MIDI Drums

[chrismeraz]

A friend brought his electronic drums to my studo today. ATV aD5.

For the life of me I can't get MIDI information into Pro Tools. I tried to set up the aD5 as a MIDI Input Device, but it's not on the Pro Tools MIDI Input Device menu.

It's connected by USB cable to a USB 2.0 port on my computer. I tried replacing the USB cable. I read the manual for PT and for the aD5. What other steps can I take?

[Emi]

Look into Audio MIDI setup of your computer.

[musicman691]

One of the first things I tell people when they're having MIDI troubles is to get some kind of MIDI monitor program. This would run standalone and tell you if there's incoming data and what that data is. With this it would at least let you know if the MIDI is getting into the computer.

And of course when it comes to USB ports on a Windows machine I tell people to check that any power savings measure for them is turned off in Windows Control Panel. Even on a desktop computer Windows by default turns off the USB ports after a while.

[chrismeraz]

Originally Posted by musicman691

One of the first things I tell people when they're having MIDI troubles is to get some kind of MIDI monitor program.

Thanks Jack, that helped. I downloaded MIDI OX and confirmed that I am receiving MIDI from all my devices. Then I realized all I had to do was restart Pro Tools after plugging in any new MIDI devices. After that, all the regular instructions in the manuals got me to where I needed to go. There's only one thing the manual didn't mention, which is that REC needs to be enabled in order to receive MIDI. Makes sense, but I didn't think about that at first.

Thanks!

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by chrismeraz

Thanks Jack, that helped. I downloaded MIDI OX and confirmed that I am receiving MIDI from all my devices. Then I realized all I had to do was restart Pro Tools after plugging in any new MIDI devices. After that, all the regular instructions in the manuals got me to where I needed to go. There's only one thing the manual didn't mention, which is that REC needs to be enabled in order to receive MIDI. Makes sense, but I didn't think about that at first.

Thanks!

Glad you got it sorted. MIDI issues can be maddening. That's why I like MIDI monitor programs as they can help one to find where a problem is. One of those things like: is my keyboard even MIDI to the computer? What channel is it on? That last one can trip up people like you wouldn't believe.

[albee1952]

Is it set up under Setup>Midi>Midi Studio? That's the menu that matters