Sequencing with OT and DAW at the same time

Blasted_pingin · 2023-12-18T09:36:05.360Z

hmidmi:

the OT has midi thru but that signal doesnt contain the midi created in the OT

That’s not the point of a MIDI Thru. It just passes on the data from IN to Thru bypassing the device’s data.

I’m not sure to understand your issue. It seems to me you could avoid using the auto channel (in my sense auto channel is mostly good if you use a keyboard and wanna swap synths using only one keyboard).

Why not using the midi channels corresponding to each synth?
Can you be more detailed about your current routing?

johnbitwig · 2023-12-18T09:37:43.304Z

He has to swap the out and thru for each case. If he wants pc to sequence gear, he needs to switch the midi cable from out to thru. OT = sequencer -> midi cable in out socket

hmidmi · 2023-12-18T09:40:09.114Z

Yeah you got it right. I just dont want to switch midi cables each time I want to switch sequencers

johnbitwig · 2023-12-18T09:41:04.430Z

Then build a switch box as there is no other way, I dont think. Or midi patchbay or something

Blasted_pingin · 2023-12-18T09:42:23.183Z

Ah ok, so PC > MIDI IN > Thru > MS20
OT > MIDI OUT > MS20 ?

I don’t know what are the other instruments he wants to sequence and if one is exclusively sequenced by OT/DAW.

johnbitwig · 2023-12-18T09:42:50.925Z

Yes.

Blasted_pingin · 2023-12-18T09:43:56.095Z

If you wanna use the same MIDI IN with both cables, indeed that’s why merging box are for.

johnbitwig · 2023-12-18T09:44:50.711Z

That might lead to troubles on the MS-20. Some kind of midi overload could happen in some situations. Best to use a switch box

OUT —->
…………… ……|
…………… …… | Switch box —> MS-20
THRU—>

hmidmi · 2023-12-18T09:52:43.790Z

Current setup is just pc > ot midi in > ot midi out > ms20 mini. I thought it was weird I couldnt sequence the midi tracks from the pc like I can with the audio tracks, I wouldnt need some external merge box if I could do that.

Blasted_pingin · 2023-12-18T10:08:25.903Z

As simple as it is: you have 1 instrument with 1 input and you wanna use it with 2 different sources. You need to merge somehow.

It starts to be exotic enough to have to invest in a dedicated box A blokas Midi Hub would bring other interesting features.

hmidmi · 2023-12-18T10:10:54.631Z

Appreciate the help. I’ll look into it!

sezare56 · 2023-12-18T11:32:44.721Z

hmidmi:

I would need to merge the OT midi out and midi thru into one cable

Octatrack midi out can be soft thru if you send midi data with the same channel as a midi track. (This channel must be different from audio tracks in MIDI > CHANNELS).
It merges midi in with midi out.

johnbitwig:

Elektron units don’t have MIDI thru.

They ALL have thru or soft thru !
A4 also has thru by default, Sync 24 is an option.

TheWhistler · 2023-12-18T11:50:05.727Z

I am using 2 iConnectivty mioXM for connecting my hardware and DAW and it runs very smoothly.
The Mio is a midi interface with 4x4 DIN MIDI, 8x USB hub and network Midi.
The good thing here is that with presets, pre-patched config can be activated with the touch of a button.
It’s about 250,- but buying a few merge/split boxes might be even more expensive.

I love patchbays Midi & Audio. It is so much helping my creativity not to spend so much time with rerouting things while losing inspiration.

hmidmi · 2023-12-18T12:52:40.437Z

Octatrack midi out can be soft thru if you send midi data with the same channel as a midi track. (This channel must be different from audio tracks in MIDI > CHANNELS).
It merges midi in with midi out.

Thank you so much for this! So I changed the audio track 1 channel from 1 to 9 in MIDI > CHANNELS settings and then used the first MIDI track to send on channel 1, and now my MS-20 receives MIDI from both DAW and OT at the same time! I just knew there was some arcane trick to make this work and of course sezare is here to grace me with their knowledge as always.

GurtTractor · 2023-12-18T13:22:20.487Z

In case you do run into limitations I can always recommend a Blokas Midihub for smallish setups. Makes a lot of basic MIDI routing tasks quite easy and allows you do expand your device’s capabilities if you like.

sezare56 · 2023-12-18T13:42:00.772Z

GurtTractor:

recommend a Blokas Midihub for smallish setups

Do you mean bigger setups?
It is on my wish list. I have a super practical Roland A880, but almost as big as an Airbus A380…

sezare56 · 2023-12-18T13:47:22.160Z

hmidmi:

So I changed the audio track 1 channel from 1 to 9 in MIDI > CHANNELS settings

You can also set audio tracks channels to OFF if you don’t need to control them externally or send midi data with knobs, buttons, crossfader, etc…
Btw crossfader channel is the lowest used by an audio track, channel 2 in your case. Doesn’t send anything if all audio tracks channels are set to OFF.

GurtTractor · 2023-12-18T13:51:36.831Z

I guess I meant a setup like you might have for a live performance compared to connecting up a whole studio full of gear. For the latter something like the MRCC is probably more desirable, but I find the 4 ins/outs on the Midihub to be about enough for several controllers + a few samplers/synths. I suppose it’s all relative

Blasted_pingin · 2023-12-18T13:54:02.133Z

That was my first recommendation. I use it in many cases but it didn’t seem to convince you. If you can speak to a channel, then you can … speak to a channel.

hmidmi:

I want to sequence multiple instruments at the same time and don’t want to select the correct channel every time, so how do I do this without using the auto channel?

This last bit lost me actually.

hmidmi · 2023-12-18T13:59:57.009Z

Yeah you’re right I should have asked you more about it.

You asked “Why not using the midi channels corresponding to each synth?” and I had already tried that, I just didn’t realize I couldnt have an audio track occupying the same channel in the MIDI settings. Once I changed that it worked out as I had hoped!