midi routing my fcb1010-rc300-vg99-yamaha in Logic [SOLVED]

[yourguitarworkshop]

Hi everyone

 

My first post here on this forum, hopefully i've understood the forum rules well enough. In any case, anyone willing to help has my deepest gratitude and will be saving my year...

 

 

This is what i want to do:

 

I want to route my FCB1010, RC300, yamaha keyboard, and VG99 within Logic so I can use these instruments live and/or in recording.

 

I want the FCB to be able to send messages to the RC300, the keyboard, and the VG99. (actually also want the FCB to control Mainstage but I’ll post that question in another thread)

 

All instruments are plugged into my motu midi express 128 (i know, i should have bought the express XT) and in the environment I get lost.

 

I have been able to create 3 instruments in the environment and in addition to that been able to have some interaction between the FCB and my VG99/RC300 but these devices just seemed to be doing things randomly.

 

Within the environment:

I’ve tried to cable within the arrange window but there i only see my audio tracks, not my midi tracks.

I’ve tried to add instruments in the midi instr. window and cable them the way i want which works fine but somehow the messages are not coming through or some device goes berserk by switching channels constantly .

 

My knowledge of midi within logic is not very good, i’ve used logic mainly for recording audio and some midi. Only since this year am i digging in deeper so if someone has an answer it is good to consider that i am not a midi-man (not a noob either...)

I must say that I am in love with the possibilities of midi but am intimidated by its complexity or poor explanation in manuals. (getting the FCB to work with the VG99 was impossible for me without the help of a few very kind people!)

 

So there it is, i hope someone has an answer to my problem

 

 

Thanks for even taking the time to read this!

 

André

[David Nahmani]

You shouldn't need to do anything in the environment, at least not to start with.

 

First, open a new empty project, where the environment hasn't been tinkered with at all. Create an external MIDI track. In the Library, choose the port number of the MIDI Express that is routed to the synth you want to route your MIDI data to. Now any incoming MIDI should be routed to that synth.

 

If you create 3 external MIDI tacks that way and route them to all three devices, rec-arm them all and use your FCB to transmit some MIDI events, then the 3 devices all receive your messages.

 

Next step would be to create, name and cable the devices in Audio MIDI Setup just so that you see the devices names in Logic's library rather than seeing the MOTU Express port numbers.

[yourguitarworkshop]

Hey David,

 

Thank you for your quick reply! I will try what you mentioned this afternoon. i think i saw and tried a post about this by you in the tips and tricks section but that didn't completely work, this description looks a bit different so perhaps now i won't mess up the steps.

 

could you tell me at what stage and for which purpose would i need to be using the environment to do this?

[yourguitarworkshop]

Hey David,

 

I've been trying this out but something weird happens, let me explain what i do so perhaps you can spot the error of my ways...

 

- i created 3 external midi tracks

- i assigned the ports and channels i want them to work on (rc300 on port 7 channel 2, vg99 on port 2 channel 1, and FCB on port 1 ALL channels--> i want it to be able to send its signals to both the rc300 and vg99 but not have the vg99 pickup the signals that are only meant for the rc300)

 

here is what happens:

 

when i do this and set the port for the second device the port of the first device gets changed automatically to the port of the second device, when i set the port for the 3rd device, the ports of the first 2 devices change automatically to that of the 3rd device.

 

what am i doing wrong here? Is it something within my settings that is messing up these changes?

 

I just also found a post by you so i already checked the "auto demix by channel if multi track recording"

 

thanks for any insight in this midi-matter

 

André

[yourguitarworkshop]

by the way, I connected both midi in AND midi out of all 3 devices to the express 128... maybe that has got to do with anything?

 

FCB out/thru

VG99 out

RC300 out

[David Nahmani]

could you tell me at what stage and for which purpose would i need to be using the environment to do this?

You may for example want to use the environment later for example to program custom bank change data so that you can use Logic to remotely change the programs and banks on your hardware synth.

 

Can you first create your devices, name them and cable them in Audio MIDI Setup? Then try again in Logic?

[yourguitarworkshop]

Thanksfor the quick reply!

 

Ok, i will create those devices, have to do so tomorrow though, my 240G sample

Iibrary crashed and is currently reinstalling... Also a ton of program updates

 

I will let you know if and hiw it works...

 

Short question: (i know this is logic forum) is it possible to do this also in mainstage? I posted the topic but it got never published

[yourguitarworkshop]

Hey David,

 

I did what you suggested:

 

went into audio midi config and in the midi window I added 3 devices and cabled them correctly to the express 128:

 

roland VG99 cabled to port 2 (send and receive on channel 1)

boss rc300 to port 7 (send and receive on channel 2)

FCB1010 to port 1 (send and receive on ALL channels)

 

in logic I created a new project and added 3 external midi devices

 

FCB set to port 1 and ALL channels

VG99 set to port 2 , channel 1

RC300 set so port 7, channel 2

 

Now when i set the port of any of those devices in logic, all the other devices get changed to that specific port also.

 

Funny enough i checked the program number on my VG99 and it said 49, the RC300 says the same thing but they shoud not be working on the same channel!

[yourguitarworkshop]

Hey Wait...

 

Eureka! i saw things popping up in the library, don't know exactly how i did make it work because after seeing them pop up in the library (on the right side) it took me some goofing around to actually make it work and not have things change automatically.

 

So... for other people on this forum.

 

Do what David suggested...

1. First, open a new empty project

2. Create 3 external MIDI tracks.

3. go into audio midi config (found in utilities) and in the midi window I added 3 devices and cabled them correctly to the express 128:

 

roland VG99 cabled to port 2 (send and receive on channel 1)

boss rc300 to port 7 (send and receive on channel 2)

FCB1010 to port 1 (send and receive on ALL channels)

 

4. Then in the Arrange Window on the right side of your tracks you have a window with 4 tabs above it: Bin-Loops-Library-Browser

 

In the Library, choose the port number of the MIDI Express that is routed to the synth you want to route your MIDI data to. Now any incoming MIDI should be routed to that synth.

(NOTE: because you named your devices in the midi config. you will find the devices here not on port number but on the name you gave them in the midiconfig.)

 

---here is where i did it all wrong! the library is on the right side of your tracks! i was messing with things on the left side of the tracks as i can see the port numbers and channels there i thought THAT was what David meant ---

 

5. rec-arm all your midi tracks and use your FCB to transmit some MIDI events, then the 3 devices all receive your messages.

 

 

What you have to look out for is this:

 

on the left side of your tracks you have a narrow window with the following things stacked on top of eachother:

 

Icon

port

channel

program

 

Sometimes logic automatically checks this program box and i just unchecked it. I think that helped in getting this right but perhaps David can confirm to be sure...

 

 

So..... thank you thank you thank you David!! And sorry sorry sorry for missing that 1 crucial step!!