1 1.1 2 2.1 2.2 2.2.1 2.3 3 3.1 4 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 5 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 6 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 1 Introduction The purpose of this document is to give examples of ways to configure commonly used MIDI setups on Windows and to clarify a number of misconceptions about the process that are common in the computer-related music community. Reasons for landing on a document like this include:. Wanting to make MIDI aspects of legacy software work on later versions of Windows. Needing a better-performing MIDI synthesizer than the one Windows comes with. Trying to get two MIDI programs to talk when they can’t see each other.

Confusion about the whole MIDI/audio thing (i.e. “what is this ASIO thing?”). This document includes both general remarks and explanations about MIDI and audio devices as well as various MIDI-related software recommendations. Details on how to set up equipment and software for specific tasks can be found at the end under “Configuring MIDI Setups.” 1.1 A Note for Digital Audio Workstation Users Those using Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) software may or may not find this document useful. Programs like Cakewalk Sonar and Steinberg Cubase are examples of DAWs for Windows. DAWs handle many aspects of the MIDI setup for synthesizers internally, both presenting a different interface and eliminating some of the difficulties faced when using stand-alone software synthesizers.

The main applicable part of this document to DAWs would be the sections on audio devices and drivers. If you have landed on this document after being stuck with no sound coming from your DAW, which is the most common problem I hear about, you likely have some settings related to your audio devices to work through. Unfortunately, those are often quite specific to the individual devices and programs. Make sure sound is being sent to the right places and being listened for in the right places, and check both hardware settings, driver settings for any devices, and settings within the DAW. Similarly, if devices aren’t being recognized, you probably have some driver issues to resolve – or your device simply might not work on the particular version of Windows you have (a common issue for older hardware on Windows 8/8.1).

DAW-specific tutorials will probably offer you more help than I can in this document. 2 MIDI MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It is a protocol for communicating information between various devices and it has been around for over 30 years.

For various reasons, many people new to MIDI stuggle with what exactly it is and, therefore, often misunderstand what it and programs using it can and cannot do. Here are some quick facts that are often stumbling points for people that are new to working with MIDI and audio, each of which will be addressed in more detail later:. MIDI is a way of communicating between devices with certain message formats. For example, a MIDI controller can communicate to another device, perhaps a synthesizer, when a pitch should start and when it should end—much like the information communicated by a note on a paper score. In fact, a MIDI file is actually pretty close to a paper score in terms of the types of information it captures. MIDI is not sound! You cannot “hear” MIDI any more than you can “hear” a paper score by itself.

MIDI controllers do not create sound by themselves. Things that make sound from MIDI must interpret what they are told via the MIDI protocol. These devices are s ynthesizers, and they interact with audio devices to create sound.

Generally, your on-board sound chip and many external soundcards know nothing special about MIDI and they are not MIDI synthesizers. Windows actually does know something about MIDI, but as of Windows 8/8.1, the operating system doesn’t let you have a say about what it does in that regard. It leaves all managing of MIDI settings to individual applications (such as a DAW). Note that a “MIDI device” does not have to be a piece of hardware. There are plenty of software “MIDI devices” that can be called as such simply because they show up in the device manager when running. 2.1 MIDI Messages MIDI information is broken into messages, which are sent over some communication medium.

Messages can refer to “programs” or patches (think of it as an instrument name), channels, pitches, and so on. Channels can be thought of like staffs on a digital music score. Some examples of MIDI messages include:. Note on: start playing a particular pitch on a particular channel at a particular volume. Note off: stop playing a particular pitch on a particular channel.

Program change: assign a new instrument to a channel. Once again, these messages must be interpreted by a synthesizer in order to create sound. Sometimes MIDI messages are also called MIDI events. MIDI-related programs that do not show up in the device manager when running are not MIDI devices. 2.2 Controllers vs. Synthesizers The difference between a MIDI controller and synthesizer is quite simple:.

A MIDI Controller is a device that allows a human to push some buttons or keys and generate MIDI messages or events. In: human ineraction. Out: MIDI messages. There is no sound involved.

A MIDI synthesizer is a device that receives MIDI messages and produces sound. In: MIDI messages. Out: sound via an audio device or audio jack. In a hardware-only setup, a MIDI controller (like a keyboard) would be physically connected to a MIDI synthesizer, to which speakers or headphones would then be connected. Perhaps some of the sound vs. MIDI confusion that the music community experiences is due to the fact that may keyboards actually include both of these elements: they are all-in-one MIDI controllers and synthesizers. However, any such device that features both “MIDI in” and “MIDI out” ports can usually be used as one or the other independently.

There is also a third category of devices that simply re-rout and/or re-interpret MIDI messages. As hardware, these devices are usually peripherals used to do specialized tasks like duplicating a stream of MIDI messages, merging MIDI message streams, or allowing a foot pedal to send messages down a regular MIDI cable (foot pedals meant for use with MIDI equipment typically have 1/4-inch TS or TRS plugs and send control voltage that has to be interpreted by something as a series of MIDI messages). Software also exists to re-rout, merge, and split MIDI messages. 2.2.1 The Windows Default Synthesizer (MS GS WaveTable Synth) Windows comes with a MIDI synthesizer build into it: the Microsoft GS Wavetable synth. It is what allows you to double-click on a MIDI file, open it in some MIDI player, and hear the file interpreted as sound. Although this default Windows synthesizer has the redeeming point that it allows you to have a MIDI synthesizer with absolutely no setup required, it is the source of many complaints from the Windows-based music community.

It sounds terrible. Is that an oboe, bassoon, or kazoo? It’s hard to tell sometimes. It lags like nobody’s business. In technical terms, the lag is referred to as latency.

If you hook up a MIDI keyboard to talk to this synthesizer (although this in itself is an issue), you will experience high latency: there is a noticeable delay between the key going down and sound actually starting. The delay is big enough that it is completely intolerable for anyone trying to use MIDI input in a serious way. 100ms or more is not unusual. There is no easy MIDI-in setup.

Even if you aren’t put off by the latency, there is no way to configure this synthesizer to directly take input from a MIDI controller unless the controller already has software that allows you to redirect its output. Often 3rd party software is needed to be able to play the default synthesizer from a keyboard or some similar device. It is more difficult on recent Windows versions to get away from this laggy kazoo synth and use a better one. On Windows XP this was relatively easy and you could just point the operating system to that other synthesizer manually. Windows Vista and 7 started to hide that functionality; on Windows 7, you could still do it, but it meant diving into the registry or using 3rd party software.

On Windows 8/8.1, it is actually impossible to change the default synthesizer in a simple and generalized way. While it’s nice that Windows just goes and does the MIDI-to-synthesizer thing for you when you want to play a MIDI file with minimal effort, these points are quite a nuisance to many music people. Some solutions and workarounds are explained in later sections. However, due to the progressive lack of support for easily using other synthesizers, some extremely old MIDI editors may end up being chained to the default synthesizer on Windows 8. However, this does NOT mean you can’t set a different output device within other music software on Windows 8/8.1, and any reasonably modern piece of MIDI-related software will let you do so. The only programs I have ever personally seen that did not allow setting the output device actually predated Windows XP.

2.3 Virtual MIDI Ports A virtual MIDI port is a piece of software that runs in the background to send/receive MIDI messages from other programs or hardware devices. When running, virtual ports will show up in the Windows device manager under “sound, video, and game controllers. Virtual MIDI ports allow communication between MIDI-related programs that are not perceived by Windows as MIDI devices (which is to say that they do not show up in device manager). In other words, these programs might be able to send and receive MIDI messages, but they can’t “see” each other directly—but they will both be able to see a virtual MIDI port and can, therefore, use it to communicate. Hardware ports can be used similarly, although it often requires using a MIDI cable to create an ungainly self-loop (connecting a device’s output to its own input).

3 Audio Interfaces / Soundcards and Audio Drivers Typically the term “soundcard” is used to refer to audio hardware that sits inside the computer (on the motherboard or a PCI card), while the term “audio interface” is used for external devices connected by USB/firewire/etc. However, external devices are sometimes referred to as “external soundcards” and some internal devices are referred to as “audio interfaces.” Soundcards or audio interfaces and on-board sound chips are responsible for producing the signals that go into your headphones/speakers and/or for taking audio input from a microphone or other audio device. These devices do not necessarily have anything to do with MIDI. Some older sound cards have hardware-level support for MIDI (in other words, they had their own synthesizers), and a few modern cards do as well, but it is rare (see the PCI cards section later on). Most modern ones do not.

In other words, with a recent PC and sound card, you are likely to hear the exact same default Windows synthesizer with your on-board sound and when you plug in an expensive external or PCI sound card. Both will lag terribly even if the latency on the expensive card is a little less terrible. The fact that a sound card doesn’t act directly as a MIDI synthesizer doesn’t mean that the particular card used is unimportant. In fact, it is quite important, and the drivers that the device has are one of the most important parts for getting low latency. 3.1 Audio Drivers As with any device, sound cards require drivers to be usable. Not all of these drivers are equal in their performance.

Several types of audio drivers are commonly seen for Windows sound devices, each representing a different protocol for communicating with the audio device. Windows DirectSound. Windows Driver Model (WDM).

MultiMedia Extensions (MME). Audio Stream Input/Output (ASIO) Many devices will come with drivers in the first three categories listed above. Device-specific ASIO drivers, however, are typically only supplied with higher-end sound cards and those specifically intended for musical applications. Although some cards can yield perfectly reasonable performance with WDM and MME drivers, most require ASIO drivers to achieve their lowest latency performance with real-time MIDI and synthesizers.

ASIO drivers are also strictly required by some software synthesizers, which is problematic if the only sound devices available do not have their own ASIO drivers. “Universal ASIO drivers” exist to wrap other types of drivers as ASIO drivers, which will allow ASIO-less devices to be seen by software that will only use ASIO drivers. However, just because the non-ASIO drivers “look” like ASIO, it does not mean that they will perform well.

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The latency achieved this way will always be greater than what can be achieved with device-specific ASIO drivers. A note for Windows 10 users: very recent hardware running Windows 10 with nothing but the on-board sound chip can sometimes demonstrate surprisingly good performance with nothing but WDM drivers and built-in sound chips. I have observed this with Microsoft’s Surface tablets, for which the built-in drivers and chip don’t struggle until under quite a heavy load. If you have a very new, high-spec machine running an up-to-date version of Windows 10, you may find that you don’t need special hardware and audio drivers to get the performance you need for simple MIDI applications (massive DAW setups are another matter and still warrant special hardware/drivers). However, you also need very recent software to get that performance out of it and older software may still require ASIO to behave properly. 4 Recommended MIDI-Related Software This section contains a list of programs that I have used extensively myself, frequently recommended to people who asked me for help, and advised students to use when setting up their laptops for MIDI-related coursework. 4.1 Virtual MIDI Ports The following virtual MIDI ports have worked for me on Windows Vista, 7, 8, and 8.1.

Loopbe1 This program is freeware for 1 virutal port. There is also a paid version that offers 30 ports. LoopMIDI This is a freeware program that offers a custom number of virtual ports.

Setup is a little bit more complicated than for loopbe1, since you need to create the ports yourself from LoopMIDI’s control panel. 4.2 Software Synthesizers The following software synthesizers all use a virtual instrument format called sound fonts, or sf2 files. This format was defined by Creative Labs. To use the synthesizer, you need to load at least one sf2 file.

If you don’t already have sound fonts, you can find some here: Note that instrument selection settings within the synthesizers can potentially be overridden by program change messages. SyfonOne and SynthFont SyFonOne is a freeware, sound font-based synthesizer. Synthfont is a low-cost program that can be used to record MIDI files using sound fonts.

These programs work with or without ASIO drivers, although performance is greatly improved with ASIO. CoolSoft’S Virtual MIDI Synth This is a very easy-to-use sound font-based synthesizer and, if you do not have ASIO drivers, I highly recommend t as a lowest-possible-latency option. Setup is simple and the program’s performance is quite good. Unfortunately though, it can cause problems with some device-specific software, so your mileage may vary.

For example, on Windows 8, the Korg Kontrol Editor would not work for me while I had this program installed. On Windows 10 those problems disappeared. This synthesizer is my go-to option when I need something with good performance when I only have my on-board sound chip to work.

Sforzando Like the two programs above, Sforzando does not require special drivers to produce sound. It will load soundfonts, but requires that they be converted to another format before being used. This conversion only needs to happen once per soundfont file used. SFZ and SFZ+ (July 2017) Update: dead links have been removed. Unfortunately it seems that these are no longer available for download from Cakewalk’s site.

SFZ uses only one file and allows you to configure the instruments per channel. SFZ+ allows for one sf2 and instrument selection per channel. These programs require ASIO drivers.

4.3 Software for Setting the Default MIDI Output Device (Windows Vista and 7 Only) Windows XP allowed changing the default MIDI output device under the regular audio settings. That part of the audio settings panel was removed in Windows Vista and later versions, although it was still possible to change the default output device through the registry up through Windows 7. The following programs wrap that functionality, providing a nice user interface instead of forcing the user to dig around in the registry. You may need to run the programs as an administrator to get them to work and/or reboot before changes will take effect. On Windows 8, 8.1, and 10, there is still a registry entry for default MIDI output similar to what was present in Vista and 7, but as of Windows 8 it only affects Windows Media Player. Because of this, old software that relies on the default output device setting to know where to send MIDI messages will be tied to the default synthesizer. Tools that allow setting the default device on Vista and 7 typically do not work on 8 and later.

However, CoolSoft has a new tool called that serves as a replacement for Windows 8 through 10 (see the last item in the list below). PLW MIDI Mapper (Vista and 7 only) This is a control panel item that needs to be added manually. Placement of the file on 64-bit systems can be a bit tricky; sometimes it works right away when put in the right place, sometimes it doesn’t. Vista MIDI (Vista and 7 only) This is a stand-alone program for setting the default MIDI output device on Windows Vista that can also be used with Windows 7. CoolSoft MIDI Mapper (8, 8.1, and 10) This program re-adds the MIDI mapper functionality for more recent versions of Windows.

My testing of it has been extremely limited but it has worked so far for me on one machine running the Windows 10 fall creator’s update. Note: you will need to register on the site to gain access to the download links in the thread. 4.4 MIDI Message Routers The following programs are useful for rounting MIDI messages from one device to another. Note that you do not need a virtual MIDI port to use these, although they are may certainly be used in conjunction with virutal MIDI ports.

Midi-Ox This is a great tool both for MIDI message routing and debugging device installation and connectivity issues, since not only lets you rout messages between devices but also shows you the messages it relays in a console. HaskellOx HaskellOx is a little program written by me using Haskell and Euterpea that was inspired by Midi-Ox. Although it isn’t nearly as powerful as MIDI-Ox, it can still connect MIDI devices together and can also be run without installation (so you can do things like run it from a flash drive). However, I haven’t done extensive testing with it to determine whether there are any latency issues when under a heavy message load. It’s a useful tool for casual applications.

4.5 Universal ASIO Drivers Universal ASIO drivers allow other types of drivers (WDM, MME, etc.) to be perceived by programs as having the ASIO interface. However, it will not give true ASIO performance. Latency will still be higher with one of these drivers than when using device-specific ASIO drivers. ASIO4All This is the most widely-used and easy to set up universal ASIO driver out there. It is also well-documented.

However, it causes the driver it wraps to be usable by only one program at a time. So, if you are using as synthesizer that needs ASIO, you can only get sound from that one program and no others. ASIO4All will also sometimes get invoked by programs that search through drivers upon startup (common with DAWs), which can cause problems with in-program changes to the audio setup. Asio Multiclient Wrapper This program gets around the one-device limit of ASIO4All to some extent. However, it is trickier to set up and can cause conflicts with some DAW software (for example, Cakewalk Sonar X1 and X2 crashed immediately on startup when I had it installed).

JACK Audio JACK is my driver-wrapping tool of choice these days for times when I can’t use device-specific ASIO drivers. Unlike ASIO4All, it doesn’t get invoked automatically by programs searching through drivers. Unfortunately, starting the ASIO wrapper isn’t always easy and can take a few tries before it can successfully get access to the intended driver. Sometimes it even requires logging off and on again so that JACK can be loaded as the first audio program. So, make sure you set it up in advance of when you need it. If you wait until the last minute, you risk getting in front of the audience and then having a dreaded technical difficulty delay.

You can set up JACK as follows:. Install JACK and reboot. Then, open the Jack Control executable. Under the Setup window’s options, you want the server prefix to be “jackd -S”, the driver to be “portaudio”, and the interface to be your driver of choice. Save the settings and close the setup window but don’t close the main window.

Start the audio server with the “Start” button. You will need to keep this running while you use your soft-synth.

Your synth may crash if JACK is closed before the synth is. If JACK crashes or gives an error when you try to start the server, check that there are no other programs trying to use the same audio device. Open your soft-synth and you should now see JACK (by the name JackRouter) as an ASIO option. 5 Audio and MIDI Hardware This section contains general information about different types of audio and MIDI hardware I have both used myself and commonly been asked about. With on exception discussed in this section, there are really too many options in this area with too many new ones coming out each year to compare pros and cons of specific makes and models in a document like this. Prices vary widely from fairly cheap ( Options Advanced Options and set the additional output buffer lower than the default (which is 250ms by default – really high!). I usually recommend starting with a value of 10 and testing playback with at least some chords in it to hear some MIDI polyphony.

Some systems can go as low as 0-2ms latency with this synth, although this is somewhat rare and requires a pretty beefy machine (often a desktop tower and good audio hardware). Many lesser machines, however, will still work with 5-7ms. Depending on the particular machine and its settings higher latencies may be required to avoid distortion, clicks, and/or audio dropouts. On laptops in particular, the degree to which you can reel in the latency can be affected by power settings.

High performance modes can typically function with lower latencies without audio glitching than battery saving modes are capable of. If you are using ASIO drivers, you may need to adjust the buffer size to optimize the performance of the device on your system. The larger the buffer, the worse the latency will be, but the less likely you will be to have audio quality problems (clicks, audio dropouts, etc.).

High-end audio devices meant for serious music development usually can have the buffer size set quite small. How powerful a PC the audio device is on also impacts this process.

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For a detailed explanation of the variables involved in minimizing latency, I recommend the following article. Hi Francois, I realize this is a horrendously late response to your post and do apologize for that. However, there’s not much help I can offer for problems like this. Backwards compatibility is a much complained about topic in music, and the options can be pretty limited when you have a really old device. About the only thing I can suggest is installing and/or running the drivers in compatibility mode for a really old OS, but it’s not a guaranteed solution. I managed to get an old Tascam MIDI interface to work with Win7 and Win8 this way, even though the manufacturer even had a built in OS check to block installations on versions later than XP.

If you have tried that sort of trick already and it didn’t work, then probably Roland’s initial response to you is correct even if unsatisfactory. To give another but less optimistic example, I once tried to get an old Audigy card into working on 64-bit Win7/8 once and only got partial success. Similarly to what you have seen, some parts of the device worked but others were unresponsive no matter what I tried, and I ended up having to just buy a new piece of hardware. I found you on Google as I am trying to find a way of playing MIDIs from my laptop to my electric piano (which has five pin MIDI in and out sockets. I cant persuade my computer to send the signal to the USB – I see you say I need a “virtual MIDI port of my choosing” I have no idea what that means.

Can I download one? Nest step would be playing along with the midi and recording the result. Would the same thing work for that? Sorry to be using you for tech support. I thought your classical woodwind trio generated from number 6 was scarily real. Does it ever end?

I mean Can you give the program the means to create a start and a finish? Hi Nick, Virtual MIDI ports are programs that show up as MIDI devices and can therefore be used to relay MIDI messages between other pieces of software. There are download links for a couple different virtual MIDI ports under section 4.1 (Loopbe1 and LoopMIDI). However, they are not a substitute for a USB MIDI cable (USB on one end and 2xMIDI on the other) or a USB MIDI interface to connect to a hardware device expecting physical MIDI connectors. USB-based MIDI devices should show up as available ports or input/output devices. If you are having trouble with a USB MIDI device misbehaving, there’s not much advice I can offer aside from the basic steps of making sure you have the most recent drivers and/or reinstalling the drivers.

Since I don’t know the details of the hardware you’re using, it is also possible that your keyboard is simply not designed to take MIDI messages over USB. Some older pieces of hardware allow file transfers over USB but still require 5-pin MIDI cables to communicate MIDI messages in real time. I thought your classical woodwind trio generated from number 6 was scarily real. Does it ever end? I mean Can you give the program the means to create a start and a finish? Right now all of the output from my algorithmic composition system (Kulitta) has to be finite – so it will have a start/end in that very basic sense (although a couple of the system’s modules can be used in infinite/real-time playback sorts of settings). One big weakness of the system is making musically convincing endings, since the generative process currently doesn’t actually know where it is in the larger piece of music when operating on a particular segment.

Adding support for more intelligent generation of time-sensitive musical events (endings, bridges, etc.) is something I’ve been working on a bit this summer but it’s still a work in progress. Hi Max, Windows 8 has not abandoned MIDI. The only thing it has dropped is support for setting a default output device at the operating system level. This means that programs that rely on looking up the OS’s default device will be stuck with the default Windows synthesizer and can’t be pointed to other devices you may have installed. Some very basic MIDI players have this problem as do some very old pieces of software. However, any reasonably recent version of a DAW (like FL Studio) should allow you to select input/output MIDI devices within the program itself, so the default device restriction for Windows 8 really makes no difference to those programs.

Thanks for your comments on MIDI and Windows, which I came across when I tried to find out why I couldn’t get Windows 10 to play MIDI files on my Yamaha keyboard through a USB to MIDI adapter, as XP had done. Having been brought to realise that this was not a trivial problem, I thought to try this with a virtual Windows 7 computer running on VMware Workstation 12 Player, which I have had to set up for other purposes. It turned out that VMware let me connect the adapter to the virtual computer, and the PLW MIDI Mapper which you mention above let me direct MIDI to that adapter, and through to the Yamaha. The latency is dreadful, but the virtual computer approach will meet my very modest needs, and (which is why I write this) might be of interest to others, since VMware Player is free for non-commercial use, and recipes for obtaining free limited-lifetime Windows XP are easily found. Thank you again.

Richard Corbett. Hi Cees, No latency on any laptop with no external audio equipment is asking a lot, as there are some very minimal, low-spec laptops out there that are simply not suitable for real-time work in the MIDI and/or audio domains.

Better spec laptops can typically get down to 10ms latency on high performance mode with non-ASIO drivers, but you need a software synthesizer that works without them. The Coolsoft synthesizer described on this page does this and also allows setting the latency (configuration advanced options additional output buffer). Some very high spec laptops can go down to 2ms with that synth, but how well it does is not just dependent on the machine and power settings, but also use-case factors like how much polyphony is happening at any given time (i.e. A piano solo with one hand might sound fine, but massive chords repeatedly might glitch). If you use that synthesizer, you will need a program like MIDI Ox to rout messages from the keyboard to the synth. Since you didn’t mention any details on the MIDI keyboard you’re using, it’s also worth watching the messages from a program like MIDI Ox to see if you notice any obvious delay between depressing a key on the MIDI controller and the corresponding MIDI messages showing up.

I have noticed that some Bluetooth controllers can lag visibly with this test on some laptops, and this is sometimes solved by kicking the machine into a more power hungry mode, but not always. Some very cheap USB-to-5-pin-MIDI cables can also suffer from noticeable lag with some systems. Typically controllers that plug directly into the laptop by USB don’t have this issue. Regarding how things have changed between Win95 with SoundBlaster cards and the standards in 2017, the expectation these days for serious real-time work with audio and MIDI is that you offload a lot of the burden to an external USB card.

This is true of both desktop and laptop rigs; PCI cards are no longer the norm and on-board chips are not sufficient on many systems. Similarly the kind of built-in MIDI synth features of older Soundblasters is not something that exists on most modern sound cards, and the expectation is to use software synths within a digital audio workstation. Although some high-spec laptops can run that kind of software without external devices, it’s most common now to use a USB audio interface run DAWs and the better software synths on the market.

Hi Ella, I either am not understanding your question or it’s too broad for me to answer easily. If you are using a modern DAW, then any relatively modern piece of MIDI equipment should work. The only issue worth noting is that older software (and operating systems) can sometimes experience problems with the new trends in bluetooth-based MIDI controllers. If you are wondering what variety of equipment exists I recommend browsing shops that have electronic music equipment since the options are vast. Hi Donya, you might be the one having an answer to my question.

I´m trying to use different USB Midi interfaces on a windows machine for the same program. Now because each USB Device appears in Windows with it´s own Device ID, the things I programmed only work with the Device that was connected when I set up the function I need. Now when I connect the other device (to have a backup) none of the functions are working (input and ouput wise) because the software expects to get data from another Device ID.

Do you know if there is like a virtual Midi driver avaialble that merges from several physical Midi devices to one virtual device? Up to know I wasn´t lucky with google. Thanks and best regards from Germany Christian. You can use a virtual MIDI port and MIDI Ox to accomplish a “merge” of sorts when software is only willing to listen to one port. Set MIDI Ox to listen to incoming messages on all of the devices you want to receive from, and then send out through a virtual port. Then, the software on the receiving end only needs to listen to the virtual port and you can use MIDI Ox to decide what you want sending to that port at any given time.

Loopbe1 is probably the better virtual port for the situation you described, since the device number for it remains constant unless you uninstall and reinstall after adding other devices in between. Retention of port numbers is not a guarantee for LoopMidi since you can add/remove ports dynamically. Hi Donya, great info on this page, thanks.

I just want to do a super simple Set-Up, I have a Yamaha-P45 digital piano and a OP-1 Synth, both USB-MIDI in/out. I just want to be able to control de OP-1 from the P-45 full size keyboard with the lightest software/set up possible. I can get the OP-1 work with Proxima Controller, and I can get midi in from the P-45 in Reason 5. But I just cant get routing the P-45 to the OP-1. Do you know any software like Proxima Controller which can make set up a USB-MIDI IN and route it to a USB-MIDI out? I use a Windows 8.1 PC.

The next step I would like to achieve is to recreate this set up using an Andriod device (with no PC). So, do you know an android app to capable of this? (like MidiBridge in iOS) Thanks again for this great info. Try using MIDI Ox – it will let you rout between arbitrary MIDI devices on your system. For example, I regularly use MIDI Ox to make a USB-only controller (Korg Nano Key) send messages through my computer to an external 5-pin interface (MOTU Fastlane) that is connected by a physical cable to analog synthesizers.

Just make sure you start MIDI Ox and have the ports configured as you want before you run your other software. Unfortunately, I can’t be much help with Android as I’ve never had success with it. Devices were recognized in my tests, but no messages would pass through. I have tried quite a few different Android MIDI apps over time to do this but none worked. However, I have never spent the time to debug the issue in a serious way. My general impression is that there hasn’t been as much effort invested in supporting MIDI on Android as there is on iOS. Hi Donya, Thank you for this great information page.

I think you may have the answer(s) I need. I recently found and started experimenting with MIDI-OX and CoolSoft VirtualMIDISynth, and found that by configuring MIDI-OX to use Coolsoft’s virtual port(s) as it’s MIDI OUT(s), I can plug my KORG K61 controller keyboard to my USB port, and I only need those two tools to re-create the sound of my Sound Canvas (SC-55) with a SF file I found and unpacked. The problem I’m having is that I can’t figure out how to change patches via M-OX or CoolSoft. I am able to split the keyboard with M-OX, and if I pass through to my sequencer (PowerTracks Pro) with LoopMidi, I can use two (or more) CoolSoft “devices” (instances) and assign different patches to the lower and upper, but I can’t figure out how to change patches just using M-OX, and eliminate the need for LoopMidi and my Sequencer when just casually playing. If you could instruct me: How to change CoolSoft patches via M-OX so I don’t need to run my sequencer, I’d be grateful!

In my sequencer, I’ve got one instance assigned to the lower (bass) and another to the upper (piano), and also assigned as OUTs in M-OX, but the only thing missing is being able to assign the patches I want in M-OX. (The default is GM 1:Acoustic Grand Piano.) M-OX HELP explains it (I think), but I can’t make it happen. I’ve played with the Patch Mapping window in M-OX, but I can’t make anything happen with it. I’ve got two assignable knobs and two assignable buttons on my keyboard, and they do send to M-OX. So, in a nutshell, how do I assign/change CoolSoft patches via MIDI-OX? Thank you very much for your time!

Hi Kevin, Just to quickly summarize to make sure I understood right: it sounds like you’re routing MIDI messages from a hardware keyboard controller through Midi Ox to a synthesizer and not being able to get program changes to happen. If you can’t send program changes from the keyboard itself then there are only a couple of approaches I can suggest. Not being familiar with the particular MIDI controller you have I don’t know whether the assignable knobs could be made to send program change messages or not. The simplest option I think would be to install Proxima Controller and use it to send program changes to the devices and channels you want.

Set it to send to the output device you want, change the channel number as needed, and then change the patch number and it should set the synthesizer accordingly and it will send messages. This is what I usually do if I need to send just a program change message somewhere manually. While I’m aware of one way to send program change events within Midi Ox, it’s not terribly nice. Set it to send output to just the device you want to change (if you have 2 separate output devices, you have to do this in three steps: one setting step per device then opening both at the end).

Go to View Instrument Panel load GM.ins, select General MIDI for Instr and Bank, and then pick the instrument under Patch. You have to tick and untick the channel you want to operate on if you want to change one channel at a time. This is not my preferred method since it’s tedious, particularly if you are working with multiple output devices rather than sending to different channels on the same device.

There may be other ways to accomplish this within Midi Ox but I’m not aware of them as it’s not something I typically use Midi Ox for. I have never used the patch bay feature.

Rating 3.78 (9 Votes) A MIDI Monitor is a useful tool to quickly test if a MIDI device is properly communicating with the software. This may be useful if a MIDI keyboard or interface is either communicating intermittently (i.e. A few keys on the keyboard have stopped working) or not at all. This guide discusses one way to quickly set up and test the device. Contents. Windows Important: Please close all other Audio/MIDI software before running this test. Other software may interrupt or conflict with the results of the test.

Download and install MIDI-Ox from the link below: (Use the download link for MIDI-Ox 7.0.2). Run the midioxse.exe file to install the software. Follow the on-screen instructions. Open MIDI-Ox. In the window that appears, select Options MIDI Devices. In the MIDI Devices window, click on the ports for your keyboard or MIDI device in the MIDI Inputs and MIDI Outputs sections. Make sure that other device remain unchecked so that you are only viewing the response from the device in question.

Click OK once selected to close the window. To test the keyboard or MIDI device, simply press keys on the board or send MIDI data through the interface.

If connected and communicating properly, the incoming MIDI data will be displayed in the window: Mac OS X Important: Please close all other Audio/MIDI software before running this test. Other software may interrupt or conflict with the results of the test.

Download and install MIDI Monitor from the link below:. Double-click on the.zip file that downloads and run the MIDI Monitor software inside. Click on the arrow next to Sources and check off the boxes next to MIDI Sources and the ports for your keyboard or MIDI device. You may want to make sure that other devices are unchecked to ensure that you are only viewing the response from the device in question.

To test the keyboard or MIDI device, simply press keys on the board or send MIDI data through the interface. If connected and communicating properly, the incoming MIDI data will be displayed in the window: What does this mean? If data is displayed in the MIDI monitor: This is usually a good sign. This means that the device in question is communicating with the computer in some way. If the device is still not communicating with your software (i.e. A MIDI keyboard will not trigger a virtual instrument or respond in your DAW) this will likely indicate that software settings have become mis-configured or were never set up properly.

In this case, you will find setup guides for a variety of products and software on this site. Search by brand and product at the top of this page to see if there are any guides available here. If you do not see one available, check with the software developer to find available setup guides or tutorials. If only some data is displayed in the MIDI monitor: A common use for the MIDI monitor is to determine if certain parameters on a MIDI keyboard are responding correctly. This may be because only some of the keys, knobs or other parameters are not communicating with the software, or because they are communicating incorrectly (i.e. Sending the wrong notes or CC data).

For example, if some of the keys work in the software and others don't, it may be a good idea to test if they respond with the MIDI monitor. If not, this could indicate a problem with the hardware. If the keys or parameters are not responding in the MIDI Monitor, or are responding differently than expected (i.e.

Different MIDI channel, wrong note or CC data) refer to the User Manual for the product and contact for further assistance. If no data is displayed in the MIDI monitor or the device is not available as an input source: This could mean that the device is not communicating properly. Make sure to try the following:.

Try a different USB cable and/or USB port on the computer. Refer to our guide to ensure the keyboard or device is being recognized correctly by your computer.

Go through the instructions again to ensure that the MIDI monitor has been set up properly and the correct inputs are selected. Select all available input ports for your device in the MIDI Inputs or Sources section. Some keyboards may have several ports that are made available in the input section which are used to send different types of information. For example, keyboards with Mackie/HUI functions will need an additional port to communicate this data. Make sure that all ports are selected as an input so that all available communication from the device is displayed. If you are still having trouble and not receiving any response from the keyboard or MIDI device, contact our for further assistance.

Further Technical Support It's impossible to cover all of the possibilities of USB troubleshooting in a single guide but this should act as jumping off point. If you require further assistance with product setup or have determined that the product is NOT functioning correctly, contact the Technical Support team or refer to some of the related articles below: Technical Support:. Related Articles.