MIDI, Digital Music Composition, Windows Digital Audio Software, Digital Audio Recording, Live Audio Engineering, MIDI Guitar, General Music Theory and Composition.
Experience
Experience in the area:
- 25 years working with Computers and Digital Music.
- 10 years as a professional Live Sound Engineer.
- 5 years as a professional Studio Recording Engineer.
- 2 years as Creative Director of an internet-based Audio Production Company specializing in Sampling and Digital Audio.
Organizations:
- Currently active as a Beta Tester for various Audio Software Companies.
- Regular contributor to various Software Support Forums.
Education/Credentials:
- Dip. Technology Telecommunications Electronics (B.C.I.T.)
- A.A. Degree (U.B.C./S.F.U.)
- College Cert. in Jazz Guitar Composition (V.C.C.)
- College Cert. in Fine Arts (E.C.I.A.D.)
Question Two questions. I currently have a casio ctk-731 keyboard with midi in and out. I also have an alesis sr-16 drum module with midi in and out/thru. I want to hook up my usb midi cable and single midi cable to these from my laptop. How do I do it? Also, I have sonar home xl 7. Can I set up my midi files in a song list and use another controller besides my mouse to access these? I would play these in a live situation. thanks
Answer Hi Mike
The USB/MIDI cable will give you a single MIDI port to your software (Sonar), thus giving you 16 channels to use, but to actually use both pieces of hardware, you will need two ports, or at least, a separate THRU port (not an OUT/THRU).
To use another controller, you will need yet another MIDI port.
So I suggest you buy 2 more USB/MIDI adapters and then you will need 3 open USB ports. Hook the MIDI OUT of each adapter to MIDI IN of each piece of hardware (keyboard, drum machine, controller), and the MIDI OUT of each unit, to the respective MIDI IN of each adapter.
In Sonar, you will then have full control over each unit... being able to record and play percussion to/from the Alesis; receive notes via the keyboard and set up its internal paramaters via SysX messages; and also use your external controller to control any aspect of Sonar, such as song lists, etc.
Many keyboards have both controllers built-in, as well as USB ports. If you got one of these, then you could hook it up directly using the USB and have the ability to both play notes and control your software from a single interface. In addition, keyboards such as the M-Audio Radium line also have a MIDI OUT port... which you could use to hook up the Alesis and play percussion tracks from Sonar or the keyboard (you would not be able to record MIDI directly from the Alesis drum pads though).
