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 ok i have my keyboard(korg x50) midi to my mpc 2000xl and its runs into a midi interface witch hooks up usb to my computer.so say i have 5 tracks all different programs i played on my keyboard recorded into my mpc.so that means 5 different channels are playing at once now.ok now i open cubase and set up 5 midi tracks. when i go to record all 5 at once it just records the same pattern as i recorded for my 1st track device 1 for all of them...please help me if you know anything
Answer There are two things to check:
1. Is the MPC transmitting your 5 tracks on 5 separate MIDI channels? (Say 1 - 5).
2. Are the 5 MIDI tracks in Cubase set up to receive input on the same individual channels? (Each track has to have its input set to a separate channel).
For the MPC, you will have to go into its internal parameters and confirm that each track is set to transmit on its own channel.
For Cubase, you can either record to a single MIDI track with the input set to "OMNI" which means it will record all channels into a single track, or set up 5 separate tracks all assigned to receive data on a specific channel... these channels have to be the same channels as those that the MPC is sending on.
You can start by recording to a single track in Cubase, with its input set to "OMNI" - then look at the track data and see what it received. You will be able to tell which channels are being transmitted from the MPC this way because each note has a specific channel assigned to it. (View MIDI Events List for the track.)
If you set this track's MIDI output to "NONE" rather than a specific channel, it will send out the MIDI data with its original channel assignment. If you set the output to a specific channel, all the data will be sent back to the MPC on this channel only.
So step one is:
Record the 5 MPC tracks to a single MIDI track in Cubase, with this track input = OMNI and output = NONE and when you play this track back, it should play back all 5 tracks the same way on the MPC (you should hear the same thing being played back).
If you can get this working, then try setting up the 5 separate MIDI tracks in Cubase, assigned to receive and transmit on the same 5 separate channels. As long as the MPC is transmitting the data on separate channels, you should be able to record the 5 tracks separately.
Experiment and play around a bit. It is important to use the Event Viewer and understand the information it shows you as this allows you to see what is actually going on with your sequencer and associated MIDI hardware.
If you run into problems, try breaking it down into something simpler such as recording just 2 tracks into Cubase and looking at the event viewer to see what is happening.
Of course, this all begs the question: Why are you recording the tracks into the MPC and then trying to get them into Cubase... why not just record them into Cubase to begin with?
Set up the Cubase track to echo the MIDI from your keyboard out to the MPC so you can hear what you are playing in real-time... you can then just record what you are playing directly into the Cubase track... plus, play it back and record another track, etc. (Just like you are doing on the MPC). You then have a large computer screen to edit the data, plus all your various MIDI plug-ins available in Cubase... plus, if you have a powerful computer, you can assign audio plug-ins to an audio track, run the audio output of the MPC through it, and apply effects in real-time to the MPC's sounds... and also record this audio any time you want, mix it in with more MPC sounds, etc... it is infinitely more flexible than trying to record into the MPC directly. (Alternatively, you can control the MPC's audio effects directly from within Cubase, recording these control signals to a MIDI track the same way), and also record the MPC's output with these effects directly to an audio track for further manipulation, creating audio loops and so on.
But I don't want to confuse the issue... basically, try to think of your software sequencer (Cubase) as the "central brain" of all your MIDI equipment... using it to record, playback, and direct all MIDI and Audio data between the MPC and Korg.
