Jittery Keyboard

[ZootHornRollo]

Hi,

I am new to this lark. I played guitar and bass when i was younger. Have been away from music for a few years.

I have the urge to produce music again and thought i'd start with some sequencing.

I got a used Miditech Midicontrol. Got it all set up and got a copy of Reason 3 from a friend. The keyoboard is connected via Joystick Port to the 5-pin socket on the keyboard.

(Hardware - Pentium D 3.0, 2GB DDR2, 80GB HD, SB Audigy Platinum, GF7600GT)

When using Reason it appears that when i am nowhere near the keyboard it is still sending some sort of signal. When i activate the modulation wheel the physical actin is very smooth but the 'on screen' movement and effect on the sound is very jittery and fluctuates wildly taking a good few seconds before it eventually settles.

Likewise with the 12 control knobs. They can be very hit and miss.

There also seem to be random changes to controls and settings within synths. It results in a very random kind of sound that some people would pay good money for in the right situation but it's no good for me!

I ws told the keyboard hadn't been used for a year before i got it.

Any idea's if this can be fixed or have i bought a dud?

[garww]

What keyboard ??

But, often what you may be experiencing is just hardware and software set-up. The SB is probably just polling the port for activity

[ZootHornRollo]

hi,

its a Miditech Midicontrol



Using the Subtractor Synth, when playing notes, controls such as the wave type (?) and octave change. It appears to be triggered when using combinations of notes.

I will try to post some specific examples when i get home.

I am thinking about giving the controls a good spray with switch cleaner, see if that helps. good idea?

[garww]

I'm sorry, I spaced that the Miditech Midicontrol was a controller. Did you get the software disk ? It may need some drivers for full functionality.

miditech international - MIDI/USB Keyboards and Interfaces

get the manual if you don't have it.

[mindundermatter]

Yeah, for some reason (no pun intended), sometimes those things aren't plug-n-play like they're supposed to be. They'll appear to be working because you can play a note and see MIDI info in your DAW, but if the DAW doesn't know which controller you're using it might get confused and think playing a C means change patches, or twisting knob 2 means turn down the master fader when neither of those is what you wanted. Do like Garww said and get the original drivers for that specific controller and you should be on your way. BTW, there is no such thing as jitter when you're dealing with MIDI.

[ZootHornRollo]

hi,

thanks for the link.

no, i did not get the disk but there is no mention of it in the manual. The only drivers available on the website are the USB drivers. I did get the manual but Mrs ZHR has tidied up and it hasn't been seen since! so i downloaded another copy.

i will keep persevering. The problem with the random signals seem to be much more prevalent using Subtractor Synth more than anything else. Does not seem to have any kind of effect when using the DX synths and i will probably be using them more often.

I will tyr the switch cleaner this weekend if things haven't improved.

Thanks for your input folks!