New With ??? About My Set Up Options

[Levon River]

aah yeah, playing music the old fashioned way... with a bow!

<Sigh> At least it doesn't have ins and outs.

I took a break for holiday and family stuff, thinking that when I returned to this everything would work...  

Ahhh, yes: the metaphysical approach to MIDI. Tried it many times.

Extensions seem to be under control, no conflicts but I still have no sound when I play the DX7 and no sound when testing the set up in OMS or with Free MIDI. What gives???

Good on the extensions. You're absolutely going to have to break down this MIDI vs. audio mess into two separate, distinct parts, and there are only two ways I know of to go about it, both of which include being able to hear your MIDI device (the DX-7) one way or another:

1. Ignore computer audio to solve the MIDI aspects, which means you'll have to have the output of the DX-7 either going directly>amp>speakers (or listening to it with headphones) while you debug the MIDI, or,

2. Ignore computer MIDI problems completely while solving the computer audio situation, meaning you run the output of the DX-7 through the computer, and do *nothing* with the MIDI part, only play the DX-7 yourself by hand until you KNOW you are hearing it through the computer (and/or until you get recorded tracks playing back so you can hear them--I've gotten lost, now, on whether you can get NO sound out, or only from your DX-7).

Once you have ONE or the OTHER solved completely, then and *only* then should you start on the other. I've said this till I'm blue in the face, but you still seem to be trying to solve both simultaneously.

I made separate sets of extensions for each application so I'm running one or the other (OMS/FreeMIDI) not both at the same time. (and no graphics stuff either!) Will this help?

Of course it will help. Anything you can do to reduce variables helps when you're trying to narrow down the problem.

ProTools Free still refuses to work

Come on, torchsong: what does *that* mean? Never mind; rhetorical question. But it's just adding more confusion. You need to solve first your audio *OR* MIDI problems (ONE and *only* one of those), then solve the *other* (audio or MIDI), *then* you can start determining wheter programs that use both of those things are working or not. And not until then. And the programs work.

It is embarrassing to have to post these requests for help because it probably is something really basic causing the problem  

Lots and lots of people go through it to begin with, so it's no cause for embarrassment--unless you persist (a-HEM!) in not doing the things people suggest to solve it.

I still have my hair but the dent in my head is getting bigger  

Oh, that's normal: it's when you start denting the *furniture* that you need to start getting concerned...

I tried Metro first because of cost (cheep!) but now I'm wondering if it was worth the headache  :sad:  

Horsepuckey. Fortunately kaboombahchuck is on hand as a fellow Metro user and can guide you through those whitewaters. But you ain't even got yer raft wet yet, and won't have until you separate out the audio and MIDI situations and get both working with certainty. Then is when you can start exploring the eccentricities of any given DAW or sequencer packages--and not until then.

[torchsong]

Thanks for your help Kaboombachuck and Levon. Unfortunately I am still without sound from my keyboard.

Everything else seems to be working ok (no more crashes) I just can't seem to get a signal when I test my set up in OMS.
I want to use the DX7 as a controller, could this be where I am running into problems? Should I just be trying to get the keyboard sound directly?
I get sound through headphones, no problem.

As far as ProTools Free goes, it was something that I thought I would try before I ended up with Metro. It would crash every time I tried to launch it so I gave up any hope of ever trying it out. I've worked with producers who use ProTools and swear by it but for me it is not to be.

Frustration has slowed down the pursuit of my MIDI dream/nightmare but I am determined to make sense of all this....

[kaboombahchuck]

Welcome back!
First things first... Are you able to get the sound of your keyboard into the mac? And are you able to record the sound. Also are you able to playback the sound you just recorded to play back (in metro)? Let's get that working before moving on to the night mare of midi! You should go ahead and run the sound of your mixer out into the mac. That way when you are sucessful at audio recording, at least you won't be totoally stuck. By that I mean you will be able to record vocals, other instruments, and be able to mess around with the keyboard. That will give you something ineresting to do while gstting the midi mess straightened out. Any way I'll wait for you answer to these questions before moving on.
I am assuming that you know that midi is not an audio signal, and that you will have to make an audio connection from the keyboard to the computer regaurdless.

Shall I jump in at this point? Yes!
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From the Digidesign Answerbase:

Error 1010 when launching Pro Tools results in the application not opening.
This error can be caused by a corrupted OMS application.
Remove all the OMS software including the Opcode folder, the OMS folder in the system folder and the OMS control panel and extension. Then do a reinstall from the OMS installer on the Pro Tools CD.
Another possible cause of this problem is a corrupted system folder. This can be fixed by repairing or replacing the system folder.
---------------------------------------------

Torchsong:

From the above quote I'd say you've definitely got something going on that needs to be fixed before you can expect ANYthing to work properly. Also, important in installing Pro Tools is following the instructions, and OMS is supposed to be installed AFTER Pro Tools. You would need to toss everything OMS related, including prefs, before installing PT.

If you ever get PT FREE running there's a free app called "UglyVSTi" that will enable you to route VST instruments into Pro Tools. Check out my response to another post:

http://www.macmusic.org/agora/forums/index...4871&s=&lang=EN

[Levon River]

Well, torchsong, you've drawn a crowd and are getting lots of help.

I'm glad the crashing problems are gone; that's progress. I'm sure all these program-specific advices you're getting are excellent, but I won't even go near them until you are getting sound from your keyboard, because if you don't have the basics nailed down, everything that follows accumulates variables exponentially.

So on the SOUND from your keyboard issue (*not* the MIDI issue), here is the checklist based on the little I know about your set-up:

1. Way back in your second message you said "the audio is going through a pair of speakers hooked up to the computer." Then in a later message you said "Would I want to make an audio connection via the mixer? I don't believe I have the proper size connectors to do that." So step one is determining where the AUDIO OUT of your DX-7 is going. So: where is it going? Wherever it's currently going, like if it's routed to your hair dryer , you've got to get the AUDIO OUTS of the DX-7 going to some kind of AUDIO IN on the computer if you want to be able to record AUDIO from the DX-7 on your computer using your music program(s). In that case, the answer to your question of "Would I want to make an audio connection via the mixer" is "Yes," and so you're going to have to get the proper size connector to go directly to the audio in of the iMac--or you're going to have to get an audio interface (probably a USB audio interface) to sit between your mixer and your computer. If you just want to go straight from the mixer to the iMac "mic" input, you'll need an adapter that will take two cables from the L/R outs of your mixer and combine them into a stereo mini-jack that will fit that "mic" input on the iMac.

2. Assuming for the moment that you're going to get that adapter and route the AUDIO OUTPUT of the DX-7 (plus your cello pickup, mics, or whatever) to inputs of the mixer, then route the AUDIO OUTPUT of your mixer directly into the iMac, then all you really have to do (once the adapter is in place) is go into the sound control panel and make sure it's configured to take input from that iMac "mic" input port.

At that moment, you should then be able to hear whatever is going through your mixer, or I'll eat my hat. And I'm on a felt-free diet, so please get this working, and report back for further confusion.