Cakewalk communication problem with External Synth

[Michel Fouche]

I am using a Korg rack mount synth that I just happen to have lying around. I have the MIDI cable going out of the Audio Interface (AI) and into the Korg. I have an audio cable going out of my Korg into Audio input 1 of the AI. I have a Launchpad Mini 3 (keyboard) connected to the computer via USB. The AI is also connected to the computer via USB. I am listening through headphones connected to the AI.

When I create a MIDI track and send the output to the AI I get weird results. If I play the keyboard I can see the levels reacting in the track, but get no sound. If I go into piano roll view (PRV) and play the keyboard I can see the virtual keyboard responding, but nothing appears on the piano roll. If, however, I play the virtual piano in PRV notes appear on the roll and I can hear them being produced from the Korg. 

Another weird thing is that if I create a MIDI track and send the output to a virtual instrument I can use the keyboard to record. If I then take that MIDI clip and copy it into the track that is outputing to the AI (and as a result, the Korg) when I play the clip I don't get sound. If I totally disconnect the keyboard from the computer and try to use it as a stand alone MIDI controller going into the Korg I don't get sound out of the Korg either. Could there be a MIDI format issue? Given that MIDI is an ancient protocol I wouldn't have thought so?

I can't see what I could have possibly missed, since the Korg is clearly receiving MIDI instructions and clearly emitting a sound signal. Any help would be greatly appreciated as this is driving me crazy

Magically yours,

Michel Fouché

[David Baay]

You need to have an audio track in the project with Input set to the interface channel to which the audio output of the Korg is connected with Input Echo enabled on the the track to echo the signal to the output of the track and on to the Master bus.

[Ross Smithe]

From what you're describing, the problem is that you need to output your midi track to the Korg module. The midi is going in via USB from your keyboard, but then needs to be outputted to the sound module you're wanting to trigger the desired sounds from (just like you output a simple instrument track to a desired VSTi). If the Korg module doesn't have USB, then you would need to run a 5 pin cable via a midi out connection from your computer (either on your interface or a midi adapter with drivers installed) to midi in on the Korg. Then run audio cables from the L/R main outs on the Korg module into a stereo pair on the interface (definitely want your synths in stereo!). If your interface has direct monitoring, definitely use that and you will be able to hear and record with zero latency! Otherwise, set up an audio track with input set to the stereo pair and activate input monitoring (you will need to deal with latency then)

Edited September 23 by Ross Smithe

[rsinger]

Does the Korg have a headphone jack? If so, try that. Break your problem down into smaller pieces if you can. Also, midi uses channels, is the keyboard xmitting on the same channel the korg is set to receive on?

Edited September 22 by rsinger

[Michel Fouche]

7 hours ago, David Baay said:

You need to have an audio track in the project with Input set to the interface channel to which the audio output of the Korg is connected with Input Echo enabled on the the track to echo the signal to the output of the track and on to the Master bus.

I have tried that and it doesn't make a difference. Oddly, when I am playing the Korg using the virtual keyboard, I don't need an audio track. Just need echo on the MIDI track.

5 hours ago, Ross Smithe said:

From what you're describing, the problem is that you need to output your midi track to the Korg module, not the audio interface. 

The audio interface has MIDI in and out. That is how the computer is communicating with the Korg.

5 hours ago, rsinger said:

Does the Korg have a headphone jack? If so, try that. Break your problem down into smaller pieces if you can. Also, midi uses channels, is the keyboard xmitting on the same channel the korg is set to receive on?

I have the track output set to omni. I have also tried each individual channel. The thing is, the computer is communicating with the Korg. That's how it is playing sounds when using the virtual keyboard. The Korg does have a headphone jack and it's output matches what I hear from the AI headphones.

[Michel Fouche]

I just tried this in Ableton Live Lite, and I can hear the Korg when playing the Launchpad Mini III. It appears the issue is somewhere in Cakewalk.

[David Baay]

On 9/22/2024 at 4:46 AM, Michel Fouche said:

If I totally disconnect the keyboard from the computer and try to use it as a stand alone MIDI controller going into the Korg I don't get sound out of the Korg either.

As rsinger indicated, this fact suggests that the keyboard is sending events with a different MIDI channel than the Korg is set to receive... or you didn't properly connect the OUT of the keyboard to the IN of the Korg when you moved the cables.

Also as he suggested, you should work through the setup one step at a time:

1. Keyboard MIDI OUT to Interface MIDI IN, and interface MIDI OUT to Korg MIDI IN.

2. Create a MIDI track in CbB, set the input to the interface MIDI IN - Omni.

3. Arm the MIDI track, hit R to start recording, and play some notes on the keyboard.

4. Stop recording with Spacebar, disarm the track, and confirm notes are recorded in the PRV, and are on MIDI channel 1 (double-click a note to see  properties).

5. W to rewind and Spacebar to play the track and and verify you  hear sound with headphones plugged into the Korg.

6. Add an audio track to CbB with Input set to the appropriate interface channel and enable Input Echo on it.

7. Start playback and verify you get meter activity on the audio track  and hear audio through headphones plugged into the Interface (if there's an echo, disable Direct Monitoring on the interface).

8. Stop playback, enable Input Echo on the MIDI track, play some notes on the keyboard and verify you get meter activity on both tracks and hear audio through the headphones.

If all these steps work, recording and playback of MIDI and audio and realtime perfomance with input monitoring will all be working.

If any step fails, let us know exactly which one, and we can troubleshoot further.

 

[Michel Fouche]

So I finally solved the issue. The Launchkey is supposed to send on channel 1 with drums on channel 10. Somehow my Launchkey got changed to send on channel 4. On a random YouTube video I found out how to see what channel the Launchkey is set to and how to change it. You'd think that would be something they would put in the User Guide. 

I still don't know why it seemed to work on Ableton Live, though. It only did it that one time. Anyway, it's all working now. I really appreciate the time people put in to help.