Connecting your keyboard to your PT

[Ditherman23]

Hi all,

I'm trying to hook up a yamaha S03 synthesizer into my 001 interface so I can use it in my ProTools 6.4 sessions. I think this is going to be my keyboard at least till the winter. I plan on using as a midi module for all the sounds the Yamaha S03 has built in and use it as a midi controller for all the general midi patches that we all have.

I've done the hardware connections: I've plugged my yamaha's AC adapter into the wall so it has power. I plugged my yamaha's MIDI OUT into the 001's MIDI IN and the yamaha's MIDI IN to the 001's MIDI OUT. I plugged the stereo audio outputs from the yamaha into the inputs of the 001.

I'm still not getting a signal. What am I missing?

[rusmooth]

By "no signal" do you mean you can't hear it, or do you mean it's not recording midi data into PTLE?

If you have a MIDI track armed to record and set to receive on all channels, then you should see the MIDI recorded. If this is happening and you don't hear anything, then you need to provide some way to monitor the S03. You've already run the audio out of the synth to the 001 line ins, so create a track and set its input to the 001 inputs you used. If you use an audio track for this, you can record the S03 audio. If you are set to "Input Only Monitor" you will hear your synth when the track is record enabled. If you use an auxiliary track then you can only monitor it, although it will be recorded in your mixes when you bounce to disk.

[Ditherman23]

So, I have my MIDI cables set. I have the keyboard L and R outputs going into my Digi 001 L and R monitor inputs. I'm still not seeing any levels on my MIDI tracks level meter or hearing any sounds from the keyboard.

[Ditherman23]

You know what, I got it to work.

I went back and read your post a couple more times and saw that thing you said about setting an auxiliary track for monitoring inside Pro Tools.
I did that and I still didn't hear anything. So I played around with the location of my inputs for the keyboard as well as my drum machine.
Then, I noticed that the 1/4" jacks to my Roland monitor speakers was lying on the floor. I guess that I had disconnected them for some reason and forgot to plug them back in.
I plugged them back in, and, still nothing. Then, I realized that I had them plugged in to the inputs block instead of where they should be, the outputs block.
I re-located the monitor connection and there was the sound.

I'm still amazed at the amount of things that can go wrong when you're trying to set something as no-brainy as a keyboard up.
Anyways, thanks for the help tips.

[Adman44]

...all the more reason to label all your cables and draw a diagram of all your ins and outs (I still haven't gotten around to that) and have files that already have the track inputs set and labeled according to various setups. I hate it when I'm recording someone and end up fumbling around trying to figure out what's what, etc. So many dang wires. I hate that feeling that the said artist is thinking that I ought to have my act together (and they're right). So the labelmaker thingy I have is an important part of my studio. Now...where does the xlr I labeled Track 6a go? must be a mic...where is that mic? ugh...

[Ditherman23]

I am the original poster. How come it requires so many additional tracks (auxiliary monitor and audio track for recording) to get the sounds off of my yamaha keyboard. Am I going through all this trouble because I'm using the sounds from my keyboard instead of the GM sounds that come stock in PT?

This creates a problem that I found upon using the quantize function...you can't quantize MIDI when it's recorded through an audio track! If this is the case, then there's no way I can edit my keyboard parts when considering the above using my keyboard as a midi module.

[spkguitar]

Just curious, why are you recording the output of the keyboard to audio tracks? A MIDI track and an aux track are all you really need. With MIDI you never really need to record to audio (unless of course you run out of MIDI channels).

[Ditherman23]

"If you have a MIDI track armed to record and set to receive on all channels, then you should see the MIDI recorded. "


Initially I had the MIDI track for my keyboard set to record and an auxiliary audio track to monitor. That should be enough right? It didn't work.
I'm still not getting any MIDI data recorded into the MIDI keyboard's region despite the fact that I have it set to receive on all channels, it's record enabled.
Recording the MIDI as an audio track was, I guess, a roundabout way to record my keyboard?
Any suggestions would be helpful spk.

[spkguitar]

On the MIDI menu, do you have MIDI thru selected?

You said you had "All" selected as the input for the MIDI track? Can you select the MIDI port to which the keyboard is connected?

[Ditherman23]

MIDI thru was selected, I went ahead and unchecked it. Do I still need to have the imput set to my keyboard or can I leave it as "All"?