Basic MIDI Question

[Simon M]

Hi, can anyone help?

I've got an Edirol PCR M1 MIDI keyboard, which is advertised as follows:

"The PCR M1 offers simple connection to any MIDI device through one standard MIDI cable. Requires just one cable connection for a complete mobile music workstation".

It hooks up to Cubase via USB and I can see by the monitor that the MIDI is recognised - but I can't hear anything !!!

How do hear the sound? I've previously connected my guitar to Cubase through M-Audio's Black Box and that seemed to work. I've tried re-routing the sound back out through that, but no luck (I think because Black Box is a digital audio interface, not a MIDI interface).

Do I need to purchase a seperate MIDI interface or am I just missing a simple setting?

Thanks !


Simon

[richiebee]

Have you set up a sound source? The PCR M1 doesn't produce sound from what I can see. It's just a controller keyboard.

[brandondrury]

It hooks up to Cubase via USB and I can see by the monitor that the MIDI is recognised - but I can't hear anything !!!

How do hear the sound?

I usually ask myself this about 8 times per day as I'm still far from mastering Cubase SX3. You have mentioned that you plug your midi controller into your soundcard and Cubase detects the midi input, but you didn't mention anything about midi instruments. Obviously. you need to setup some midi instruments and assign the output of the midi track accepting the incoming midi date to that midi instrument. Then, you need to make sure that midi instrument actually has a preset or instrument loaded (some do not).

Does that help?

Brandon

[Simon M]

Thanks for your posts. I understand the theory and thought I'd been doing what you are suggesting - I've allocated inputs, outputs, instruments etc. It's just that there are so many options which all sound the same to me, and none of the manuals are well-written at all. Am trying every which way to hook up the two and am just getting no sound !

Any other suggestions would be appreciated,


S

[richiebee]

So, is the transport bar indicating an audio output in the audio indicator next to the MIDI indicator?

Are your inputs, outputs and MIDI channel on the channel strip set correctly? Input set to PCR M1, output set to whatever softsynth you've set up in the VST instrument rack? MIDI channel... set to 1 initially. It's the most likely to work.

Turn the click on. Go to the Mixer section, turn up Audition. Press play... can you hear the metronome?

Back to the mixer section... when you play the keyboard, can you see any indication that audio is being processed?

You don't need a separate MIDI interface. Your keyboard sends MIDI to the computer through USB. Cubase processes the MIDI to a VSTi at which point it pretty much ceases to be MIDI and becomes audio. The audio goes to the M-Audio Blackbox. That's the theory!

[brandondrury]

One other thing that can help is to import a midi track of some kind and loop it while you try to figure out what's going on.

The above advice should cover it.

Sometimes, I need to turn on the monitor button to hear myself playing. That could be part of it as well.

Another thing not mentioned is some instruments (actually, it's usually samples) only cover a certain range of notes. If you are hitting a note too high or too low, there will be no sound made. I do that all the time in Kontakt 2.

Brandon