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Topic: Midi in/out (Read 3516 times) previous topic - next topic

Midi in/out

So I now have a USB interface to work between laptop and Casio CTK491.

I can send keyboard to NWC in either record or one at a time mode but I am dissappointed to find that I can not send the "Song Book" music.  It just plays and nothing happens.  I really wanted to do this function but I guess it will not let me.

The other problem is, I can not send NWC stuff to the keyboard which has a MIDI IN jack into which is plugged the appropriate DIN plug from the interface.  Not sure why I would want to do this other than better sound than from my lap top.

Is there some special command to go from computer to keyboard?

js

Re: Midi in/out

Reply #1 –
Jack, I don't have your hardware, and I'm not an expert on MIDI interface, so the usefulness of my advice is limited. Until someone more knowledgeable replies:

Many keyboards have built-in sounds that they will not send out on MIDI. For example, if I were to play piano along with the built-in Samba accompaniment on my low-end Yamaha keyboard, only the piano key strokes go out as MIDI. The Samba music does not. That's not the fault of NWC or of your MIDI interface. Yamaha wants to keep the accompaniment in the bottle.

Similarly, if I send MIDI to the keyboard, it will only play a limited number of notes at a time (in practice, enough to make chords on a single track). Also, no matter how I set up the MIDI, the keyboard plays whatever "instrument" corresponds to the button I push on the keyboard itself. If the MIDI says "organ" and I press the "flute" button, I get synth flute. It may be that a higher-end keyboard would honor instrument types in the MIDI.

Re: Midi in/out

Reply #2 –
Thanks for the reply.  I guess the song book is just digital music like a CD and has nothing to do with MIDI so NWF does not have a clue.

But I am still curious about the MIDI input to the keyboard from the computer interface.  What would one do with this?

js

Re: Midi in/out

Reply #3 –
Jack,

Check the "MIDI Implementation Chart" in the keyboard manual.
Does the keyboard respond to the following controllers:-

124 Omni Off
125 Omni On
126 Mono Mode
127 Polyphonic Mode

If it does it may be possible to set the keyboard to receive and play multi-channel files from the computer through the MIDI IN on your keyboard.
There may be a way of doing this from the keyboard control buttons, otherwise you will have to send the controller messages from the computer.
You would have to reset to get back to Local mode but I guess that's the boot-up mode of the keyboard.
There may also be a limit to the number of channels that the keyboard can receive.

If the manual doesn't mention these controllers or modes it is unlikely that you will be able to do it.

Barry Graham
Top Brass Events Band
Melbourne, Australia

Re: Midi in/out

Reply #4 –
It is unusual to get the Keyboard output into NWC working, but have trouble getting the NWC output into the keyboard working. Using a keyboard for input to NWC is usually the hard part.

As for getting NWC to play to your keyboard, there are two areas to consider:

  • First, you need to select the correct MIDI Output device from Tools|Options|Midi. Make sure that you select only one device for use in play back, unless you are sure that you want more than one device.

  • Second, the keyboard must accept MIDI commands from the MIDI port. Sometimes, there are physical switches on a keyboard that need to be set to correspond to the correct MIDI interface. Also, you may need to set a configuration option in the keyboard menus that enables it to accept "Remote" commands via the MIDI interface.

Re: Midi in/out

Reply #5 –
Noteworthy has been on my computer for about a week now and I am still very much at the experimentation phase.  One of my hopes was to export midi to my keyboard.  Strange to find this conversation today.

I see the comments about prepping the keyaboard but what I do not see, as js requested I believe, is how to activate a "midi send" command.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

SS
 

Re: Midi in/out

Reply #6 –
Well, there is no "midi send command" per se. You merely have to select the appropriate device to send the midi stream to your external keyboard instead of the internal synth on the soundcard. This device will usually have a name such as "MPU-401 External Midi" or "Brand X External Midi" etc.

From NWC you can either select the device directly (via Tools | Options | Midi tab), or else choose the "Midi Mapper." If you choose the Midi Mapper, whatever you have assigned as the default Windows midi device (via Control Panel | Multimedia | Midi tab) will be applied within NWC.

Re: Midi in/out

Reply #7 –
yes the reply about midi player in the control pannel was just the answer I was looking for, now everything works great, thanks. It was wierd that I just came to this forum and the answer to my problem was right there in front of me/ Thanks and have many great days. Ray