MIDI, MAC & digital piano connection

[arian88]

Hello!

I tried connecting my Mac to MIDI & my digital piano to use both MusicNotes, Garage Band and Piano Marvel. In all instances the Mac doesn't properly read the keyboard notes i play (or vice versa).

Not sure what the issue is. I believe i have all the necessary cables and they're plugged into their correct ports. I've also tried reading up on MIDI connection online or YouTube and there's countless information on this topic.

Any recommendations on where i can start to find basic info on how to connect all of this?

Thankyou!

[lelle]

I don't know the answer to your question but my first instinct would be to look up instructions that are specific for the brand and model of your keyboard. (And how to connect it to a mac) What keyboard are you using?

Then you can also look at if there is something you need to configure in the mac but usually the whole point of a mac is that stuff like this should work out of the box.

Are you getting the same type of errors with the three different programs? Do you get note input/playback at all, just with the wrong keys? Can you explain in more detail what you mean with the mac not "properly" reading the notes?

[arian88]

Thanks lelle for your reply.

I am using a KAWAI ESS110. I tried Googling and Youtubing specific info on this model however it didn't lead anywhere so i'll try and refer to the KAWAI user manual and see if there's instructions there.

I am getting the same type of errors with the three different programs. My keyboard is hooked up to the MAC and MIDI and i can play my music however when i play it back via the MAC the notes are all over the place (octaves higher or lower, not there at all, some are missing) and the piece doesn't sound as it was recorded.

For example, i was trying to practice sight reading with Piano Marvel. Upon completing piece i scored less than 80% and it showed in red notes that i was off practically all the notes or had not played them successfully when in fact i had. I chose an easy piece to test out the system.

When using Music Notes, i would improvise and then when i go to play back the improvisation it's all jumbled up totally off.

Hope this makes sense!

[j_tour]

I am getting the same type of errors with the three different programs. My keyboard is hooked up to the MAC and MIDI and i can play my music however when i play it back via the MAC the notes are all over the place (octaves higher or lower, not there at all, some are missing) and the piece doesn't sound as it was recorded.

That's extremely odd.

I just use Linux and Windows for music, and I don't know much anything about Macs.  But the principles are the same, and MIDI itself is a defined standard.

Are you using a MIDI interface, or going from a USB port on your Kawai to transmit MIDI to your computer?

I'm inclined to agree with lelle that the types of DAW software available for a Mac should be foolproof, even GarageBand or whatever.

So, rough guess is that the MIDI interface is not correctly configured (up to and including internal settings on your keyboard, such as transmitting and receiving on the correct channel).  Of course that's a very rough guess, but one must begin somewhere!

Any chance you can locate and test a simple MIDI-reading bit of software to see exactly what information is being received by your host computer?  I know there is such a utility for a Mac, but I don't know what that's called by name.  IIRC there used to be such a tool for Windows-based systems, called MIDIOx...pretty sure, anyway.  There should be a similar tool or perhaps the same ported for the Mac/BSD systems.

Your DAW software should be able to show the raw data, but I wouldn't know in detail how to view that:  some simple diagnostic freeware might be the easiest.

There are a number of options to check, but it's hard to say more without more information.

It could even be a bad MIDI cable.  I wouldn't worry about the cable length for MIDI latency:  that's not ideal, but it wouldn't throw those types of errors, I don't think.

So, maybe you have the Kawai set up to transmit in a non-standard fashion via MIDI, which might be some deep diving into the manual, or else it's the MIDI interface.  Look for settings like "local on" or "local off" and if there's a channel mismatch between your Kawai and your interface/DAW.

I think it must be one of those, but it's impossible for me to say from a distance.

Sounds like a bad MIDI cable:  first place I'd check, anyway.  They tend to be not very robust IME, especially given how much information they have to transmit.

You'll just have to troubleshoot bit by bit, so to speak, I think.

[quantum]

IIRC there used to be such a tool for Windows-based systems, called MIDIOx...pretty sure, anyway. 

Agreed.  Looking at the actual MIDI messages can help solve a lot of mysterious problems. 

Don't know of a mac alternative to MIDIOx, but there are reports online of people getting it to run using something like CrossOver. 


If you are using one of those cheap MIDI interface cables, you might want to try a different interface.  These things are notorious for problems.  Casual poking around with MIDI, they are fine, but if you want any sort of reliability or are doing a lot of MIDI work it is better to go with something more robust from a trusted brand. 

Many audio interfaces also include MIDI, so you can bring more value to your investment that way.  The way I see it, the end product of working with MIDI is usually some sort of audio, you might as well have good audio along with good MIDI. 

[lelle]

For being an industry standard, it seems to me like working with MIDI can be quite a hassle. It doesn't seem to "just work". I recall getting a midi cable to connect my old crappy yamaha keyboard to my computer to do stuff ages ago and I remember it took a while to get everything working. I wonder why that is?

[j_tour]

For being an industry standard, it seems to me like working with MIDI can be quite a hassle. It doesn't seem to "just work". I recall getting a midi cable to connect my old crappy yamaha keyboard to my computer to do stuff ages ago and I remember it took a while to get everything working. I wonder why that is?

Well, working with some of the core features (setting up zones among keyboards, customizing control parameters) has always been the province of pretty hardcore keyboardists, mostly working in rock or popular styles. 

Plenty of people like me who have to think quite a bit about setting up a simple live mixing board for just personal monitoring have never even touched anything beyond the very basics.

What was MIDI developed in, like 1984 or thereabouts?  Even if there may have been revisions (which I'm not sure of), there's still (I'd imagine!) extremely strong pressure to maintain backwards compatibility.

I couldn't say about your specific situation, but there are some keyboards which are much more user-friendly to handle MIDI.  And, not just any given MIDI interface (a lot of which at least used to need proprietary drivers on the host computer), but the myriad software programs vary quite a bit in ease of use.

Just like probably quite a few people would struggle to figure out how to turn a Hammond organ on, IME, there's a similar initial learning curve for specialized recording and editing suites.  Maybe that's not true for GarageBand or things like that, but I'm confident in saying going from zero to basic use in something like CUBase is not at all evident.

Just a lot of moving parts that need to be configured correctly on their own and to work correctly as a system.

This may be one reason that more and more keyboards these days are relying on USB rather than the 5-pin MIDI connectors, it seems to me. 

Not sure about that latter part.

Many audio interfaces also include MIDI, so you can bring more value to your investment that way.  The way I see it, the end product of working with MIDI is usually some sort of audio, you might as well have good audio along with good MIDI. 

Just noticed this:  that's a superb idea.  It's been ages since I've browsed around in music shops for fun, but I think there are all kinds of options there, from a servicable but inexpensive Behringer (probably they make one, I'd guess) to some really fancy boutique gear.  And, depending on who you buy it from or what company makes the product, you might even be able to call up one of the engineers directly who can sort you out.