This lets me play the Roland A-80 whilst hearing the sound from, say, the Roland D-550. It records the performance into the active track, but also optionally echoes the notes through the computer’s MIDI output port. Aside: Cakewalk and MIDI EchoĬakewalk – and presumably other DAWs – has the ability to mimic the behavior of a THRU port, and echoing the incoming MIDI data from input to output. I’ve already decided which MIDI channels each device is going to use. Novation PEAK synthesizer desktop moduleĪll these devices have MIDI In and Out ports for sending and receiving MIDI messages such as notes, clock, and system-exclusive (data dumps and patch edits).MIDISport 2×2 USB MIDI interface (ports A and B).Windows 10 computer running the Cakewalk by Bandlab DAW.The Studio Equipmentįor the purposes of this article I’m using the following devices: If you find yourself using the same set of connections over and over, you can save it in one of the 64 possible memory locations for easy recall. You can use it ad-hoc by selecting an input (from the top row of eight buttons) and then selecting which of the eight outputs (from the bottom row of buttons) the MIDI messages are echoed on. The A-880 is basically a box with 8 inputs 8 outputs and it will connect these together any way you like. Some sort of automated patch bay becomes almost required. The problem is that the more devices you have, the more un-plugging and re-plugging of MIDI cables is required to manage all the equipment. But back in the 1990’s, it was like magic, and no-one complained that they needed two cables for this type of two-way communication. I realize as I write this that it all sounds archaic these days, when we have digital bi-directional comms over a single USB connector, let alone Ethernet and WiFi. Some manufacturers combined the THRU and OUT connectors. In fact, later keyboards and modules included a third port, a MIDI THRU that would re-transmit incoming MIDI signals to the next device in a chain, allowing layering and multi-timbral setups. This allows more than one device in a MIDI chain. So if you connect a MIDI cable between two devices, a device listening on channel 1 won’t respond to any messages assigned to channels 2-16. MIDI messages are assigned a “channel” between 1 and 16. The computer requests data the module sends it the computer sends more data. From the computer OUT to the module IN and also from the module OUT to the computer IN. We had PC software that allowed us to perform patch librarian tasks using MIDI (called System Exclusive or SYSEX) on many of the devices but it requires bi-directional data transfer between the sound module and the computer, and signals in a single MIDI cable only go one way: You need two cables connecting the In and Out ports. Shortly after that, we found a Roland MIDI Interface (MPU-401?) for our PC, and started recording MIDI sequences into a copy of Passport Software’s Master Tracks Pro. Also, you could send notes from the Jupiter to the Akai devices over MIDI, so long as you set the rack to listen on MIDI Channel 1 or 2. It was soon followed by an Akai sampling keyboard and synthesizer rack module, which worked very well together when connected with MIDI cables. It had some DIN ports – In and Out – on the back for something called MIDI. It certainly wasn’t the first piece of kit I ever bought – that honor goes to a second-hand Roland Jupiter 6 back in 1988. I can not remember when I acquired the Roland A-880 MIDI Patch Bay.
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