MIDI question

grahammk1

New member
I hope someone with MIDI experience can help. My setup is Novation Impulse - USB - Laptop - Ableton Live 9, also MIDI out from Impulse - Korg Triton Rack (MIDI in port) - Korg Triton Rack MIDI out - Sapphire USB (MIDI in) + Korg Triton Rack stereo audio out - Sapphire USB audio in -Sapphire MIDI out - Impulse MIDI in. All seems to work ok in Ableton. I use Ableton External Instrument to get audio in. My problem is - how do I get Ableton to playback recordings to the Korg Triton Rack?
 
I'm somewhat confused how you've got this wired? Is the triton audio going into the computer to hear it's audio? This is a bit odd? Normally, you'd have a small mixer that would take the computer audio and mix it with the kong sound, or you record the korg audio as a track played back via the midi? Couodnyoundraw a picture of how it's wired? Showing the midi and audio.
 
Agree its odd

I'm somewhat confused how you've got this wired? Is the triton audio going into the computer to hear it's audio? This is a bit odd? Normally, you'd have a small mixer that would take the computer audio and mix it with the kong sound, or you record the korg audio as a track played back via the midi? Couodnyoundraw a picture of how it's wired? Showing the midi and audio.

Yes, you are correct. Ableton does not recognise the Impulse USB Driver, so I have to use the Sapphire. i am struggling so bear with me. I will draw a diagram. Thank you!!!!
 
Yes, you are correct. Ableton does not recognise the Impulse USB Driver, so I have to use the Sapphire. i am struggling so bear with me. I will draw a diagram. Thank you!!!!

If you are trying to generate a diagram on a computer? Don't, draw it out as best you can on paper and then take a digital photo and attach it.

Dave.
 
The biggest snag here is that common tasks are quite tricky to do and not straightforward.

you want to be able to record the triton's audio on a track in the DAW. You also want to be able to hear the module when you play the keys - so the routing takes a while to get your head around. The computer and interface are joined by USB and become in effect one device. The nkorgplays via the interface midi out going to the Korg midi in - the connection between the two is made in the DAW. You need to hear the output of the computer, via the interface AND the module, so there's a mixer involved. This also gets the Korg audio back into the interface for recording. This can be a feedback situation, so you need to remember to turn things up and down. This also allows for a mic at some point to be recorded - but external modules can a real pain nowadays as you need to hear them, and often record them back into the DAW. This diagram is a bit wirey but will let you do most things subject to remembering to turn outputs up and down to prevent feedback.

midiconnection.jpg
 
The biggest snag here is that common tasks are quite tricky to do and not straightforward.

you want to be able to record the triton's audio on a track in the DAW. You also want to be able to hear the module when you play the keys - so the routing takes a while to get your head around. The computer and interface are joined by USB and become in effect one device. The nkorgplays via the interface midi out going to the Korg midi in - the connection between the two is made in the DAW. You need to hear the output of the computer, via the interface AND the module, so there's a mixer involved. This also gets the Korg audio back into the interface for recording. This can be a feedback situation, so you need to remember to turn things up and down. This also allows for a mic at some point to be recorded - but external modules can a real pain nowadays as you need to hear them, and often record them back into the DAW. This diagram is a bit wirey but will let you do most things subject to remembering to turn outputs up and down to prevent feedback.

View attachment 104935

Ok, Chopped Liver here Rob. HTF do you do that?

Dave.
 
the thing mine doesn't do and yours does is often missed - if you connect the keyboard to the Korg, so you can play it direct with the MIDI cable, then depending how you have the DAW set, the USB cable can go into the laptop, through the DAW and then out - meaning the Korg gets two sets if MIDI information. So you hit C2, and the direct MIDI cable plays C2, immediately followed by the one coming through from the computer. Two things happen - nothing, but it eats up your polyphony, or you start to get hung notes. You let go of the keys, and that C carries on playing. Even worse when you use pitch bend and controllers. What are you using the reverse connection for? The one that goes to the master keyboard? Is this to make the displays do things or patch ranges pop up? If you did this, you need to see if the keyboard has a setting that prevents the MIDI in being used as a MIDI thru - if what comes in goes out, then back in then out - you get a huge loop that will cause chaos. Same with the Korg. What will be coming out of the MIDI out that needs to go back to the interface? The way your diagram works, the DAW cannot send notes to the Korg, can it? Only via going back to the master keyboard which requires thru to be turned on - aaaaaaagh.

The computer, through the interface MIDI output needs to go to the Korg MIDI in 100% The master keyboard MUST got to the interface MIDI in or you cannot do the basics. To make the Korg make sounds therefore requires the DAW to send the MIDI coming in, out of the MIDI out. Cubase - my DaW does this happily, I'm sure yours will too.
 
To be honest, I have (up to now) tried every combination I could think of without success. I was beginning to doubt my Korg's MIDI out until you helped. A mixer setup makes perfect sense. I'm getting doddery in my dotage and sometimes my brain is slow!
 
In our setup here we have a multiple output MIDI device that sends out MIDI to the samplers, keyboards and modules. I drive the system with a master keyboard. All these sound producing gizmos then go back to my mixer that really just does monitoring. If I need to get one of the sound modules or synths back in, I use the patchbay and just stick two cables in linking the synth into the interface for recording. As I have quite a few, the mixer axes were getting very tricky to handle the combinations. for me, stuffing in a couple of patch cables was easier!

Being very honest, I've now got VSTi versions of practically all my modules and synths and I rarely even power up the proper units.
 
attempted

the thing mine doesn't do and yours does is often missed - if you connect the keyboard to the Korg, so you can play it direct with the MIDI cable, then depending how you have the DAW set, the USB cable can go into the laptop, through the DAW and then out - meaning the Korg gets two sets if MIDI information. So you hit C2, and the direct MIDI cable plays C2, immediately followed by the one coming through from the computer. Two things happen - nothing, but it eats up your polyphony, or you start to get hung notes. You let go of the keys, and that C carries on playing. Even worse when you use pitch bend and controllers. What are you using the reverse connection for? The one that goes to the master keyboard? Is this to make the displays do things or patch ranges pop up? If you did this, you need to see if the keyboard has a setting that prevents the MIDI in being used as a MIDI thru - if what comes in goes out, then back in then out - you get a huge loop that will cause chaos. Same with the Korg. What will be coming out of the MIDI out that needs to go back to the interface? The way your diagram works, the DAW cannot send notes to the Korg, can it? Only via going back to the master keyboard which requires thru to be turned on - aaaaaaagh.

The computer, through the interface MIDI output needs to go to the Korg MIDI in 100% The master keyboard MUST got to the interface MIDI in or you cannot do the basics. To make the Korg make sounds therefore requires the DAW to send the MIDI coming in, out of the MIDI out. Cubase - my DaW does this happily, I'm sure yours will too.

Ok, thats it wired exactly are per the diagram. Everything works EXCEPT the Korg is not getting a MIDI signal from the Saffire MIDI out. ~If I plug the keyboard midi out directly into the Korg MIDI in, it lights up. So the problem seems to be the Saffire?
 
No I suspect it's actually the routing in the DAW. Certainly that's how it works in Cubase, you need to tell it to route the MIDI in to the MIDI out - sorry I don't know how to do that in yours.
 
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