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Oxygen Series User Guide 4
RPN/NRPN's
Overview
RPN stands for "Registered Parameter Number" and NRPN stands for "Non-Registered Parameter Number".
Non-registered parameter numbers (NRPN’s) are device-specific messages that enable you to control specific
synthesizer or sound module parameters via MIDI, that are not accessible via standard MIDI CCs. The MIDI
specification defines open parameter numbers to allow manufacturers to specify their own NRPN controllers.
The more common of these are registered by the MIDI Manufacturer’s Association and are now part of the MIDI
specification, hence the term Registered Parameter Numbers – RPN’s (See Appendix A). Each NRPN/RPN has an
associated 2-byte number.The two bytes allow for 128 values each. An RPN or NRPN message is made up of two
parts: The MSB and the LSB message. Both of these messages together constitute an RPN or NRPN command.
This allows for 16,384 values in total. MIDI controllers 98 and 99 represent the NRPN LSB and MSB respectively,
while 100 and 101 represent the RPN LSB and MSB messages (see the MIDI controllers list in Appendix A).
To transmit an NRPN/RPN message, these LSB and MSB controller messages are sent along with their user-
specified values. A further controller message and value needs to be sent to specify the (coarse or fine) value
adjustment. This is specified by controller number 6 (data entry) for coarse adjustments or number 38 for fine
adjustments.
A list of NRPN’s is usually given in the user’s manual of any device that receives NRPN messages. It is always
necessary that the NRPN MSB and LSB be sent together. Both will be specified in the device’s manual, but
typically only in Hexadecimal format. If this is the case, you may refer to Appendix C for help translating the value
to decimal.
Combining Two MIDI CC Numbers for 16,384 possible RPNs/NRPNs
A single MIDI CC provides 128 values or possible selections - not enough to provide a sufficient number of unique
RPN/NRPNs for all manufacturers of MIDI equipment. In order to make a large enough number of RPN and NRPN
messages available for use by the many manufacturers of MIDI devices, two specific MIDI CC numbers
(NRPN=98+99; RPN=100+101) are combined for RPN/NRPN selection. When combining two MIDI CC numbers
this way, the 128 possibilities of the first MIDI CC multiply with the 128 possibilities of the second MIDI CC,
resulting in 16384 unique possibilities - plenty of options for all manufacturers of MIDI equipment.
You can think of this as a matrix of 128x128 options, each representing a unique identifier a manufacturer of MIDI
equipment may choose to use for selection of a specific parameter in their device. See the illustration below.
0
0123456789
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
CC99
CC98
CC98
Value 5
CC99
Value 4
8
9
127
0
1
2
3
4
4
5
5
6
7
8
8
9
9
0
1
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
6
6
7
7
8
8
8
9
9
9
Two MIDI CCs
(98&99 or 100&101)
select an RPN/NRPN
for editing
127