Subject:Acid music studio 7.0 and midi

Posted by: thedon112

Date:2/21/2009 8:21:03 PM

Hey all,
I want to use a midi keyboard with acid but I don't have a sound card that supports midi. The keyboard I want is $100 dollars cheaper than a full midi keyboard with usb output. My plan is to use a midi adapter, this changes the midi cable into a joystick one, but will acid still understand that it is a midi input. If not is there a way I can work around this?

Subject:RE: Acid music studio 7.0 and midi

Reply by: technicaltitch

Date:6/5/2009 2:37:49 AM

I've bought a Yamaha PSR e313 and a USB to MIDI interface but can't get it to work - I've just posted for tips as I'm sure it is possible somehow.

Subject:RE: Acid music studio 7.0 and midi

Reply by: Magnificent Butcher

Date:6/5/2009 8:01:25 AM

I've had trouble getting acid to recognize certain USB MIDI controllers but it usually has to do with the drivers of the device itself.For example:

Acid7 with XP will recognize my Roland Juno G and my Akai MPD16 but not my Yamaha KX8

Acid7 with Vista will recognize my Yamaha KX8 but not my Roland or my MPD16

Acid7 with vista64 or xp64 will not recognize any of them

Subject:RE: Acid music studio 7.0 and midi

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:6/5/2009 8:06:37 AM

> The keyboard I want is $100 dollars cheaper than a full midi keyboard with usb output.

I would highly recommend that you just buy an M-Audio AXIOM MIDI Keyboard controller (25, 49, or 61). It supports XP or Vista 32/64 with no drivers needed! You plug it in, it just works. You make music. Life is good.

OR...

You can buy some inexpensive keyboard and a joystick adapter and not have it work because the OS doesn't see the adapter so you go hunting for drivers that don't work, and have the adapter manufacturer blame the keyboard company and the keyboard company blames the adapter manufacturer or have them both blame ACID... and... and... and... fugettaboutit! It's not worth it.

~jr

Subject:RE: Acid music studio 7.0 and midi

Reply by: Magnificent Butcher

Date:6/5/2009 3:02:53 PM

Yep,

I switched to good old fashioned MIDI. I have all of my boards chained together and run into my audio interface. It works great and isn't difficult to set up. Here is how mine works:

Akai MPD16=>Yamaha KX8(both of these are simple controllers)=>Roland Juno G(this has it's own sound module)=>MIDI in on my audio interface=>Software(acidPro7)=>MIDI out on my interface=>Yamaha PSR-540.

I did like having the Roland as a USB MIDI device because I could route MIDI out to it, something I can't do this with the setup described above. Some kind of USB MIDI interface could solve this problem. Any ideas out there?

Subject:RE: Acid music studio 7.0 and midi

Reply by: technicaltitch

Date:6/6/2009 10:37:41 AM

Not sure if this is relevant but I'm sure it'll be useful for people choosing the cheap option for MIDI control in ACID (and other packages). I've just got my generic keyboard and cheap ebay MIDI to USB converter to work in XP - took me 6 months of occasional effort and frustration to find the easy steps to get it to work.

The problems may be associated with Logitech webcam drivers being incompatible with native Windows MIDI drivers (MIDI devices that come with their own drivers are not probably affected by this). Just a theory though.

This is a good basic introduction to MIDI I found useful

First, turn on your keyboard (or whatever device), (for my Yamaha PSR e313 I put it into PC Mode PC2 (details below)), connect the plug of the USB-MIDI interface labelled OUT, into the socket labelled IN on your keyboard (or whatever your device is), and connect the plug labelled IN to the socket labelled OUT on your keyboard.

Then plug the USB end of your USB-MIDI interface into your computer.

Then start ACID - I can't find a way of getting it to recognise devices plugged in after it has started.

Note that in order to receive MIDI signals, in my case at least, ACID has to be the active Windows application - if there is another application window active, ACID doesn't seem to receive any MIDI signals.

I followed the instructions on this post (repeated below - isn't displayed by default - you have to click 'Show Quoted Text' on areecemaat's post to see it - gives an idea of how desperate I'd become..).

Note that they involve editing the registry, which can completely break Windows itself, so be VERY careful you do it exactly as described to the letter. Also, save a system restore point - Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore, 'CReate a Restore Point', before trying this so that if Windows does break, you can turn on, select Safe Mode and restore your current Windows configuration (print out instructions from the internet if necessary!).


-------------
impermanence33;3948206 Wrote:

I had the same problem where my Logitech web-cam driver conflicts with
the Midi Keyboard (Evolution MK-425C) and thanks to various posts have
solved the issue. I am now able to use the Logitech web-cam at the same
time as the midi keyboard.

Initially I only had the midi device installed and it worked fine.
Then, I installed the Logitech driver and the midi device was no longer
recognised by Reason (my music software).
To solve the problem, I did the following:

1. Go into the registry editor (go to Start Menu, Run and type
regedit)

2. Go to this location:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E96C-E325-11 CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
and delete the two items "LowerFilters" and "UpperFilters"

3. Go to this location:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{6BDD1FC6-810F-11 DO-BEC7-08002BE2092F}
and delete the item "LowerFilters"

4. Go to this location:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{6BDD1FC5-810F-11 DO-BEC7-08002BE2092F}
and delete the item "UpperFilters"

5. Move back to the root of
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\

6. Launch a search (i.e Ctrl F with the option to search in "Data") and
type "LVUSBSTA". For any place found (only in the "Control\Class" area),
just delete the "LowerFilters" item (it is the item that contain the
value LVUSBSTA found). For me, I didn't find any other places than the
ones mentioned here.

7. Then uninstall the midi device driver [ed: To uninstall the driver, right click on 'USB Audio Device' in Windows Device manager and click Uninstall Driver], unplug [the MIDI interface USB plug] and plug it back
in. Windows should recognise it and install it and it should work!

Thanks to all the people who posted in various forums. All I've done is
summarise the bits and pieces that eventually worked for me.
----------------


In my case when I plugged the MIDI interface back in then tried to use it in ACID, ACID crashed (not sure if it was ACID or the drivers), so to be safe I did a restart of Windows.

I then went to ACID's Options, Preferences, MIDI tab and hey presto my keyboard was listed as 'USB Audio Device'. I ticked the box next to it in BOTH lists on the MIDI tab - the top one tells ACID it can send MIDI to the MIDI interface to be played by your device, the bottom one tells ACID it can receive MIDI signals from your device.

Then follow the instructions on page 58 of the quick start manual, insert a MIDI track, check the volume etc is up etc, click the MIDI input button (pictured in the book), select Auto Input, All channels, select 'Send MIDI input thru to MIDI output', don't add any filters. Click on the Output button on the track (next to the MIDI Input button, tooltip MIDI output..., has a plug and number on mine) and select or add the DLS Soft Synth. In the soft synth I only have the option 'GS sound set' in the first drop down, it doesn't make any difference which channel you select (in my experience) - when you now press a key on your keyboard (or whatever instrument you have), you should see the output meter of your track show a signal and you should hear something coming out of ACID.


----
If not, check the rest of your system is connected up OK by playing another clip you know to work in ACID.


----
Another common problem is that apparently XP can only have a maximum of 10 MIDI devices installed ever - as tracked in the registry. This wasn't the problem with me but the solution with this is (same warnings apply re editing your registry - save a system restore point).

Via 'Start/Run', the registry editor can be started by typing in 'regedit'. The relevant entries are in the path 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Drivers32' (left part of the window). As can be seen in the picture above, in case of an error all 10 entries for MIDI (midi to midi9) and/or audio (lower end of the list, wave to wave9) have already been created.

If there is more than one entry called midix (where x is a single digit), with the same filename in its 'Data' column, delete it. I have several wdmaud.drv entries so I deleted one. Then unplug your device if you haven't already and plug it back in again.


----
To play sound out through your keyboard, click the MIDI Output button and select 'USB Audio Device'. You can also have track A using the device as an input and the soft synth as an output, and track B using the soft synth as an input and your device as the output. In this case keys pressed on your keyboard (or whatever) are played through your monitor speakers, and keys pressed on the soft synth of track B are played through your keyboard. I only say this as it would have helped me understand MIDI.


----
To anyone trying this with a Yamaha PSR e313, it seems to send MIDI signals in the default mode, but to be sure, put it into MIDI mode by pressing the Demo button for several seconds until PC Mode is displayed on the screen, then press + or - on the number pad until you see PC2 on the left. PC1 does not send performance data (eg, key presses). oFF does seem to send signals and play them locally.




Much of this probably seems blindingly obvious to people who've had MIDI working, but when you've never had it working you have no idea where to look, so even the most obvious assumptions are open to doubt. (None of this is original - just a compilation of other peoples discoveries for which I am hugely grateful!
Chris

Subject:RE: Acid music studio 7.0 and midi

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:6/8/2009 8:29:08 AM

> ...took me 6 months of occasional effort and frustration to find the easy steps to get it to work.

...and that was kinda my point. You can buy something that works and make music today or fuss about for 6 months. ;-) I do have a generic MIDI controller and an M-Audio Midisport 2x2 USB interface that I use occasionally. So you can make it work cheaply but I have had problems with the Midisport drivers which is why I recommend one of the newer "driverless" USB keyboards for a no-hassle experience.

> Note that in order to receive MIDI signals, in my case at least, ACID has to be the active Windows application - if there is another application window active, ACID doesn't seem to receive any MIDI signals.

Go to Options | Preferences | General and UNCHECK the preference [_] Close audio and MIDI ports when ACID is not the active application and you can continue to send MIDI signals to ACID when it is not the active applications (e.g., when it's minimized, etc.).

http://johnrofrano.com/training/music-tutorials/bome-mouse-keyboard/

~jr

Subject:RE: Acid music studio 7.0 and midi

Reply by: technicaltitch

Date:6/10/2009 7:59:25 AM

Thanks so much for that illustrated tip! It was getting annoying so I was just beginning to think there might be a setting somewhere..

Agree you can spend a little more and save hassle - horses for courses. Part of the reason I bought the Yamaha and not an M-Audio keyboard is so I needn't even turn my laptop on to make noises. It comes with its own very good sounds, all sorts of brilliant self-teaching, accompaniment, effects, beats etc, functionality, is touch sensitive, you can apparently upload sounds, songs and beats, all for the same price as the very basic 5 octave M-Audio equivalent (£110). Sometimes it is really nice to have something that doesn't need a Windows at all, especially if it costs no extra. Compromises were setting Windows MIDI up (hopefully easier for people following these posts) and the lack of MIDI knobs and dials, although I don't miss them - I tend to do that with a modulator.

Couple last recommendations on that - ACID doesn't seem to come with any non-instrument synth functionality* but there's some amazing ones for free - the Crystal free VSTi is a fantastic synth for the artifical noises ACID doesn't do out of the box, with lots of excellent presets, SynthMaster is another freeby with brilliant instructions and tutorial configs although slightly more complex and doesn't seem to be touch sensitive, and hotelsinus is great for darker dubstep/dnb noises. All these are free downloads you can pop into Program files/VstPlugins directory and ACID will pick them up and offer them as soft synths your keyboard can feed. (kvraudio.com is a good place for more freebies and info.)

Apparently the process is to generate some noises with these them resample, filter and layer them, do what you can to creatively destroy them. There's a little more info here http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=206698&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15


* Probably using the wrong terminology here - what I mean is it doesn't have anything that generates wave forms and noises from scratch, it only has instrument soundsets (Aria, KitCore, the DLS instruments on the installation disk and the 16 bit Windows GM sounds).