Alesis QSR in Pro Tools 9?

[dwidaman]

Hey all,

I'm not new to Pro Tools, or MIDI in general for that matter, but I've never done my MIDI programming from within PT before...

I was just given an old Alesis QSR by a friend, and I'm blown away by the sound. I want to use it as a sound source in PT. The unit is in mint condition and works with my MIDI controllers, but when connected to my 003 R, does not show up as an In or Out in PT9. I'm afraid the module might be too old. Will it be possible to access the QSR's sound banks via Pro Tools MIDI editing?

Thank you graciously for any help in this matter!!

[albee1952]

Midi is really a rather basic "language" and I will bet this can work. We need to figure out a couple of things here. 1-how are you getting midi info onto a track(midi OR instrument track)? Once you have midi info(dots on the piano roll) then you need to find a way to send it out to the QSR(what is your interface/USB setup). Once you get midi TO the QSR, its a simple matter of patching audio cables from the QSR outputs to your interface. You can bring this audio to an AUX track(when using a MIDI track in PT), the same Stereo Instrument track as your mid info(if you recorded midi to an Instrument track), or route to an audio track and record the QSR(my vote).

[dwidaman]

Thanks.

I write MIDI data to a PT MIDI track using an M-Audio USB keyboard. Once the data is recorded, I'd like it to trigger the QSR, so I have MIDI cables traveling from the 003 Out to the QSR In and the QSR Out to the 003 In. From what I've read, this is usually sufficient for PT to register the presence of a MIDI device. But the I/O paths on the PT MIDI track don't list the QSR or any sort of 'unknown device' or anything like that, so I don't think I can send the data to the module.

Monitoring the output via aux tracks will be a breeze as well, I'm not worried about that - just the 'connectivity' of the module and 003. Thanks so far!

[flommer]

I have a QSR and it works fine with PT8, no reason to think it would not work with PT9.

I did not see you list weather you are using Mac or PeeCee and there will be a difference in how you define the QSR as an available MIDI device.

Connections made using MIDI cables are actually "dumb".. There is no auto-sensing of what device is on the other end of the cable. I think what you are talking about are connections made using USB (not available on the QSR) which are able to auto-sense/self install/whatever you want to call it(class compliant). Even then, sometimes a driver might be necessary..

Anyway, you don't really need to define the QSR as part of your MidiStudioSetup(PC) or AudioMidiSetup(Mac), you can simply send the MIDI out of your MIDI track to the "Predefined" Midi ports which correspond to the physical midi connectors on the 003. Any device connected to that output and assigned to listen to the correct MIDI channel (or all MIDI channels) will respond.

The advantage of setting the QSR up in MSS or AMS is that you can then assign patches based on the patchlists that are defined for the device (you don't need to know the program/bank number, etc..) It sounds like this is what you want to do.. Also,If I remember correctly there wasn't a patchlist for the QSR specifically, but I was able to copy then modify the one for the QS8 (same patches) so that it shows up correctly in AMS (in my case)

So let's hear what platform you're on and then get into the details..

[albee1952]

In any case, you only need a single MIDI cable going OUT of the 003 to the midi IN on the QSR(it has no midi info to send back in). Route the audio outputs of the QSR into your session. Check that Midi Thru is on(options menu). Make sure the QSR is set to receive on ALL midi channels(at least until you get it working).

[flommer]

Originally Posted by albee1952

In any case, you only need a single MIDI cable going OUT of the 003 to the midi IN on the QSR(it has no midi info to send back in).

Actually it can store MIDI sequences and play them back. I've never had a use for that and it isn't too useful with a DAW... But it will send MIDI

[dwidaman]

Originally Posted by flommer

I have a QSR and it works fine with PT8, no reason to think it would not work with PT9.

Anyway, you don't really need to define the QSR as part of your MidiStudioSetup(PC) or AudioMidiSetup(Mac), you can simply send the MIDI out of your MIDI track to the "Predefined" Midi ports which correspond to the physical midi connectors on the 003. Any device connected to that output and assigned to listen to the correct MIDI channel (or all MIDI channels) will respond.

So let's hear what platform you're on and then get into the details..

Thanks a lot for the effort - I'm on a Mac running Snow Leopard.

So, I currently have a MIDI track in PT with a few chords entered via an M-Audio KeyRig. I have one MIDI cable connecting the OUT of my 003R to the IN on the QSR. I have the audio outs of my QSR running back into an aux track in PT for monitoring. Now, I just need to designate the Output of that MIDI track to the 003 MIDI OUT, correct?

Problem: the only output destinations listed in the MIDI track's drop down menu are a handful of plug-in parameters and 'none'. I'm not seeing any predefined or default MIDI outs associated with the 003 hardware itself...

Thanks for sticking with me.

[flommer]

OK that definitely points to a different kind of troubleshooting:

Is the 003 showing up as a device in Audio Midi Setup (from ProTools it's Setup>MIDI>MIDI Studio...)? Do you have any other midi devices connected to it in AMS (with the virtual patch cables)? If you do then those inputs/outputs won't show up as predefined, they'll be named as the device that is connected to them. Can you select "predefined" MIDI inputs?

If the 003 is not there in AMS, then maybe there is something wrong with your PT9 installation or maybe the 003's MIDI needs to be enabled from PT9 somehow. Now that PT is able to work with any interface maybe there is an extra step in getting PT to recognize the hardware's MIDI capabilities...? Doesn't seem likely but I don't have 9 yet to check it out myself..

Maybe a screen shot of your AMS window and your mix window in PT might help.. You can't post them here but you can use photobucket or similar..

[dwidaman]

Great news, I solved my problem! Thanks for all the guidance.

It was very simple actually, and completely my fault. In the past, I had been experiencing the notorious 'coremidi.framework' issues, and had at some point disabled a number of my MIDI drivers, including those required for the 003 Rack. I reactivated said drivers, and bingo, all is now working like clockwork. Easy!

Thanks to all.