Keyboard & PC connection

[Bobby Peru]

Goddamnit!

I've been sitting for the last hour trying to hook up a friends keyboard to my computer but it just won't work!

Here's my setup:
Technics SX-KN1400 (keyboard)
Turtle Beach - Montego (64 Voice PCI soundcard)

And I'm connecting the two via a MMC-1 MIDI cable... (midi in/out for the keyboard and some 16-pin connector for the computer)

I've failed to get any response AT ALL from the computer when pressing keys on the keyboard. I've tried a few of the troubleshooting guides on the internet but nothing seems to help!

Maybe there's some kind of MIDI-wizard you can download that's, at least, able to check the connection for you?

I have Cubase, Fruity Loops & Logic, so examples/ideas in any of these programs are welcome.

thanks...

 

[Fade]

Do you have the MIDI In cable going into the MIDI Out of your keyboard? And the MIDI Out cable going into the MIDI In of your soundcard?

A lot of people get that mixed up.

 

[Bobby Peru]

hmm...

I don't think that's possible...

I haven't got any MIDI ports in my soundcard I'm using what i figured to be a joystick port... And the keyboard is definately hooked up the way it's supposed to.

 

[Fade]

Yeah I'm using the same kind of cable with the joystick port. I kinda had this problem just the other day too.

Sometimes just closing everything and turning off your keyboard will knock it into place. What program are you trying to control with your keyboard? I guess the most logical thing would be to make sure the program is set to receive MIDI.

My problem the other day was that I couldn't get anything going with my keyboard. Turns out the MIDI cable in the joystick port wasn't plugged in all the way.

Do you have instant messaging?

 

[Bobby Peru]

Nope... I don't have Instant messaging.

This is the first time that I'm trying to hook up a keyboard to my computer so I'm pretty much at a loss...

I've tried the most basic midi checks... like making sure that I was able to play midi files through the media player (which I wasn't at first!)...

I figured it probably has something to do with some presets on the keyboard (some slave/master settings?)

I realize that it is relatively difficult to help me out on such a specific subject since I have little knowledge of what the hell I'm doing... Nevertheless, suggestions are appreciated!

 

[Fade]

Well the setup should be like this:

-MIDI cable hooked up to joystick port.
-MIDI In of the cable plugged into the MIDI Out of your keyboard.
-You should obviously have an RCA wire going from your soundcard to your stereo (unless you're using your PC speakers).

Anything after that should be software related. You could try to check for any conflicts on your soundcard by going into:
-Control Panel > Multimedia - and check the settings for Audio, MIDI, etc. Make sure you have the right MIDI port selected under "MIDI".

Also look under Control Panel > System > Device Manager - and look at the Sound, Video, Game Controllers. Click the "+" to expand it and click the device name. Then click on Properties and see if it tells you it's working properly. There might be a conflict somewhere.

Since you don't have instant messaging then it's kind of hard for me to help by posting like this, but I'll try my best. Try the things I just mentioned and let me know if anything has changed. Remember the settings I pointed out at the beginning of this post. Once you have it hooked up properly, then you know the problem is most likely software related.

Also, what is it you're trying to control with the keyboard? Soundfonts? Or do you have a sample loaded into FruityLoops or something? Telling me this will help a lot.

 

[Bobby Peru]

Now I think I might actually DID switch the midi ports on the keyboard...

Should i restart everything after fixing them before I should be able to see changes?

Also, there's this little midi lamp in fruity loops (MIDI input activity) which I was told would light up as soon as it picks up ANY activity. That's why I'm saying that there seems to be no response at all.

Should I change any options in the basic MIDI settings in "multimedia"? The troubleshooting guides that I read said like 50 different things so I think I might've ended up with some pretty fucked up settings?

 

[Fade]

Well it's hard to say about the MIDI settings under the Multimedia section.

If you DID switch the MIDI cable, you shouldn't have to restart the programs. You can if you want to. If you don't see the FruityLoops thing lighting up, then it's probably a hardware problem. But maybe not.

Try switching the wire and hooking it up correctly, then see if that works. If it doesn't, then check the MIDI settings in FruityLoops to make sure it's receiving MIDI messages on the right channel.

 

[Bobby Peru]

alright...

I'll try that...

If all else fails maybe I'll post again tomorrow... gonna study that fuckin huge keyboard manual first though.

Thanks!

 

[Fade]

No prob.

Yeah I got some videos to play!

Maybe tomorrow.

 

[vincetier]

Hi !

I´m not really a pro on midi related stuff but one thing that comes to my mind when i read this is that you might have to set the midi-channel of the keyboard and the prog you´re using the same ( like say keybrd channel 6 and pc channel 6 ). That´s a thing you at least have to do when using a Sampler with Keyboard.
Maybe it helps, maybe not......


poeace

 

[Accent]

i had the same problem i found out it was cause i did'nt go to mutimedia/add new instrament then following that (if ya can't goto add new instament u need a new soundcard)