Cakewalk and MIDI

[Warren Ferrell]

Can I use Cakewalk and a laptop to push MIDI files to an Alen Organ. We have the old Allen Smart Assistant but it can't read 3 1/2 1.4Mb floppies anymore. I have copied the MIDI files to my PC.

[JnTuneTech]

Welcome to the forum! -So, a basic answer to your question is - yes, Cakewalk is well suited to playing and editing, even creating MIDI files, and will play them out to most any standard MIDI capable device. While the details of your post include some hardware I am not familiar with, if it uses basic MIDI standards, it may be very easy. The MIDI files you mention may work either opened as a project, or imported into a project, as long as they are in a standard format.

The rest of the answer would depend on what the hardware organ requires, and then the PC will require at least MIDI output hardware , and the appropriate connectivity between the two is needed to complete the picture. Having that, if the MIDI files open, the next steps would be determining if they will properly drive the organ, or if they need adjustment to match the desired output & playback.

[Warren Ferrell]

The Allen Recorder accepts 3 1/2 inch floppies. It can record the organ or play the organ via a MIDI in or out (5 pin) jack. Can I use a USB to MIDI cable and "push" the midi files to the organ via Cakewalk? I have 3 or 4 Allen supplied MIDI floppies that I have copied to my PC.

[JnTuneTech]

1 hour ago, Warren Ferrell said:

Can I use a USB to MIDI cable and "push" the midi files to the organ via Cakewalk? I have 3 or 4 Allen supplied MIDI floppies that I have copied to my PC.

It should work, provided that the standards of the MIDI files you copied are within the standards that Cakewalk commonly accepts. -Regardless of that, if the organ accepts MIDI control, you should be able to figure out some sort of compatibility to have the organ play MIDI files from Cakewalk. It is certainly used for that purpose, and from my experience - once you learn the tools, it can do a lot with MIDI control.

[Warren Ferrell]

OK, thanks.  I have a MIDI file in cakewalk and it looks like it's playing (VU meter moving) but I can't hear it. Do I need to select an instrument?  If so how do I select Organ?

[JnTuneTech]

That part I cannot answer, as again I am not familiar with your hardware. It's probably best if you can find a manual for the organ, to determine what the MIDI channel settings are at minimum. Generally what you describe happens when the MIDI being sent is on the wrong channel for the instrument, but it could be many things.  -Keep learning how MIDI works and find out the specifics of your device, and learn the tools that can help you get Cakewalk and your organ on the same page, and you will get there!

[Amberwolf]

You'd have to make sure that the track with the MIDI on it is set to use the hardware midi output that you have connected to the organ's midi input.  

Then you may need to choose a specific channel to send the data on, if the organ doesn't respond to "omni" input (all channels simultaneously).   The organ's manual should tell you how it responds to midi, and/or how to change any settings it might have.

 

Also make sure that the cable connected to the organ's midi input is labelled "out"; if you're connecting "in" to "in" it doesn't send anything.    

Note that many of the really cheap usb-midi cables don't work right (or at all), if they are just a usb cable going to a lighter-sized "box" that then has midi cables coming out of that.   

if it's a box with no built in cables that you connect with separate cables, it's probably good enough.   There's a recent thread around here about issues with these, and some recommended ones, about a problem where only one note goes thru before silence happens. 

 

 

You can probably fix the organ's floppy-reading-problem by replacing the drive.  It may use a standard 3.5" 1.44MB drive, or it might use one that's more specific (like I think my Ensoniq ASR does).   There were also apple (macintosh) specific drives that are harder to find, but it's unlikely they used these since your floppies can be read by your laptop.

 

The standard ones are easy to find in scrapped computers, cheap or free, if you look around in local thrift stores.   As long as you do a bit of basic reading on how to do it for a typical computer, replacing them is usually very easy.  Your device might be more complicated to open up to get to the drive, but probably not by much.

 

Random ebay link to standard drive

https://www.ebay.com/itm/403661605804?chn=ps

a search for more

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=1.44MB++internal+Floppy+Drive+-laptop&_sacat=0&_odkw=1.44MB++internal+Floppy+Drive&_osacat=0

 

Edited November 21 by Amberwolf

[Warren Ferrell]

I created a lot of confusion here by talking about to many things at once. First I tried tried replacing the floppy with a floppy emulator but got the same indications. Second I'm trying to listen to the organ using VST in Cakewalk to hear the MIDI files. I do not have my PC connected to the actual Allen organ.

[Kurre]

3 hours ago, Warren Ferrell said:

I created a lot of confusion here by talking about to many things at once. First I tried tried replacing the floppy with a floppy emulator but got the same indications. Second I'm trying to listen to the organ using VST in Cakewalk to hear the MIDI files. I do not have my PC connected to the actual Allen organ.

You probably need an organ plugin. https://plugins4free.com/search?term=organ

Download it and put a copy of the vst/vst3 in the right folder. Use 64bit. Scan the plugins. It should now be in the Cake browser on the plugin tab under instruments. Drag it to a track pane/header. Drag your midifile to the same track and click the Input Echo button to hear sound. Drag the file either from windows file explorer or from the Cake browser in the media tab.

OR

If an Allen organ have midi contacts i assume it have audio out contacts. Why not record those with the daw and listen to that?

Then you get the true Allen sound.

[JnTuneTech]

4 hours ago, Warren Ferrell said:

Second I'm trying to listen to the organ using VST in Cakewalk to hear the MIDI files.

So, the same principles apply as above. Each VST has its own settings to configure. MIDI files have several options within them. You would need to have the two matching, otherwise you get the issue you describe where meters show activity, but no sound from the VST. -Provided of course that you have a sound device connected.

Just remember, MIDI is not sound, just instructions for how to play sound. A hardware organ, for instance, or a VST and a sound device need to be connected, and set up properly, in order for the MIDI playback to work audibly.