4 Keyboards Session

Lets assume we have 4 Boys that want to jam together. Each of them has his own MIDI-Keyboard. Each of them wants to play his own Instrument in Logic and record it on an own Software-Instrument-Track. Thats a pretty complicated thing to do in Logic and the Environment, right? Except you use a multitimbral Instrument and Keyboards with different MIDI-Channels. But what would be the solution if I want the 4 instruments to be Logic-Instruments and the boys dont know how to set their MIDI-Channel in their Keyboards . Is there an intuitive solution that I havent thought of?

The easiest solution is to....

1/ enable auto demix

2/ set each external midi device to transmit on a different channel ( in this case ie. 1-4) - make sure each track uses the same corresponding midi channel

3/ record enable the tracks

 

If you don't want to to change the midi channels on the devices -  and assuming they are not daisy chained together....

in the environment add a transformer in-between the midi port for the synth (on the physical input) and sequencer.

 

Then for transformer for synth2.... transform the midi channel from 1 to 2

                                  for synth3.... transform the midi channel from 1 to 3

                                  for synth4.... transform the midi channel from 1 to 4

 

That's it.... 

 

       

One possible option, I think, would be to connect each keyboard's prong from the physical input object to each of the corresponding channelstrip object in the Environment...but...

 

 

Intuitively, I would first try: 

-setting each keyboard's MIDI output on a distinct MIDI channel. 

-In Logic create for each keyboard a virtual instrument track with its MIDI channel set to the corresponding one from the keyboard. 

-Then go in project Recording Settings and select Auto demix by channel if multitrack recording. 

-Then record enable the 4 tracks. 

-You should then be ready to jam; to record, 

-click on  the record button on the transport bar.

 

There could be other methods...

But what would be the solution if I want the 4 instruments to be Logic-Instruments and the boys dont know how to set their MIDI-Channel in their Keyboards . Is there an intuitive solution that I havent thought of?

They're probably going to have to figure out how to change the MIDI channel on their keyboards. It should be very straightforward.

Other than that (and other options suggested already), you could buy an interface with 4 MIDI input channels.

thank you all. I guess Volovicg has said it at least nearly all and there is nothing to add. So when a software instrument - even a Logic one - receives different channels, then it will record only these with auto demix on? No need of a Multi-Instrument Configuration in between? I will try it out. 

yes and remember - if a midi channel arrives on the currently selected track for which you have not defined another track with that midi channel and it is record enabled - it will be recorded to the currently selected track....

Almost all of the time you will be using a multi-port MIDI interface box into which each MIDI cable has been plugged-in individually, one per instrument (even if the player is playing more than one instrument).  Therefore, each instrument will not be encountering any MIDI signals other than its own, and a good interface box should be able to do the job without requiring the MIDI channel-numbers to be distinct.  (Unless, on any particular circuit, several instruments are daisy-chained, e.g. so that one instrument can send actual MIDI data directly to the other, the "old school" way.)  

 

The networking within the house will be USB or TCP/IP (wireless ...), both of which are vastly faster than MIDI.  And today, likely as not, the instruments themselves support these networking protocols and simply "talk MIDI" through them.  If so, each device is uniquely identifiable and uniquely addressable on the network, no matter what it's "saying," and all conversations between devices (regardless of content) are distinct.

Mike, I disagree, not sure if I understand you, lets just assume they all connect their modern Keyboards via usb to the mac.