MIDI frustration...

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wpianoman

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I'm just befinning to work with MIDI. I can't seem to get all the pieces of my system to talk to one another properly. I have a Roland XV-88, Cakewalk ProAudio 9.02, Soundblaster Live! soundcard, and an 800Mhz PC with tons of power/space. The problem: how to connect each of the components so that I can record and playback simple orchestration on the PC. I can't seem to get the right combination of on's/off's, tracks, patches, channels and so forth. I can record with the patch I like, but can't seem to rtecord a second patch in a different voice so that the sounds don't all sound in the same patch. Is there anyone who can assist with some suggestions?
 
That sounds like a CW issue. When you look at the track view, take note of the MIDI CHANNEL being used by a particular track.
You've got 16 channels per MIDI port and the SB comes with one port. In order for you to hear two different patches played by two different tracks the channels selected for these tracks must be different.

The idea behind having more than one track played by the same channel is rooted in the way drums are represented in MIDI.
To keep one drum sound (e.g. snare) separate from the whole set it can be placed on a separate track- still on channel 10.
All of the set will play back when the channel 10 muting on the rest of the set is removed.

With other instruments the extra tracks on the same channel can be used as "takes" and removed when the best take is found.

You can send a message to change the patch in the middle of a track, but remember that ALL tracks using that channel will then be switched to that new patch, so be careful with this freestyle technique.
 
Thanks for your tip! I checked the tracks, and they are indeed different (a phonecall to Roland with a 20 minute hold time). Still, however, the sound is produced all in the same voice. Have I missed something very basic?
 
There is a MIDI mode called "OMNI Mode" where your synth will respond to messages on all channels. If you have it set that way, you'll get only one sound. You need to assign separate channels to each distinct part on both the Cakewalk side and the synth side.
 
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