Getting Started With A MIDI Controller

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DallasSteve
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2018/09/21 01:48:53 (permalink)

Getting Started With A MIDI Controller

I bought a simple MIDI controller called MidiPlus AKM320.  I have it hooked up to my laptop.  I opened a project in Music Creator 6.  I have the Cakewalk TTS-1 soft synth installed.  The first time I hooked it up I pressed a key on the controller and the lights appeared on both the selected MIDI track and the soft synth track and notes came out of my computer speakers.  But the sound wasn't clean; maybe a latency problem?  So I changed a few settings and now when I press the controller the MIDI track lights up but the soft synth track does not light up any more.
 
This seems very complicated to me, and I've been programming computers for 20+ years.  LOL.  So I checked Preferences and I have the AKM320 checked under MIDI - Devices, input and output.  I think that I have the soft synth selected as the output for the MIDI track, and I think I have the soft synth input set to MIDI - Omni, but I'm not sure.  I tried watching the video again.  I tried reading a help page online.  I'm going to lose interest in this again if it takes me 4 hours to just get the controller set up (I've already wasted about 2 hours trying).
 
Please help me.  Thanks
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    DallasSteve
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    Re: Getting Started With A MIDI Controller 2018/09/21 02:06:48 (permalink)
    Here's an update from my testing.  Maybe this will help someone identify what I'm doing wrong.
     
    I deleted the MIDI track and the soft synth track.  Then I inserted a new MIDI track and it had Omni as input and Microsoft GS Wavetable as output.  I pressed a few keys and I heard a nice clean piano sound with a slight delay (latency).  I don't see how to select different sounds (is that also called preset or patch?).  Anyway, I inserted a soft synth track for the Cakewalk TTS-1 soft synth and selected that as Output from the MIDI track.  When I pressed the keys I got the dirty cracking note sound like before.  What am I doing wrong?  (At least I can hear some music which is nice)
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    scook
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    Re: Getting Started With A MIDI Controller 2018/09/21 02:59:50 (permalink)
    Try increasing the interface buffer size. How to do this depends on the Driver Mode selected in MC6 Preferences > Audio > Playback and Recording. If ASIO use the ASIO client supplied by the interface manufacturer. Every other Driver Mode uses the buffer size in Preferences > Audio > Driver Settings.
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    DallasSteve
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    Re: Getting Started With A MIDI Controller 2018/09/21 03:36:35 (permalink)
    scook
    Thanks, I didn't see a buffer setting under Audio > Playback and Recording but I saw one under MIDI > Playback and Recording.  I increased that a little and it seemed to help a little.  Also, I read somewhere that it may be better to use ASIO under Audio > Devices > Driver Mode but when I pick ASIO the sound stops reaching the soft synths.  Any suggestion about ASIO?  Thanks again.
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    scook
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    Re: Getting Started With A MIDI Controller 2018/09/21 04:12:00 (permalink)
    The playback buffer in MIDI Playback and Recording is not the one to adjust for glitchy audio.What you are describing is an audio problem and will need to be fixed with changes to the audio interface buffer setting.
     
    ASIO driver mode is for audio interfaces that have an ASIO driver. The audio buffer setting is not in "Playback and Recording." It is in "Driver Settings." What interface are you using? To set up the interface correctly refer to this page.
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    scook
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    Re: Getting Started With A MIDI Controller 2018/09/21 04:12:00 (permalink)
    The playback buffer in MIDI Playback and Recording is not the one to adjust for glitchy audio.What you are describing is an audio problem and will need to be fixed with changes to the audio interface buffer setting.
     
    ASIO driver mode is for audio interfaces that have an ASIO driver. The audio buffer setting is not in "Playback and Recording." Here is the closest help page (MC6T) for the correct setting. My previous post referred to MC7 preference settings.  What interface are you using? To set up the interface correctly refer to this page.
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    jimfogle
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    Re: Getting Started With A MIDI Controller 2018/09/22 03:22:16 (permalink)
    Open the TTS-1 16 channel mixer control.  Each channel corresponds to a midi channel so, for example, channel 1 of the mixer responds to midi data transmitted on midi channel 1.  All the channels default to piano except for channel 10 which defaults to drums.
     
    One of the forum members, Catus Music, has a good tutorial on using TTS-1:  http://www.cactusmusic.ca/Sonarmidi.htm
     
    Craig Anderton published an article in Sound-on-Sound magazine in June, 2005:  https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/exploring-sonar-4s-tts1-synth
     
    Here is a YouTube video on using the TTS-1:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoaEnPsuyas

    Jim F
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