Panic Button

Once in a while a problem occurs in a MIDI system, and when it does one of the symptoms is quite often stuck notes that continue ringing or continuous controllers that no longer operate correctly. Some devices, especially MIDI patch bays or MIDI interfaces, have a panic button to solve this by sending All-Notes-Off and Reset-All-Controllers commands. Some software programs also have a command that performs this function. While not correcting the problem that caused the malfunction a panic button is a great way to get the system quiet and to get the equipment into a state where it can reliably receive more MIDI messages.