Problem with MIDI input

[hepfinger]

I'm in the process of getting my gear set with Pro Tools 11 and having some issues with MIDI setup. I.e. Pro Tools is not responding to MIDI IN data from two different sources (controller/keyboard). Note: All my MIDI gear works fine in Reason so this seems to be a Pro Tools issue.

Details:

I used MIDI Studio Setup to create 2 instruments.
Instrument 1 is a Yamaha P-120 and set to the MIDI IN [Emulated] port.
Instrument 2 is a Roland Cakewalk A-500 Pro and set to the A-PRO 1 [Emulated] port.

When I save/close the session, these MIDI port assignments are not saved. Is this the expected behavior??

I've tried a few different track settings:
- Instrument View/MIDI Input selector set to All (have also tried the individual instruments).
- Inserts A-E/Multichannel plugin/Instrument/... Here I've tried both Analog Lab(Stereo) and Reason(Stereo)
- Track is record enabled (armed)

Note: For the tests with the Analog Lab plugin, I have left Reason out of the Session to simplify the scenario.

Neither instrument responds to playing either MIDI controller and I'm not getting anything in the MIDI input indicator for the track when triggering the instruments. I do however get a small blip if I reset the port in MIDI Studio Setup.

On the other hand, if I add some notes to the sequencer, both instruments play as expected. so routing TO plugins seems to be working fine. Thus, Rewire seems to be working correctly for audio, because if I play an instrument in Reason via MIDI controller, I get sound in Pro Tools. Now, I would expect Reason to send MIDI data via Rewire, but if I record in Pro Tools on the instrument track, no MIDI data is recorded in the sequencer and I'm not getting anything in the MIDI input indicator for the track.

Any suggestions on how to resolve this would be greatly appreciated!

Thanx,¨
Hep


Platform/software/gear:
Pro Tools 11.0.2
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1
Presonus Audiobox 44VSL
Yamaha P-120 connected with MIDI cable to Audiobox MIDI IN.
A500-Pro connected to computer with USB

SiSoftware Sandra

ID
Host Name : Media-Dator
Workgroup : WORKGROUP

Computer
Model : ASUS G74Sx
Serial Number : C1N0AS2********
Chassis : ASUS Notebook
Mainboard : ASUS G74Sx
Serial Number : BSN1234567**********
BIOS : AMI (OEM) G74Sx.203 09/23/2011
Intel vPro : 7.00.10.1203
Total Memory : 8GB DDR3 SO-DIMM

Processors
Processor : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2670QM CPU @ 2.20GHz (4C 8T 2.8GHz/3.1GHz, 2.8GHz IMC, 4x 256kB L2, 6MB L3)
Socket/Slot : FC PGA988

Chipset
Memory Controller : ASUS Core (Sandy Bridge) Mobile DRAM Controller 100MHz, 2x 4GB DDR3 SO-DIMM 1.33GHz 128-bit

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Asint SSA302G08-GDJEC 4GB DDR3 SO-DIMM PC3-10700S DDR3-1334 (9-9-9-25 4-34-10-5)
Memory Module : Asint SSA302G08-GDJEC 4GB DDR3 SO-DIMM PC3-10700S DDR3-1334 (9-9-9-25 4-34-10-5)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : CMO Allmän PnP-bildskärm (1920x1080, N173HGE-L21
, 23.9")
Monitor/Panel : Samsung SMBX2431
(1920x1080, 30.2")
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M (4CU 192SP SM5.0 1.55GHz, 3GB 2.5GHz, PCIe 2.00 x16)

Graphics Processor
OpenCL GP Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M (192SP 4C 1.55GHz, 3GB 2.5GHz)
Compute Shader Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M (192SP 4C 1.55GHz, 3GB 2.5GHz)

Storage Devices
LITEONIT LAT-256M3S (256GB, SATA600, SSD) : 238GB (C:) (D:)
SlimtypeDVD A DS8A5SH (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : N/A (E:)

Logical Storage Devices
OS (C:) : 95GB (NTFS) @ LITEONIT LAT-256M3S (256GB, SATA600, SSD)
DATA (D:) : 118GB (NTFS) @ LITEONIT LAT-256M3S (256GB, SATA600, SSD)
Optical Drive (E:) : N/A @ SlimtypeDVD A DS8A5SH (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : ASUS HM65 LPC Controller
Audio Device : ASUS Cougar Point High Definition Audio Controller
Audio Codec : Realtek Semi High Definition Audio
Audio Device : ASUS GF116 High Definition Audio Controller
Audio Codec : nVidia 0015
Audio Codec : nVidia 0015
Audio Codec : nVidia 0015
Serial Port(s) : 1
Disk Controller : ASUS Cougar Point Mobile 6 port SATA AHCI Controller
USB Controller 1 : ASUS Cougar Point USB Enhanced Host Controller #2
USB Controller 2 : ASUS Cougar Point USB Enhanced Host Controller #1
USB Controller 3 : ASUS FL1000G USB 3.0 Host Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : Intel ICH SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer (600x600, Colour)
Printer : HP Photosmart C5300 series (1200x1200, USB, Colour)
Fax : Microsoft Shared Fax Driver (200x200)

Network Services
Network Adapter : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller (Ethernet, 1Gbps)
Network Adapter : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network) (Ethernet)
Wireless Adapter : Atheros AR9002WB-1NG Wireless Network Adapter

Power Management
Battery No 1 : ASUSTek G74--52 78.00Wh/4.69Ah

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows 7 Home 6.01.7601 (Service Pack 1)
Platform Compliance : x64

Windows Experience Index
Current System : 7.2

[musicman691]

First off I'd try something simple. Disconnect one keyboard - doesn't matter which one. Create a MIDI track in Pro Tools. See that that track is set up to receive MIDI from the controller you are using. Play the keyboard and see if there's any MIDI activity. If there is then disconnect that keyboard and try the other one. If that works then re-connect the first keyboard, create a second MIDI track and set it to receive MIDI from the second keyboard. If they can each receive MIDI from their own controller and not the other then at least your MIDI setup is working. Then go from there and move on to Instrument tracks and inserting instruments. To lessen complications I'd stay away from Reason and Rewire at this time as they have their own complications. Just use Analog Lab or even one of the stock Avid instruments.

Speaking of Reason and Rewire you have things backwards. Reason does NOT send MIDI to Pro Tools. It only sends audio back to PT. PT sends MIDI to Reason. I mentioned complications above with Reason and Rewire and for me it's this: the MIDI path to an instrument in Reason isn't simple as sometimes there's a number of possible MIDI paths between PT and Reason available via Rewire, especially if you're using Combinator patches in Reason. Some paths of which will not pass cc7 volume control for instance between PT and Reason.

When you say you add notes to the sequencer - what are you talking about? Notes in PT or Reason? Has to be in PT. If you add notes in Reason those notes will only play whatever instrument there is in Reason.

Don't know what MIDI Studio Setup is - please explain.

Looks like you're using a mixed combo of MIDI and USB connections for your keyboards. Generally that's not a good thing. I'd either use all MIDI or all USB but not a mix. Remember that in MIDI you can daisy-chain keyboards together and have PT distinguish between them by what channel each keyboard works on. You should be able to set the MIDI channel for each keyboard on that keyboard.

[hepfinger]

Solved!

I found the solution here. It seems there is a privilege issue in Windows 7 and you need to run Pro Tools as Administrator. I'll report this as a bug as soon as I receive my licensed version (using trial version atm).

Thanks again,
Hep

[Wizzoboy]

Running Protools with administrator rights is not a bug, it is a normal requirement.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by Wizzoboy

Running Protools with administrator rights is not a bug, it is a normal requirement.

True and most people, especially newbie's don't realize that.