Cubase Studio 4 with Lexicon MIDI issues

[sayersc]

Hi Guys,

This is my first post into the forum and I am really hoping that someone can offer me some help. I am fairly sure that the issue is me being new to home recording etc and needing a small nudge in the right direction :-)!!

OK, I have a MAC pro, Lexicon Lambda interface & a Roland Fantom x8. I am running Cubase Studio 4.

The issue that I am having is that I want to use the sounds from my fantom on MIDI tracks, but I am unable to hear any MIDI playback. I see MIDI activity when I record and I can see that data is being recorded into the track. When I playback, I can see the blue meter showing an ouput, but I simply hear nothing.

Connection wise, I have MIDI OUT from the fantom to MIDI IN on the Lexicon and MIDI OUT from the Lexicon to MIDI IN on the fantom. The Lexicon is connected to the MAC via USB2.0 and appears to be installed correctly. I have a cheap monitor (powered) connected to the output (left) of the Lexicon. My MAC is set to use the Lexicon as default in/out.

Within the MIDI track, I select "all midi inputs" as input and the fantom as the output.

If I connect a guitar to the line level input and lay down an audio track, I hear audio during recording and playback, but not with MIDI.

I have also tried connecting the outputs of the fantom to the inputs of the Lexicon. This way, I can hear sound during recording, but not during MIDI playback.

I hope this makes sense!?

What am I doing wrong!??! Any help, you can offer would be very gratefully receieved, no matter how much of a fool it makes me feel :-)

Thankyou,

Chris

[brandondrury]

1) Do you have the MIDI out of the track set to the MIDI Out on your Lexicon?

I have also tried connecting the outputs of the fantom to the inputs of the Lexicon. This way, I can hear sound during recording, but not during MIDI playback.

You'll need to create an audio track and keep it monitoring at all times. This will be where the audio going out of your Phantom goes.

Using Hardware Synths In Softsynth World | Home Computer Recording

Good luck!

Brandon

[sayersc]

Hey Brandon.

Thankyou so much for your response.

OK, so now I have MIDI IN/OUT between Phantom and Lexicon. Then Lexicon to MAC via USB. I have all in/out from the MAC directed via the Lexicon and this has a monitor speaker attached. There are no speakers connected to my MAC.

If I add a new MIDI track, I see in/out activity and have set the track to all midi inputs and the Lexicon/Phantom as the output.

From your very helpful link, I am of the understanding that in this scenario, MIDI is hitting back at the synth, but has nowhere to go (for audio output from synth). Therefore I connected the outputs of the Phantom to the inputs of the Lexicon.

OK, so now I see both MIDI activity and I can see/hear activity on the audio track. I also hear playback.

In this situation am I not just hearing the output of the audio track rather than the actual MIDI input? If I delete the MIDI track, I still hear what was recorded from the audio track.

I have also tried using the Phantom as input and sending MIDI track to HaliONE soft synth. Again activity yes, output No!!

Does this sound right? I appreciate your help and I assure you that I am also doing my best to find the answers in docs and through pulling out my hair.

Thanks again.

Chris

[brandondrury]

K, so now I see both MIDI activity and I can see/hear activity on the audio track. I also hear playback.

Great. It's working.

In this situation am I not just hearing the output of the audio track rather than the actual MIDI input?

You will never hear MIDI in your life. Unless you can hear 0110001100110. MIDI is just data. It simply recorded what your fingers did and you are sending that through a synth/sample gadget to trigger notes. That's it.

If I delete the MIDI track, I still hear what was recorded from the audio track.
I wouldn't record the audio.

I would just have the track set to monitoring until you have the MIDI work finished and want to record what that MIDI track was doing to a wav file.

I have also tried using the Phantom as input and sending MIDI track to HaliONE soft synth. Again activity yes, output No!!

I assume you mean MIDI went out of the Phantom, into your Alpha, into a MIDI track, and that MIDI track was routed to Halion. You need to make sure you've got a sample loaded in Halion. Check to see which channel the sample is on (you can have 16) and then make sure your MIDI track is using the same channel. Thenyou should have no problem hearing it unless something is screwy further down the line.

You may want to try reading these. They don't read like manuals because I wrote the damn things. Getting Started With Midi Sequencing

Brandon