Hi, im about to connect my gear, but would like some other views on this.
I have:
ANalog four
Octatrack
Moog sub phatty
Korg MS20mini
Any advice on how i should connect these units together?
That depends partly on what you want to be the master.
I’d guess that you’re sequencing the Moog and Korg?
I have a somewhat similar setup; the OT is the master, and its MIDI out goes to a Kenton Thru-5, from which everything else gets MIDI clock, and sequencing on different channels.
Yes, thats correct. At the moment i have octatrack midi out to sub phatty midi channel 2 and sub phatty midi out to korg ms20mini midi channel 1. It works but as soon as i start playing the keys on the sub phatty the sequence from the ms20 gets “interupted”. obviously because the sub triggers the ms20 because they are connected. The sub phatty have a lot of options but i cant figure out how to disable the keyboard from sending midi notes when playing on it, but still passing the midi from octatrack to the ms20. Maybe its not possible. It maybe better to start from scratch and include the analog 4 so the confusion is complete:) Just interested to hear how a typical setup would be with this gear.
Unless you have zero funds, I’d strongly recommend the Kenton or similar multi-thru device. Daisy-chaining may work for you, but giving each device its own MIDI stream will prevent a lot of headaches.
If that were my setup, I’d make the OT the master and everything else a slave from a 5-port thru device, each on its own MIDI channel.
You could also route the MIDI out from your Moog into the OT, and if the OT is set up correctly, use the Moog to record real time sequencing.
Ok. I can see the octatrack as a master and using a midi thru device.
But when it comes to the A4. I would like to trigger the A4 with an external keyboard. That leaves me with no more midi inputs on the A4. So how do i make the A4 as a slave? Do i need another midi merge device for that?
Yes. I’ve done similar, with a monosynth that needed both clock and sequencing. I used an M-Audio midisport 2x2, but MIDI Solutions probably has a similar device. If you do this, MAKE SURE you get something that works in standalone mode. (M-Audio’s midisport 4x4 does NOT work in standalone mode, last I knew, which kind of sucks) You’ll have to power it with one of those USB-to-AC-outlet adaptors. I hate to keep telling you to spend money, but those devices are necessary if you really want to do it right.
[quote=““bryantalbot””]
Yes. I’ve done similar, with a monosynth that needed both clock and sequencing. I used an M-Audio midisport 2x2, but MIDI Solutions probably has a similar device. If you do this, MAKE SURE you get something that works in standalone mode. (M-Audio’s midisport 4x4 does NOT work in standalone mode, last I knew, which kind of sucks) You’ll have to power it with one of those USB-to-AC-outlet adaptors. I hate to keep telling you to spend money, but those devices are necessary if you really want to do it right.[/quote]
I have an ESI M8U connected to my computer,but im not sure it works standalone and how i can choose midi channels without ableton etc
I was hoping to leave the computer alone on this setup.
But as it seems its maybe better to connect everything to the M8U and use ableton instead.
The main issue here that is kind of strange is that if you have both the OT and the A4 you would normally clock/transport sync these devices with midi out from OT to midi in on A4. And by doing this you loose the ability are to sequence external gear from the OT AND youre not able to connect a midi keyboard to the A4. Ah well, back to connections…and that stupid computerscreen. And thanks for trying to help me out …
I guess you understand that the config I’m describing only requires you to set each machine to receive a certain MIDI channel - there’s no configuring of the MIDI thru devices.
My setup:
OT as master, MIDI out to Kenton Thru-5 input
MD receives MIDI from K5 out, is set to Ch1 (MBase11 receives MIDI Ch2 from the MD)
MoPho receives MIDI from K5 out, is set to Ch3
Virus receives MIDI from K5 out, is set to Ch4 (Virus multi-patches receive on subsequent MIDI channels)
Eventide FX receives MIDI from K5 out - clock only, channel not a factor at the moment
OT MIDI sequence tracks set to transmit on target device’s MIDI channel
I was using the MidiSport back in a previous setup, but don’t need it at this time.
Best of luck; let us know how you get on with it.
Ok. So a thru device like the Kenton or Quadra is the key here. But for now i think ill focus on managing these devices seperately as im still in the learning process and pretty much a newbie. Ive only had the octatrack for about a month and its so much to get into. The A4 is a bit easier but still it takes time to get use to them. See ya later 
how will you route all that w/ audio? will you exempt anything from the ot master track effect?
If going OT OUT → A4 IN then couldn’t you connect the rest to the A4’s Thru? Won’t this pass anything sent to the IN from the OT to the other gear attached?
I’m running OT midi out to this:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MIDIthru4/
That runs to 3 external devices (one of which is the A4).
2 devices come in C and D to the OT. The A4 comes in stereo AB to the OT.
Hence why I always complain I want more inputs on the OT. 
For external midi KB to control all I use this:
connected to this:
The KB is set to channel 11 (just what I use you could use a diff ch) and goes MIDI IN to the OT, the OT auto and A4 auto channel are both set on 11 as well.
This allows me to sequence directly to the OT and/or to any of the external devices all through the OT.
For example, if I set an OT track to channel 11 it will sequence whatever track I have selected on the A4…if I set an OT track to a specific channel like 4 it will sequence just track 4 on the A4 (track 4 is set to midi ch.4 by default).
To get absolute routing freedom, I recommend MIDI patchbay. Ie. Kawai MAV-8 goes cheap on ebay (usually less than 80 EUR) and gives you 4 INs freely routable to 8 OUTs via dead simple fader matrix. It can behave like 1-8 MIDI Thru.
I got an older Motu Express XT a while back for about 40 dollars.
I use the “Live Keyboards” preset.
As long as all of your midi channels are set accordingly, everything can connect to everything.
Eventually I will upgrade to something USB, so I can edit some custom presets. However the old XT works great as an immediate bargain solution.
yeah, a patchbay where you can set direction, etc etc is definitely going to be a better solution in the long term and usefulness department
I have been fiddling around some more and found out a couple of things.
Until i decide to get a midi bay, i have come to this setup:
OT midi out > A4 midi in
A4 midi thru > Sub Phatty midi in
Sub Phatty midi out > Ms20 midi in
On the SP i had to set midi output select to “Midi transmission OFF”
I have SP on channel 2 and MS20 on channel 1.
When i play the keys on the SP it will not trigger the MS20 because midi transmission is set to off. But the SP will still transmit the sequence from the octatrack to Ms20. Midi in on OT is free if i want to use an external keyboard for the A4.
Thanks for all the feedback.