Midi Connection Question

11 Feb 2004, 02:24

Hey All,

I need to midi my K2500 to my Roland Fathom, plus have them both midi to my computer in case I want to use a sequencer like Cubase SX. I know how to midi the two of the items together like the K2500 (Master/Control) to the Roland fathom (Slave/Sound Mod) or switched around. My thing is having all three devices midi'ed so that I can get to them both from the computer. Do I need a midi break out box or something along those lines. My things is that I have computer programs that communicate with my Kurzweil K2500 like Recycle and a program to remote control my Kurzweil. I have the programs that come with the Fathoms that also need to communicate to the fathom over midi. Both of the keyboards need to send midi data back to the computer or to the other keyboard depending on how I setup a master(controller), but this is not possible with out some type of midi break out box I’m guessing. Both my keyboards have the MIDI (OUT – THRU – IN) Is it possible to setup up my K2500 as my master controller and the fathom as a slave device but be able to get to them both from the computer with their respective programs. I’m trying to see if I need to by another device that goes between the keyboards and the computer.

Re: Midi Connection Question

19 Feb 2004, 08:41

Sounds like you need to turn Soft Through on the FS to 'On" to re-transmit your MIDI In through to MIDI Out.
Then you can connect
Computer MIDI Out --> FS MIDI In
FS MIDI Out --> K2500 MIDI In
K2500 MIDI Thru (for FS to computer signal) or K2500 MIDI Out (for K2500 to computer signal) --> Computer MIDI In

That will connect all devices together. If the K2500 has a soft through feature as well you can just use MIDI Out on the K2500 and get both the FS and K2500 signals back to the computer at the same time.

Hope this helps.

Our Music - www.bodyprint.net

Our Music - www.bodyprint.net

Re: Midi Connection Question

19 Feb 2004, 12:26

Thanks for the information B. I'm going to give it a try when I get home. Will this set up allow me to use the my K2500 as the master controller or will my fathom be the master controller. The Soft Through on the FS? Where is that located? I'd like the ability to choose which keyboard to use as a master controller, but If I had to pick one as a master, it would be my K2500. I'm use to the seq it has, plus it has more keys than the fs. I would love to be able to play on the fathom pads and have that midi data be recorded on my K2500 seq. I just want them both to be able to communicate with the computer, because I have programs that I can use to either remote control them or programs like Reason where I need to used a keyboard as a controller.

Check out what I'm going with my keyboards:

http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?AID=715&T=4870

Thanks for all your help.

Regards,
Kai Wen

Re: Midi Connection Question

19 Feb 2004, 21:56

I don't see why this wouldn't work, but then again, theory is always easier than fact !!

Using the setup I said before, everything you play on the FS will go straight into the K2500. All computer messages will be re-transmitted by the FS into the K2500. The K2500 will send messages straight into the computer, and if the K2500 re-transmits data you will get your FS messages to the computer. If you use K2500 MIDI Thru to the computer your FS data will go to the computer, but not the K2500's.

Confused?

The soft through is located in
MENU --> System --> MIDI --> Transmit Section --> Soft Through (On/Off)
or Page 192 in the Manual.

Let us know how you go.

Our Music - www.bodyprint.net

Our Music - www.bodyprint.net

Re: Midi Connection Question

20 Feb 2004, 11:47

Thanks again for the info. I hope this works and if it does this will save me money so that I don't have to buy a midi routing device. When I get a chance to try this setup, I'll let you know how it works.

Thanks again,
Kai