midi headache

glasvegas · Post by **glasvegas** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 9:32 pm

Not sure if I've got my head round this fully but this is what I'm trying to achieve if anyone can point me in the right direction.

Basically I have 2 computers (both osx and running live) two midi keyboards and an akai mpd 24 that I want to have connected together.

One computer (the master) has an M-audio audiophile USB interface, the mpd 24 and a usb keyboard. The other (slave) has an Mbox and a microkontrol connected via firewire and usb respectively.

I've got the slave syncing fine with the master through the two audio interfaces (connected via a midi cable) but what I also want to do is send the midi from the Akai to the slave. My plan is to have it launch scenes simultaneously on both computers. That is the only midi data required to be sent other than sync.

Any idea how I do this? What do I have to do in the A.M.S./settings on the Akai?

Very confused and wondering if anyone could talk me through it/point me in the right direction. I'm used to just plugging midi stuff in through USB and it working straight away and have never delved deeper than that but woud really like to get this set-up going!

Here it is visually:

MASTER <===akai (also want data sent to slave along with sync)
l l <===usb keyboard
l l
l l
V
SLAVE <===microkontrol

Any help appreciated.

hambone1 · Post by **hambone1** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 9:35 pm

If you've got MIDI sync working, then you can pass the MIDI controller data through one computer's Live straight to the other one. Just make a MIDI track with input from the controller, and output to the MIDI interface. That's what I do.

I've got a Faderfox LX-2 and an FCB1010 plugged into a BCR2000, which is connected to an MBP with USB. The two MIDI out ports on the BCR go to a G5 running Live for video and lighting, and sync. The controllers can then control either or both computers.

Edit: I was sometimes losing sync until I started sending the sync through one BCR MIDI out and the controller data through the other.

glasvegas · Post by **glasvegas** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 10:03 pm

ok cool that makes sense i will try it out later. is all your stuff connected via USB? when midi is sent through live like this does it send ALL midi data? ie sync, remote and track?
oh and when you say about losing sync do you mean you were sending them on the same channel and then you switched to seperate channels?
cheers

hambone1 · Post by **hambone1** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 11:07 pm

glasvegas wrote:ok cool that makes sense i will try it out later. is all your stuff connected via USB? when midi is sent through live like this does it send ALL midi data? ie sync, remote and track?
oh and when you say about losing sync do you mean you were sending them on the same channel and then you switched to seperate channels?
cheers

FCB1010 is MIDIed into Faderfox, Faderfox is MIDIed to BCR, BCR is USBed to MBP.

MIDI sync goes from BCR MIDI out to MIDI in on G5, MIDI data goes from second BCR out to second MIDI in on G5. The G5 has a two-port MIDI interface with two ins coming from the BCR (sync and MIDI data), and two MIDI outs going to control remote pan/tilt/zoom cameras on a PC, and a visualizer on a Mac Mini. The MIDI controllers can control any of the four computers.

Sync doesn't go down a specific MIDI channel. I send sync and MIDI data down separate MIDI ports.

glasvegas · Post by **glasvegas** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:00 pm

Ok I've tried the tips mentioned and am still having problems.

With two identical sets loaded on both computers, the midi mappings controlling my sends etc DO work ie when I turn on knob on the master computers controller the corresponding knob also turns on the slave. What isn't working, however, is my MIDI mapped scene launcheson the slave. I have the input track, sync and remote active in preferences for the slaves interface.

Obviously MIDI is getting through from the master but it seems that somehow it is only CCs not MIDI note data. My scenes are mapped to MIDI notes from C1 etc...but the slave computer just doesn't seem to want to play ball!

There must be an easy solution for this...

Anyone have any ideas?

glasvegas · Post by **glasvegas** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 10:06 pm

anyone? feels like im banging my head against a brick wall with this bloody midi business! from what i can see it seems like CC data is sending and triggering stuff in the MIDI map but note data is not! dont understand this at all

glasvegas · Post by **glasvegas** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 11:28 pm

right i think this is a workaround for my problem:

http://www.gabtone.com/gablog/page/6/

at bottom of page.

seems strange that this has to be done meaning that the clip lauch quantization will be off...

is this a bug or what?