Basic MIDI help needed

russ johnson

New member
Hi group.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me. :)

I have a DAW (Cubase 5) on a laptop that has 3 usb ports.
I have an M-Audio 61 ES with 1 USB and 1 MIDI out
I have a Kurzweil SP4-8 with 1 USB an MIDI IN/OUT DIN.
I also have a Behringer UMC22 that has no MIDI connections.

How could i go about connecting the SP4-8 to my DAW so that it can be a slave and play any of my VSTi's?
(I do understand the plug & play nature of the M-audio, that's ok. )

And I'd want both slaves to play different VSTi's at the same time.

Thanks again, finger's crossed....
Russ
 
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Er..... the SP4-8 is a stage piano - it cannot play VSTi's, your computer does that!

Your computer - I assume you don't have a MIDI in and out anywhere, on an audio interface for example? How do you hear the DAW through speakers? If you have an interface that manages the inputs and outputs, then most also have MIDI sockets. My way of connecting would be MIDI out of the M-Audio to the interface MIDI in, then the interface MIDI out to the SP4 MIDI in. the other issue is you need a mixer somewhere. You have the outputs from the stage piano and the outputs from your computer - they need mixing together. As the Kurtzweil has a mod wheel, I'm not sure I'd want to use the M-Audio keyboard as the kurtzweil's keyboard is better to play? My kit has USB connections, but I tend to use MIDI for most things and ignore the MIDI through USB features as I personally don't need them. mixing the audio will be the tricky thing, but a simple mixer should work OK. What software manages the in computer stuff, with the VST instruments? That's where the MIDI routing happens.

Do you actually have an audio interface with MIDi? If you don't then you will have to use the USB connection, and again, the routing for this happens in the DAW software. You still need a mixer - the stage piano cannot replay audio from your computer. It does have loads of MIDI features, so the controller keyboard seems a bit pointless?
 
Thanks. I think you misunderstood. It might be how I'm describing it.

I can plug and play my m-audio midi controller to my daw via usb and use the VSTi's I have. The behringer soundcard I mentioned handles the speakers for me, that's fine, but the soundcard has no MIDI DINS and no USB port to allow me to attach my SP4-8 to. It's basically line in.

But I also would like to hook up my SP4-8 to my daw and also have that function in the same way as my m-audio. Ie, play the vsti's.
Would using a midi to usb converter work? Or do I just plug it straight into the laptop via usb I wonder?
 
If it’s got midi over usb, and you have a usb hope free, then just jam it in there. It might want it’s own drivers, but many are just class compliant and work.
 
I agree - just connect the Kurtzweil with the USB, and if you don't have the driver, download it. You probably won't even need the other keyboard as the Kurtweill one is rather nice. I guess you already have the mixer then. If the USB is like the one I have on my master keyboard it will give you access to more functions than just the usual MIDI ones. I think the Kurtzweil can have all it's zones and patch changes controlled by the computer. In Cubase, it pops up as a dedicated source in the inspector panel, rather than coming in the other MIDI ports.
 
Cubase, it pops up as a dedicated source in the inspector panel, rather than coming in the other MIDI ports.[/QUOTE]

Good to know. Thanks :)
 
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