Problem detecting Recording device

[johnbuff]

Hello -
I'm currently evaluating the trial version of Composer. I'm very pleased with the capabilities I've seen so far, however have been having difficulty attaching my keyboard. I'm running Windows XP and when I initially attached the keyboard, the midi device drivers automatically loaded; in the windows configurations (sounds and devices, drivers, etc) all indicate loaded and running withi no problems. When I run the Quick MIDI Setup in Composer the "Select Playback Device" functions OK yet the "Detect Recording Device" does populate with my device. I have tried the help screens ("What to do if recording device does not work", "Adding a new MIDI keyboard to your configuration", and several other help screens) and even attempting to manually configure yet I can never get the software to recognize my attached midi device. At this point I'm truly at a loss for what to attemt next. I truly liked the trial version of Composer - to this point - but am ver heistant to purchase the 'real' version if I continue to be able to connect it to my pc. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
THANKS!
John

[Sherry C]

Howdy John,

Thanks for trying out Notation Composer!

Composer won't automatically populate the "Detect Recording Device" until you actually play the device. Try opening the Quick MIDI setup dialog, and then play your keyboard. You should see it come up in the field then. We try to keep this flexible so that you can automatically use any of a number of MIDI input devices without having to manually switch between them.

You can also take a look at Setup/MIDI Device Configuration (the "big" one, not the Quick one) and you should see your keyboard listed as both an "In" and "Out" device.

Also, have you tried doing any recording into Composer? You can either "Create a new song" or open an existing song and just hit the "Record" button. A new staff will be entered which will be highlighted in pink, and as the beat cursor moves through the score, you should see piano roll bars in the highlighted staff as you play your MIDI instrument. After you hit the "Stop" button (or the Space bar on your qwerty keyboard), the piano roll bars will transcribe to notation.

If none of the above is helpful, let me know and we'll explore some more.

ttfn,
Sherry

[johnbuff]

Wow Sherry, quick response. Unfortunately, yes, I've tried all of the things you mentioned. Sorry I wasn't clear enough in my origional posting...have followed the setup instructions to the letter.

[Sherry C]

Howdy John,

Hmmm... does your keyboard show up in the Setup/MIDI Device Configuration as an "In" device at all? Or does it just show up as an "Out" device?

Also, what kind of keyboard, and what kind of MIDI interface unit do you have? Or is it a direct USB cable connection? I'm asking because as much as I like M-Audio, their Uno units have had a lot of problems with the MIDI "in" side, and that's been one of our (and other MIDI applications) biggest causes with folks having recording problems.

ttfn,
Sherry

[johnbuff]

No, my keyboard does not show up at all. Its a Kurzweil PC88mx. The cable I'm using is a CME u2midi usb cable.

[Sherry C]

Howdy John,

Since you're using the CME as the interface between your keyboard and computer, that (or some other name for it) is what will show up in your MIDI device configuration dialog.

If the device is not showing up at all in your MIDI Device Configuration, try switching the "In" and "Out" plugs of the CME cable into your Kurzweil. MIDI cables in general can be really confusing because the way they're labeled, they often want the "In" cable to go in the "Out" plug and vice versa.

If that doesn't turn out to be the issue, let's take a look at your MIDI Device Configuration. If needed, please take a screen shot of it and post it in your reply. But let's hope it's just that the cables are backwards. I did that myself in setting up my own MIDI keyboard :)

ttfn,
Sherry

[johnbuff]

Hi Sherry -
I had to laugh regarding your comments about plugging the midi cables into the keyboard - that was exactly the first thing I thought of at the start! I guess in some ways our minds think alike.

I'm having trouble attaching a screen shot of the configuration page - but for what its worth, its just the basic default page where it lists my pc internal port and the internal synthesizer. I'm unable to create the external port and attache it to my keyboard/device.

(As a side note, I have been able to load the software onto my work-related pc and it works great. I do, though, would love assistance getting it to work on my my personal laptop).

[Sherry C]

Howdy John,

Glad to know we're on the same wavelength here :)

Thanks for the added info. There are a couple of things we can check out now that we know Composer isn't seeing anything at all from your MIDI device.

On some devices, there is a switch, either physical or electronic (setting), for "MIDI mode". I'm not sure about your Kurzweil unit, but please do check in your user's manual to see if there is such a switch or setting. Some units have something like "Audio only", "MIDI on", "MIDI through" etc. If your unit has such a switch or setting (many users have had to make such settings because for some reason the default is "off"), try changing it.

If all seems to be as it should be and you're still not getting any recognition by Composer, then please try out a small program (not developed by us) called RedDot Forever, available free at http://sourceforge.net/projects/reddot/ This program's sole purpose in life is to record .mid files. If it detects and records from your Kurzweil, then we'll delve deeper into why Composer is not detecting it. If RedDot doesn't pickup your MIDI device, then we'll have to look more to the Kurzweil and/or the CME cable interface.

ttfn,
Sherry

[johnbuff]

Well, Sherry, I think we're narrowing down the problem - I'm guessing that its with my laptop/CME interface. When I tried RedDot, it too, couldn't see my keyboard.

I did try the switch on the Kurzweil which made no difference. I really didn't think this was the issue becuase over the weekend I was able to load Composer and see the keyboard on my work PC. This work fine, although it is running Windows Vista rather than XP.

Well, I guess since this doesn't seem to be a Composer issue I'll have to work on my own to figure out the problem but, if you do have any Windows input I'll gladly accept it! lol Maybe I'll just have to buy another laptop, grrrrrrrr, lol!

Thanks again for all your assistance.

John

[Thoraldus]

Howdy John,

Glad to know we're on the same wavelength here :)

Thanks for the added info. There are a couple of things we can check out now that we know Composer isn't seeing anything at all from your MIDI device.

On some devices, there is a switch, either physical or electronic (setting), for "MIDI mode". I'm not sure about your Kurzweil unit, but please do check in your user's manual to see if there is such a switch or setting. Some units have something like "Audio only", "MIDI on", "MIDI through" etc. If your unit has such a switch or setting (many users have had to make such settings because for some reason the default is "off"), try changing it.

If all seems to be as it should be and you're still not getting any recognition by Composer, then please try out a small program (not developed by us) called RedDot Forever, available free at http://sourceforge.net/projects/reddot/ This program's sole purpose in life is to record .mid files. If it detects and records from your Kurzweil, then we'll delve deeper into why Composer is not detecting it. If RedDot doesn't pickup your MIDI device, then we'll have to look more to the Kurzweil and/or the CME cable interface.

ttfn,
Sherry

Hi Sherry,

Here we are a year later and I have the same problem with Notation Musician 2.6 Trial. (see my other post today). I did try your suggestion to D/L RedDot Forever and it worked just fine. It recognized my UM-1 midi interface and I was able to record and playback from/to my Yamaha keyboard synth.

cheers,
Rick

[Sherry C]

Hi Rick,


Here we are a year later and I have the same problem with Notation Musician 2.6 Trial. (see my other post today). I did try your suggestion to D/L RedDot Forever and it worked just fine. It recognized my UM-1 midi interface and I was able to record and playback from/to my Yamaha keyboard synth.


If time flies when you're having fun, then I must be having a ball ;)

I did see your other post, and you actually tried what I was going to suggest (reinstalling the UM 1 driver - I saw some other posts on other MIDI forums where that driver needed to be reinstalled in a number of cases, a couple of times for some). Since it's working with your other MIDI software, then the problem is obviously with Musician. I'm glad you were able to work around the issue using MidiYoke. Not sure how that works, as I didn't realize that the "virtual" cables would hook up to USB plug-in devices, but hey - I just learned something new :)

ttfn,
Sherry

[Thoraldus]

Hi Rick,



If time flies when you're having fun, then I must be having a ball ;)

I did see your other post, and you actually tried what I was going to suggest (reinstalling the UM 1 driver - I saw some other posts on other MIDI forums where that driver needed to be reinstalled in a number of cases, a couple of times for some). Since it's working with your other MIDI software, then the problem is obviously with Musician. I'm glad you were able to work around the issue using MidiYoke. Not sure how that works, as I didn't realize that the "virtual" cables would hook up to USB plug-in devices, but hey - I just learned something new :)

ttfn,
Sherry

Hello Sherry,

MidiYoke works with MidiOx to provide virtual midi connections between midi software and physical midi devices. The software is pretty old but seems to work fine on my 64 bit Windows 7 system. Midi Yoke is used to connect any Windows MIDI Application output to another application's input. MIDI-OX is a multi-purpose tool: it is both a diagnostic tool and a System Exclusive librarian. It can perform filtering and mapping of MIDI data streams. It displays incoming MIDI streams, and passes the data to a MIDI output driver or the MIDI Mapper.


I haven't a clue why your Notation software would see the virtual Midi Yoke ports ( 8 of them) and not see the UM-1.


cheers,

Rick