multiple synths connect to Cakewalk

C

cwillu

New member
By daisy chaining through the soundcard, you'd be splitting the 16 channels three different ways, but it'll still work.

By using the midi man, or anything that will give multiple independant midi outputs, each midi device could have its own 16 channels, which would give you some more flexability, but it isn't necessary to do it this way.

William Underwood
 
I'm thinking of getting the Cakewalk Home Studio 9 (I have been sequencing using an old Yamaha SY77 as the master seq., Kurzweil PC88MX, and Alesis SR16). My question is, can you hook up to Cakewalk via a daisy chain type set up in order to use all of the synths at once, or is their a better way? A friend told me he hooks up through a midi man through the com port. If I daisy chain it through the regular sound card, will it make any difference?
 
I prefer to have multiple MIDI I/O for my computer. I will chain those devices that use one or two tracks only, but for those that can handle 16, I try to give them their own MIDI ports.
 
Here's the deal...

Each machine in the chain adds some amount of delay to the MIDI signal. If you have quite a few synths chained, then the last one may play out of sync with the first and it may be noticeable.

For 1 or 2 synths it doesn't matter.
 
These guys got it mostly right..

here's the deal. MIDI has 16 channels on each chain. Each of your synths can use a certain number of channels. For example, my Kawai K4 can use 9 channels at one time. On the other hand, my cheaper Casio can use all 16 channels at once, and my Alesis piano module only uses one. So... you should have a separate chain for each 16 channels. If all your synths use all 16 channels, you might need a separate interface for each one. However, if you can tell your synth to only respond to MIDI commands on certain channels, you can use the Through jack of one synth to the in jack of the next synth.

The other thing to remember is that putting more than about 3 instruments in a MIDI chain can introduce audible delay into the MIDI path. That's when you need a through box or something similar.
 
Thanks for all of the advice. One more question - would it work to connect the midi in & out cables from the soundcard to my main synth, then come out of the thru on the main synth to a midi thru box to the other synths? Would that work and not give me any delay?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top