Newbie problem: drum machine, USB MIDI, Cakewalk
Home > Home Recording Forum > Recording Techniques > Newbie problem: drum machine, USB MIDI, Cakewalk
Posted on Mar 08, 2005 05:25 am
55337
Member Since: Mar 08, 2005
I have a Roland R-5 drum machine, Cakewalk, and a Yamaha UX16 USB MIDI interface. I can't get any sound from patterns in Cakewalk.
When I hook the R-5 to the UX16 and turn on the R-5, the UX16's MIDI in light blinks about every half second. This is without playing any pattern and without starting Cakewalk. If I tap a key more quickly than every half second, the MIDI in light blinks with the new frequency.
After starting Cakewalk, the MIDI in light blinks as before, but now the MIDI out light blinks in time with any pads I tap.
In Cakewalk's track view, In is set to MIDI Omni, and Out is set to 1-YAMAHA USB OUT 0-1. 1-YAMAHA USB IN 0-1 is selected as the MIDI Device Input (this is the only option) and 1-YAMAHA USB OUT 0-1 as the MIDI Device Output (the other option is Microsoft MIDI Mapper).
If I start recording then tap pads on the R-5, both the MIDI out and MIDI in lights on the UX16 blink. The MIDI out blinks with the frequency that I tap or every second, whichever is faster, and the MIDI in with the frequency that I tap or every half second, whichever is faster.
After recording, the piano roll shows that the sounds which I tapped have been recorded to the appropriate note numbers. On playback the UX16's MIDI out light blinks in time with the notes. However, there is no sound. The MIDI in light blinks once every half second.
If I manually write a pattern in the piano roll and then play it, the MIDI out light blinks in time but again there is no sound. Again, the MIDI in light blinks once every half second.
Through everything, the MIDI in light does not stop blinking. Even with no pattern being played or any programs being open, the MIDI in light blinks with the half second frequency.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions for solutions.
[ Back to Top ]
Mar 08, 2005 01:30 pm what do you have the audio outputs of the drum machine hooked up to? when you use it by itself, to you have sound? audio is not midi and midi is not audio, you can't 'hear' midi notes.
so make sure you've got the audio out's of the drum machine hooked up to something (even headphones)
peace
wyd
55337Member
Since: Mar 08, 2005
Mar 08, 2005 05:53 pm I didn't have the drum machine plugged into any speakers; I just tried doing that but still no sound.
About 3 years ago I was able to plug the drum machine into the computer through the MIDI ports, and after I made a pattern in Cakewalk's piano roll, magically, the drum machine's sound were played through the computer's speakers using the Cakewalk pattern. That is, I didn't have to plug the drum machine's audio outputs into any speakers. I've since forgotten the settings I used though, which is why I'm having problems now...
Thanks for the reply.
Mar 08, 2005 05:55 pm then you wern't hearin' the drum machine's sounds, you were prolly hearin' general midi sounds or something....it's impossible for audio to travel through midi cables.
55337Member
Since: Mar 08, 2005
Mar 08, 2005 07:18 pm I replied too quickly before; I ended up changing Cakewalk settings and then was able to get the pattern to play out of the drum machine's outputs when hooked up to a speaker. Thanks for pointing that out.
Ok, now this is stupid to ask, but...my end goal is to be able to create the patterns in Cakewalk and record the patterns using the drum machine's sounds. What do I do?
I thought by using MIDI I could avoid having to connect the drum machine to the sound card's audio input to record but it sounds like hooking it up like that is unavoidable. (I thought for sure that's what I'd accomplished in the past...)
Mar 08, 2005 08:12 pm record the midi paterns in cakewalk, then add an audio track in cakewalk, then hook the audio outputs of the drum machine into your audio interfaces (soundcard) inputs.
good luck
wyd
Mar 08, 2005 08:13 pm that was kinda brief lemme know if i need to elaborate bro.
55337Member
Since: Mar 08, 2005
Mar 08, 2005 09:03 pm Not too brief; that made sense.
The thing is though I'd like to be able to mix the drum sounds separately. My soundcard only has one input so if I make audio tracks and I want to mix them separately then I have to record the song as many times as there are drum sounds. Bass drum and snare alone would mean I'd have to record the song twice. Add the cymbals and toms and the recording gets long. In addition, if I record multiple audio tracks then I have to drag and drop to sync them up which is a pain. But all of this is what I'm doing currently because it's the only way I know.
Is there an easier way to do this, if not by MIDI, then by some other means?
Thanks for the replies to this point.
