Why Can't I Hear My Dx7 On My Sequencers?, DX7: MIDI and Audio SETUP for Sequencers Options

[kaboombahchuck]

Did you make sure to check out the sound controll settings I mentioned before????
You should be able to hear sounds comming from your iMac whether you have a recording program running or not.

I've tried different settings in the sound control (external mic and sound in) but it didn't help!
After switching my imac on and before running any sequencer, I'm always taking care of checking this sound control (but I admit that it's not so obvious for beginners who care often wonder how to get sound!).

<1. i have witnessed such poor signals that they don't appear to exist until the file has been normalised. you could check if this is the case

Actually I would be happy to get at least a poor signal instead of no signal at all...
Damann, do you mean converting to .mid (e.g) by "normalised"?
Actually if I listen to the .mid file on quicktime (or whatever), I can hear the recorded midi tracks.
So basically, it's just a problem of real-time sound feedback .
You guys, how to you proceed actually?
Do you work with the sound feedback from the computer speakers or do you connect the sound output of your instrument (midi keyboard) to external speakers such as a stereo?
I think what I need is a good methodology for home recording....!!!! Not the ones from software developers or booksellers but from musicians like you !
Thanks in advance ; )

john

[Levon River]

Hamard, describe, please, exactly how many cords you have going from the DX-7 to your computer, and how many adapters of what kind are in the path.

We'll peel this right back to basics...

[kaboombahchuck]

Ok, now I know I'm sounding redundant but... While you were looking in your sound control panel, are you sure that the box next to the "Play sound through output device" is checked.

If it is, does the jack going into your computer look exactly like a headphone jack? Are you positive that the cable is not defective?

If all of the above is done, and you still can't hear your sound on your computer, then there is the posibility that the input jack on the computer itself is defective. In that case you will need an external sound card. I'd sugest a firewire audio interface, but if money is an issue, go for a USB one. Be aware that the USB audio interface will have more latancy than the firewire one. I'm not sure if you can use a extagy USB esternal sound card will work on a mac or not, but you might look into it. It is definatly not the best, but it should do.

Now then onto the question of how I procede exactly.....
I have every thing running into a Behringer 20 channel mixer. The sound out of the mixer into the iMac sound input. I'm using a midiman2x2 midi USB interface for sequencing. As far as listining to what I'm doing, I have one of the head phone jacks running to a stereo, the other has head phones connected to it. So I'm not using the speakers of the mac, but could. Some times I take the sound running to the stereo, and run it back into the mixer for mastering. In this case I uncheck the play through device command to keep from having a loop which causes really bad feedback!

No you're not redundant, you're just right to go into these details...
But unfortunately, I checked "Play sound through output device" and could hear the keyboard at this time (so the cable and mic input are OK...this was also confirmed by plugging a mic on the mic input and by connect the DX7 to my stereo using this cable).
So, after reflection, i'm quite convinced that the issue comes from the setup of the sequencers or the management of the audio in OS 9.2.2?

I would like to describe my connections once again:

The DX7 is connected to the imac (OS 9.2.2) via the Midiman UNO 1*1 and the audio output of the DX7 is connected to the mic input of the imac using a guitar cable and an adapter to make the connection to the imac possible.

Thanx again for your great help : )

Ouppps, another important point I forgot to indicate since the beginning:
On Pro Tools Free, i don't hear the D7 on the Midi track but on the audio track there is no problem.
Does it mean I always have to create a Midi and audio track so that I can hear the recording on the mac?
But if I modify the Midi recording, the audio track won't be modify so at the end i could not hear the new version of the midi track????
I'm quite sure I don't work with the sequencers in the right way !

[Levon River]

I haven't looked at PTFree since around the time it came out, but in ANY sequencer you have to make sure that the MIDI track:

A. Has MIDI note information on it--either recorded via MIDI, or input by hand, and
B. Is routed to the correct MIDI sound device (the DX-7), via the correct MIDI interface, and on the correct MIDI channel--meaning the one that your DX-7 is configured to receive on.

That's three "corrects" you've got to have correct.

And isn't OMS involved in all of this somewhere? That's like having Mr. Mxyzptlk negotiate peace in the Middle East. If you haven't set up your DX-7 in there, nothing's going to be on speaking terms with it. I'll let somebody who can talk about OMS without popping a vein walk you through that.

Once you have all the above configured, and the MIDI track playing your DX-7 like a piano-roll, then you can route the audio of your DX-7 to the input of any audio track, set it to record, and get a recorded audio version of what the DX-7 is playing. Is that about as clear as mud? Once it's an audio track, you can turn off the playback of the MIDI track, and add effects and whatever to the audio version.

At any time, if you want to change something, you can just edit the MIDI track and re-record it. It's more power than Nero had. Don't abuse it and do trance music.

[kaboombahchuck]

Ohhhh, I thought you were having audio problems!
What version of OMS are you running? I'd bet thats what the problem is. Until you get OMS set up and running in the test studio, you're dead in the water

I'm running OMS 2.3.8 but I've read somewhere that it's better to still use OMS 2.3.7 (?).
When I'm testing the OMS setup the midi in/out are OK ("Midi received!", the DX7 sounds when I play the virtual eyboard).

>Once you have all the above configured, and the MIDI track playing your DX-7 like a piano-roll, then you can route the audio of your DX-7 to the input of any audio track, set it to record, and get a recorded audio version of what the DX-7 is playing.


Do you virtually route the DX7 audio to the audio track on OMS or do you mean that I just have to create an audio track on which I can record the DX7 audio?


> Once it's an audio track, you can turn off the playback of the MIDI track, and add effects and whatever to the audio version.
At any time, if you want to change something, you can just edit the MIDI track and re-record it.


Could you please tell me how to turn off the playback of the Midi track?
So if I add effects on the audio track, can they be directly affected to the midi track too (and vice-versa)?
When you are satisfied with the results, which track do you usually keep, midi or audio?

[Levon River]

Do you virtually route the DX7 audio to the audio track on OMS or do you mean that I just have to create an audio track on which I can record the DX7 audio?

That. What you said. Yes, create an audio track, and make its source the audio input of your iMac--which is what the audio output of your DX-7 is *supposed* to be coming in through. Then put that track in "Record" mode and hit the darn Record button. Whatever is on the MIDI track (that is assigned to go out to the DX-7 on the correct channel) should then cause the DX-7 to commence music-making, the audio output of which should then start recording into the audio track you have in "Record" mode (with the iMac audio input as source).

Stop it when you've had all you can take.

Could you please tell me how to turn off the playback of the Midi track?

One word: Mute.

So if I add effects on the audio track, can they be directly affected to the midi track too (and vice-versa)?

One word: No.

They are two completely different classifications of data. MIDI information is essentially triggering information for modules that have an internal way of generating sounds, telling them what sounds to start generating, for how long, etc. (There is other information MIDI can carry, but that's another course.) MIDI contains no sound, just instructions.

Audio files are digital recordings of sound.

They are worlds apart, and the software audio effects you can add to a track (VST, etc.) are for affecting those digital recordings of sound (or live audio coming in), not MIDI.

When you are satisfied with the results, which track do you usually keep, midi or audio?

Depends on what your application is. Some people don't record audio of their MIDI tracks at all, like with a multi-timbral synth playing different sounds on different channels, or several different MIDI sound devices playing together. They just record strictly unMIDIable stuff (vocals, guitar, sackbutt, daltry, whatever they choose), setting the mixes and effects they want on their synths/samplers that are playing back from the MIDI tracks, and then only record the output of the MIDI devices in the final mix, mixing it with the audio tracks then. (Same might go for a software synth/sampler in the session.)

I generally record everything that's MIDIed down to audio (once I'm happy with the MIDI stuff), then delete all the MIDI tracks and save AS a new session number. If I want to change something later, I can always go back to a version of the session that had the MIDI in it and pull a MIDI track in to further edit: lather, rinse, repeat.