)
- CC 32 — Bank Select LSB (Least Significant Byte)
Together they select one of 16,384 banks, each holding 128 programs. The three messages always travel in the same order: MSB, then LSB, then PC.
Where manufacturers diverge is in how they map their own front-panel names onto that structure. A Nord calls it a page, bank and preset. A Helix calls it a setlist and a preset. A Kemper calls it a performance and a slot. Underneath, all of them reduce to the same three numbers.
How to Read This Reference
Section titled “How to Read This Reference”Each table below gives the device’s own program structure — the vocabulary printed on the instrument — along with the total number of addressable programs and the MIDI channel it listens on out of the box.
The program structure column is the useful one. It tells you how many discrete addresses exist and how the manufacturer divides them. A device listing 8 banks × 128 programs = 1024 programs needs a bank select; one listing Direct program entry takes a program value on its own.
Stage Keyboards
| Device | Manufacturer | Program structure | Default channel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nord Stage 4 | Nord | 8 pages × 8 banks × 8 presets = 512 programs | 1 |
| Nord Stage 3 | Nord | 16 banks × 5 pages × 5 programs = 400 programs | 1 |
| Nord Electro 6 | Nord | 26 banks × 4 pages × 4 programs = 416 programs | 1 |
| Nord Piano 5 | Nord | 16 banks × 5 rows × 5 cols = 400 programs | 1 |
| Yamaha CP88/CP73 | Yamaha | 15 pages × 8 live sets = 120 programs | 1 |
| Yamaha YC Series | Yamaha | 40 pages × 8 live sets = 320 programs | 1 |
| Korg Kronos/Nautilus | Korg | 21 banks × 128 programs = 2688 programs | 1 |
| Roland RD-2000 | Roland | 15 banks × 20 programs = 300 programs | 1 |
| Hammond SKX | Hammond | 2 banks × 100 patches = 200 programs | 1 |
Synthesizers
| Device | Manufacturer | Program structure | Default channel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moog Subsequent 37 | Moog | 16 banks × 16 presets = 256 programs | 1 |
| Sequential Prophet Rev2 | Sequential | 8 banks × 128 programs = 1024 programs | 1 |
| Sequential Prophet 6 | Sequential | 10 banks × 100 programs = 1000 programs | 1 |
| Novation Peak/Summit | Novation | 4 banks × 128 patches = 512 programs | 1 |
| Access Virus TI | Access Music | 30 banks × 128 patches = 3840 programs | 1 |
| Arturia PolyBrute | Arturia | 8 banks × 96 presets = 768 programs | 1 |
| Nord Lead A1 | Nord | 8 banks × 50 programs = 400 programs | 1 |
| Oberheim OB-X8 | Oberheim | 9 banks × 128 programs = 1152 programs | 1 |
| Waldorf Blofeld | Waldorf | 8 banks × 128 sounds = 1024 programs | 1 |
| Korg Minilogue XD | Korg | 5 banks × 100 programs = 500 programs | 1 |
| Korg MicroKorg | Korg | Direct program entry | 1 |
| Korg microKORG 2 | Korg | 4 banks × 8 genres × 8 programs = 256 programs | 1 |
| Modal Cobalt8 | Modal Electronics | Direct program entry | 1 |
| Nord Wave 2 | Nord | 16 banks × 25 programs = 400 programs | 1 |
| Sequential OB-6 | Sequential | 10 banks × 100 programs = 1000 programs | 1 |
| Korg Prologue | Korg | Direct program entry | 1 |
| ASM Hydrasynth | ASM | 8 banks × 128 patches = 1024 programs | 1 |
| Novation Bass Station II | Novation | Direct program entry | 1 |
| Moog One | Moog | 8 banks × 8 presets = 64 programs | 1 |
| Arturia MicroFreak | Arturia | Direct program entry | 1 |
| Elektron Digitone | Elektron | 8 banks × 16 patterns = 128 programs | 10 |
| Elektron Analog Four | Elektron | 8 banks × 16 patterns = 128 programs | 9 |
| Roland System-8 | Roland | 4 engines × 64 patches = 256 programs | 1 |
| Behringer DeepMind 12 | Behringer | 8 banks × 128 programs = 1024 programs | 1 |
| Korg Wavestate | Korg | 4 banks × 16 slots = 64 programs | 1 |
| Dexibell Vivo S9 | Dexibell | Direct program entry | 1 |
| Nord Grand | Nord | 16 banks × 5 pages × 5 programs = 400 programs | 1 |
| Nord Drum 3P | Nord | 4 banks × 50 kits = 200 programs | 10 |
| Roland FA-08 | Roland | 5 banks × 128 studio sets = 640 programs | 16 |
| Roland VR-730 | Roland | Direct program entry | 4 |
Effects Processors
| Device | Manufacturer | Program structure | Default channel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Line 6 Helix | Line 6 | 8 setlists × 128 presets = 1024 programs | 1 |
| Kemper Profiler | Kemper | 125 performances × 5 slots = 625 programs | 1 |
| Fractal FM9/FM3 | Fractal Audio | Direct program entry | 1 |
| Boss GT-1000 | Boss | 250 presets = 250 programs | 1 |
| Neural DSP Quad Cortex | Neural DSP | 13 setlists × 256 presets = 3328 programs | 1 |
Drums & Percussion
| Device | Manufacturer | Program structure | Default channel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roland SPD-SX/Pro | Roland | 200 kits = 200 programs | 10 |
Workstations
| Device | Manufacturer | Program structure | Default channel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roland Jupiter-X | Roland | 4 banks × 128 scenes = 512 programs | 1 |
| Roland Fantom | Roland | 4 banks × 128 scenes = 512 programs | 16 |
| Kurzweil PC4 | Kurzweil | 41 banks × 128 programs = 5248 programs | 1 |
| Yamaha Montage | Yamaha | 93 banks × 128 programs = 11904 programs | 1 |
| Yamaha Montage M / MODX M | Yamaha | Live Set pages plus Preset, User and Library performance banks (single and multi part) | 1 |
Host Software
| Device | Manufacturer | Program structure | Default channel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple MainStage | Apple | 128 banks × 128 patches = 16384 programs | 1 |
| Gig Performer | Deskew Technologies | 128 banks × 128 programs = 16384 programs | 1 |
| Camelot Pro | Audio Modeling | 128 setlists × 128 songs × 127 scenes = 2080768 programs | 1 |
Which Devices Do Not Default to Channel 1?
Section titled “Which Devices Do Not Default to Channel 1?”Six of the 51 listen on something other than channel 1 out of the box, and this is the single most common reason a correctly configured program change appears to do nothing:
| Device | Default channel | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Elektron Analog Four | 9 | Elektron’s own track-channel convention |
| Elektron Digitone | 10 | Elektron’s own track-channel convention |
| Nord Drum 3P | 10 | General MIDI percussion channel |
| Roland SPD-SX/Pro | 10 | General MIDI percussion channel |
| Roland VR-730 | 4 | Upper/lower/pedal parts occupy channels 1 to 3 |
| Roland FA-08 | 16 | Control channel sits above the 15 part channels |
If a device stays silent while everything else in the rig switches, check the channel before you check anything else.
Worked Example: the Nord Stage 4
Section titled “Worked Example: the Nord Stage 4”The Nord Stage 4 exposes 512 programs as 8 pages (A–H), 8 banks per page, and 8 presets per bank. The front panel shows A:11. The wire sees something else.
Nord numbers them contiguously, so the position is calculated first and then split across LSB and PC:
A:11— the first program. Position 0, which sends MSB 0, LSB 0, PC 0.B:11— position 64, which sends MSB 0, LSB 0, PC 64.C:11— position 128, the first program past the 128 boundary, sending MSB 0, LSB 1, PC 0.H:88— the last program. Position 511, sending MSB 0, LSB 3, PC 127.
The MSB never moves off 0 on a Stage 4. The LSB increments once per 128 programs, giving four LSB values (0–3) to cover all 512. Every other picker-style device in the tables above follows the same principle with its own page, bank and preset sizes.
Why Programs Load One Place Off
Section titled “Why Programs Load One Place Off”MIDI program change values run 0 to 127. A great many manufacturers number the same programs 1 to 128 on the front panel.
So a patch displayed as 001 is usually program change 0 on the wire. If every single patch loads exactly one position away from the one you wanted, this off-by-one is almost always the cause — not your cabling and not your setlist software.
The fix is to decide once whether your device is 0-indexed or 1-indexed, write it on the rig sheet, and stay consistent.
Sending These Automatically
Section titled “Sending These Automatically”Reading a MIDI implementation chart once is fine. Doing it for four devices, then re-deriving the numbers every time the band adds a song, is where the evening goes.
The practical setup is per-song: each song in the library stores a program for each device in the rig, and advancing the setlist fires all of them at once. Gigmeister ships the 51 profiles above with their bank and program mappings already correct, so patches are chosen by name rather than by number — see the MIDI documentation, the full device list, or the Stage pillar for how it fits with the click track and backing tracks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Section titled “Frequently Asked Questions”What MSB and LSB values does a Nord Stage 4 need?
MSB stays at 0. The LSB runs 0 to 3, incrementing every 128 programs across the 512 total. Program A:11 is MSB 0, LSB 0, PC 0; H:88 is MSB 0, LSB 3, PC 127.
Which stage devices do not default to MIDI channel 1? Six: the Elektron Analog Four (channel 9), the Elektron Digitone, Nord Drum 3P and Roland SPD-SX (channel 10), the Roland VR-730 (channel 4), and the Roland FA-08 (channel 16).
Do all devices need a bank select before the program change? No. Anything with 128 programs or fewer takes a bare program change. Bank select only becomes necessary above 128, which is why a Korg MicroKorg needs none and a Korg Kronos with 1,792 programs does.
Does the order of the three messages matter? Yes. Bank MSB, then bank LSB, then the program change. Sending the program change first selects a program in whichever bank was already active, which is how a rig ends up playing the right patch number from the wrong bank.
How long should I leave between the message and the downbeat? Some devices take 100–500 ms to load a patch, and a few of the larger workstations take longer. Send the change during the gap between songs rather than on the count-in.