Roland juno ds, yamaha mm6, maudio venom

[Kturbo]

Scenario: play one keyboard, midi out to get secondary layers from a second keynoard.

This seems to work fine when using either the yamaha or the roland to run the maudio venom synth, but the roland and yamaha don't seem to play nicely with each other...I don't need anything fancy to switch patches, I just want to play the displayed patch simultaneously.

Any suggestions? I've tried reading through midi implement charts but am novice enough to not piece it together.

 

[happyrat1]

I was with you up until you mentioned Yamaha (ick)

But here goes anyway ...

What connections are you trying to use? all 5 Pin DIN or all USB or a mix and match of the bunch with a computer or tablet acting as a MIDI router?

If the problem is with a strictly DIN MIDI ring network then I would be checking on the individual MIDI settings of each board focusing particularly on Sync (master/slave) identifers as well as send and receive channels and TX/RX (On/Off) and that sort of thing. Sometimes it can take an entire day of hacking your hardware to achieve what you are trying to do.

I used to have a Venom until last Fall and I do have a Juno DS but I have them in separate rooms and never MIDIed up the two.

If your hookup is all USB then you could easily solve the problem by installing MIDI routing software like JACK Audio Connection kit or some other freeware.

Either Way... Make Sure the Chosen Port is enabled in the keyboards' menus.

Gary

 

[Kturbo]

I'm running one simple din Cable...mm6 to venom has been fine, juno ds to venom fine, but both mm6 to ds and ds to mm6 just doesn't vibe...not sure about setting midi input channels or output channels to work...got lucky with venom working without fuss

 

[anotherscott]

I'm running one simple din Cable...mm6 to venom has been fine, juno ds to venom fine, but both mm6 to ds and ds to mm6 just doesn't vibe...not sure about setting midi input channels or output channels to work...got lucky with venom working without fuss

Okay, based on what worked, it is almost certainly the case that the MM6 and the Juno DS are transmitting on MIDI channel 1, and the Venom is receiving on MIDI Channel 1, BUT it sounds like the MM and Juno are not set to Receive on MIDI channel 1. So the place to check in their manuals is how to set the MIDI Receive functions on those boards. But before doing that, honestly, the first thing I'd do is double check the connections. Even after doing this for decades, I have found that almost every time MIDI isn't getting where I want it to go, it ends up being because I accidentally plugged something into the MIDI In when I intended to plug it into the MIDI Out or vice versa (or the MIDI Thru, if the board has one).

 

[Kturbo]

Okay, based on what worked, it is almost certainly the case that the MM6 and the Juno DS are transmitting on MIDI channel 1, and the Venom is receiving on MIDI Channel 1, BUT it sounds like the MM and Juno are not set to Receive on MIDI channel 1. So the place to check in their manuals is how to set the MIDI Receive functions on those boards. But before doing that, honestly, the first thing I'd do is double check the connections. Even after doing this for decades, I have found that almost every time MIDI isn't getting where I want it to go, it ends up being because I accidentally plugged something into the MIDI In when I intended to plug it into the MIDI Out or vice versa (or the MIDI Thru, if the board has one).

Thanks, I've double checked and after going deep dive into the mm6 forums, seems this is a dumb limitation there. Seems that you can only really transmit midi program changes (complex to do live based on how they are setup and the gear I have to send those messages). Seems it can't receive note data and just transmit the active patch.

Appreciate the help.

 

[happyrat1]

Do you have all 3 boards MIDIed up to each other simultaneously? For that to work you'd have to go MIDI OUT from the Controller keyboard to MIDI IN on the first slave and then MIDI THRU from the slave to the second slave's MIDI IN.

In order to accomplish this the boards need either a hardwired MIDI THRU port or a way to enable a soft MIDI THRU using the MIDI OUT port.

Also, all devices have to be set to the same channel for this to work.

And like I said earlier, you can use USB connections as well as DIN MIDI and simply plug all three into a computer and allow software to control the routing.

Gary

 

[anotherscott]

Thanks, I've double checked and after going deep dive into the mm6 forums, seems this is a dumb limitation there...Seems it can't receive note data

Wow, that's weird. It's also directly contradicted by the manual, which says "The MIDI IN connector receives MIDI messages from external MIDI devices. This can be used to control the MM6/MM8 or play it’s tone-generator from an external MIDI device." But manuals do sometimes have errors.

The Juno DS definitely receives MIDI from keys, though. Which parts play may depend on which mode you're in (Patch or Perform) and which channel your other board is transmitting on. There are settings for this.

 

[Kturbo]

The midi in does receive the messages. For example, I have a shitty xbox keytar which has midi out. It can access the tones but will not play what is displayed on channels 1 main, 2 dual or 3 split within the active patch. Instead it seems to control General midi tones in the background. So I can scroll on that shitty keytar to a drum setting by hitting a button 100 times, but the mm6 display will still be on its general start up piano sound. In this scenario, the keytar midi signals will play drums and the mm6 keybed will play piano. Changing patches on the mm6 does nothing to that keytar midi signal output. Like I'll change to a string patch on the mm6 and the keytar still Will play the drum patch. Very strange compared to all my other synths where the input midi signal is triggering the patch displayed.

I just got an arturia beatstep which interacts with all three similarly. Inputs the step sequencer to activate the active patch for my juno and venom synths, but it only triggers the general midi piano sound from the mm6.

Note: the rock band keytar is quite a steal for 20 bucks if you find a used one. Ribbon slider, two octaves, patch change, split function, vibrato button.

 

[anotherscott]

Oh! Saying it plays, but not the sound you want it to play, is completely different from "seems it can't receive note data"! I see now, the MM *is* receiving note data, but playing GM voices instead of the selected voice. At least that confirms that the connections are correct. There are boards that work that way, where Program Changes and/or Note Data are not directed to what is actually being played by the board's own keys, so it's certainly possible you've run into a limitation of the MM there.

But that still doesn't explain your issue with the Juno DS. Is that a case where you're getting no sound, or another case where you're getting what appears to be the "wrong" sound? If the latter, are you in Patch mode or Performance mode on the Juno DS? By default, I believe, input on MIDI channel 1 will duplicate what is playing on the keyboard if you are in Patch mode, but may only play the sound assigned to Part 1 of the multi-part Performance if you are in Performance mode. If that's what's happening, there may be a setting you can change for that.

In general, when something's not working, it can be very helpful to describe what something IS doing, not merely what it's NOT doing. ;-)