Is it possible to conennct a sound module to a keyboard ?

T

the maestro

New member
If you can connect a sound module to a keyboard can you then play the sounds from the module with the keyboard and if so how :confused: :confused: :confused: :
 
You need to be much more specific. What keyboard? What module?

If the keyboard has a MIDI "OUT" on it, then yes, you should be able to play the sound module from the keyboard.

Ted
 
Just patch a midi cable from the keyboard's midi out to the midi in of the sound module. Voila!

Tis of course assumes that both you keyboard and the sound module support MIDI.
 
In fact, this is one of the most common uses of MIDI (short for Musical Instrument Digital Interface).
 
I'm using a Hammond XK2 for exactly this purpose, for live performing.

I have two Alesis Nano boxes (synth+piano) daisy chained to the XK2 midi-out port. Each Nano output is fed to a mixer channel, which drives a power amp.

The XK2 allows for 64 combinations of presets to control individual MIDI channels. I have a nice brass and horn section set into a couple presets, and another preset that sets the NanoSynth to Silent, and allows the NanoPiano to play on Channel 1.

The mixer lets me switch quickly between native Hammond, and the two synths. The Hammond keyboard is splittable, so I have a baritone sax in the left and horn section in the right hand. The XK2 is very MIDI friendly, but does require a bit of head scratching to understand how it works, then how to program the presets. The XK2 manual is an absolute requirement for this.
 
adding on to this topic...

is it possible to use the keyboard's integrated sequencer with the outboard
rack synth (different brand from the keyboard)

I've been considering buying some new sounds via rack synths, but didnt want to have to use the computer to sequence, since my keyboard has an onboard sequencer that I use currently.

Peace
 
how do you go between the keyboard 'A' sound and module 'B' sound. this is the only thing i wasn't sure of with daisy chaining...
 
Let's get one thing straight here, people. MIDI does not in itself contain any sounds. It is a communications protocol. It is used to get digital instruments to talk to each other. (Musical Instrument Digital Interface.)

So, bruuen, you use the outputs of the module to hear those sounds. You use the outputs of the keyboard to hear those sounds. Also, you can send MIDI information to turn off notes on one or the other.

Leffield - yes.
 
bruuen-

Are you asking how you control which module you are playing at any given time? If so, that's a little more complicated question. Depending on your system and the devices in question, there might be several different ways to control which module sounds at any given time.

A MIDI stream has 16 possible channels. The simplest and most obvious method of controlling your modules is to assign one to say Channel One and the other to Channel Two. Depending on your keyboard, you might then be able to split or layer the keyboard in different ways, say assigning Channel One to the lower two octaves for bass and the upper three octaves to Channel Two for a lead sound. Some keyboards allowing you to switch using velocity or aftertouch (pressure applied to the key after the note has been played). Things get much more complicated when you switch your synths into "multi" (or combi or whatever the manufacturer calls it) mode. In this mode, devices can devide their synth engine into a number of different, independent units. This is what is meant when a synth is called "multi-timbral". What happens is that the polyphony of the synth (the number of simultaneous voices it can produce) is divided among the different modules (how this is handled varies). Normally, the different modules will respond to different MIDI channels. This would allow you to assign each different channel to a different voice to realize a full arrangement when playing back a sequence, for instance.

You can still use the different channel approach in this situation, but you'll be assigninig more than one per device then.

Like most of the really valuable information, hidden away in the back of the manual of any MIDI device, you should find a "MIDI Implementation" chart. This chart shows the MIDI information that particular device is capable of receiving and sending. Though there are many MIDI messages, not every device is able to utilize all of them.

I know this is very confusing at first (and even later on, for that matter). MIDI's uses have been expanded over the 20 plus years of its existence and they've found ways around some of its limitations. Believe me, it's a lot simpler than it was years ago when you had to learn to program things in hexadecimal (talk about confusing to us non-tech types!).

Ted
 
so I can setup a midi channel and port on my keyboard, and hook up the midi out to a sound module ,and press play on my keyboard, and have sounds coming out of the ketboard and sound module at the same time
 
It depends on the keyboard. Some sequencers are internal only. Some are "all or nothing" where you have to pick either internal or external.

Some do both at the same time.

Carl
 
GamezBond said:
so I can setup a midi channel and port on my keyboard, and hook up the midi out to a sound module ,and press play on my keyboard, and have sounds coming out of the ketboard and sound module at the same time
Click to expand...

What do you mean by "press play on my keyboard"?
 
GamezBond said:
you know what im talking about, *pimp slaps frasier* :p What I meant was start the sequencer...
Click to expand...
Actually, for all the years I have been playing, I have never tried to initiate a sequence from a controller keyboard. How would that be done? Do certain modules'sequencers start/stop on midi messages? If so, which messages?
 
Some MIDI keyboard controllers have start/stop buttons on them. The Roland A-30 for example.

When you hit it it sends a MIDI message to your sequecer to play and to stop. There's also a Record button.

Carl
 
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