Midi with firewire 1814?

[sethbrand]

Hey guys,

I am just now diving into the MIDI thing, haven't ever really used midi before. Anyways, I have a Casio CTK-593 keyboard with midi in and midi out. I want to connect it too my firewire 1814 through the s/pdif midi chords that come with the firewire 1814. I took one midi chord and hooked it too my keyboards midi out, and then to the firewire 1814's midi in. But when i inserted a midi track and tried to record, the meter was moving when i played but i heard nothing, neither during playback or record. What am i doing wrong. How do i hook just a standerd keyboard to the firewire 1814 to play and record drum parts from the keyboard into pro tools? do i need another midi cable going from the firewire 1814's out to the keyboards midi in as well? Any help would be great...thanks!

Seth

[spkguitar]

You would need to have MIDI cables in both directions to use it like you are tyring to use it.


Also, as far as I know, the casio does not have S/PDIF output, so I'm not sure how you are hooking that up. You will need to monitor the audio output from the casio in some way; either trough it's own speakers, or by running regular audio cables from the casio audio output to the 1814 audio inputs.

[sethbrand]

Thanks Spkguitar!

On the back on the firewire 1814 is a slot that is for midi, s/pdif, and word clock. The box ships with a cable thing that hooks into the back that has a bunch of cable hanging off for midi, s/pdif, and word clock. I have my my midi cable going from midi out of the keyboard to the midi in chord on the 1814. so your saying i should have another midi chord going from midi in of the keyboard to midi out of the 1814? then i should be set, or do i still need an instrument chord as well? When i would record with the one midi cable, i could see stuff in the track that had been recorded, it just wasn't playing back at all. thanks.

seth

[MDog]

The "cable thing" is better called a breakout cable or pigtail. Just so people know what you're talking about

You will need to connect both MIDI ins and MIDI outs if you want to use the Casio as a controller and sound module. You'll also have to connect the audio output of the Casio to an input(s) of the 1814 or other mixer. The MIDI cables will only carry MIDI data, not actual sounds.

What you're asking isn't overly difficult, but it can be complicated. You would do well by doing a search on basic MIDI concepts, and then reading the Pro Tools manual regarding MIDI. Once you are physically connected you will still need to route the MIDI channel, set the keyboards local setting, decide if you are going to select PTs MIDI Thru function, etc.

It's not a simple one sentence answer.