Pro Tools not recording MIdi information from MPC2000

Hello- This is my fist post on this site.

My gear:

Pro Tools 6.4
Digi002 rack
Windows XP
MPC 2000

What I'm trying to do:

I would like Pro Tools to record Midi information from the MPC 2000

Where I'm at:

Pro Tools and the MPC are sync'ed up. In other words, when I hit play in Pro Tools the MPC will play as well. So that all works great.

However, when I play anything on the MPC "pads" no midi information is being recorded into Pro Tools.

I have basically followed this as a setup: http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=189455
And this: http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=243075

I am using two midi cables, rather than just one, outlined in the above. One going out of the Digi002 to the MPC and one going from the MPC to the Digi002.

I have also follow this: http://www.showmeprotools.com/using-ext ... pro-tools/

So the bottom line is: I am not able to get Pro Tools to record midi information sent from the MPC.
I would like to be able to record the midi information, from hitting the pads on the MPC, into Pro Tools and use Pro Tools as the Midi Editor.

Also- If I draw in Midi notes with the pencil tool onto a Midi track in Pro Tools, it will work. I can hear Pro Tools trigger sounds from the MPC. I'm just not able to perform on the MPC and have that show up as Midi information in Pro Tools, on the midi track.

Thanks for all your help.

Maybe obvious but...are your mpc tracks set to output on various midi channels?

Thanks so much for the reply. I very much appreciate it. The only real thing I have changed on the MPC itself is under the sync menu.....In the sync menu on the left side, I set Sync In to :1 to correspond with the port plugged in on the back of the MPC. But nothing else.

To make sure, can you walk me through the steps of what you are suggesting? I don't want to leave anything out.

Kind regards-

Yea sure. I'm not a protools or 2000 classic user, but let me break down the mpc basics.

There are two kinds of midi we commonly talk about...sync is one, actual midi data like notes is the other.

So you've got your machines 'synced'. Great. Now keep in mind that has nothing to do with the actual midi data.

In order for an mpc track to output midi data, you have to tell the mpc where to send the midi data. This is a combination of midi port (A or B) and midi channel (1-16).
At the bottom of the main screen (on my XL at least...might be slightly different on classic), you can choose where to send the tracks midi data. The choices are, as outlined above, anything from 1A-16A and 1B-16B...the first number indicating midi channel and the letter indicating physical midi port on the mpc.

You should be fine if you only have one cable plugged into midi out A of the mpc (you havent actually used it yet).

So, set a track to output on say 1A...midi channel 1 on port A.

Now, take the same scenario you just did for the mpc, and consider that you have to set it up the same in PT. as long as your PT is set up to receive midi over the correct port, and you've got a track ready to record on the correct midi channel, you will start to see midi messages show up.

I'm not sure how to set this up in PT, but there must be guides and it must be in the manual. Hell it might even be automatic, at least for receiving on ALL or one channels (setting up individual tracks to receive on unique channels might be a little trickier, but it is possible).

To summarise:
Make sure MPC track is outputting midi data - choose a port + midi channel
Make sure PT is receiving midi data on the midi IN port connected to mpc midi OUT.

if you could get some sort of midi monitor software (might be built into PT), this will help you see if you are actually sending the midi from the mpc...once you know you are receiving, then you can start to figure out your routing - the routing is where it gets complicated.

This is great information!! Very much do appreciate it all. I know time is valuable. Thanks! I think we are getting somewhere.

However, when I set the MPC track to outputting midi data - for example, as you mentioned, choose a port + midi channel...in this case 1A, all I get coming out of the speakers is distortion.

On the MPC 2000 to set the port + midi channel at the bottom of the screen it says DRUM: here I can spin the jog wheel and see the option for 1A-16A. It was set to OFF. Setting it to 1A, then corresponding this in Pro Tools, is when I hear distortion. If I leave DRUM: set to off, I don't hear the distortion. Plus with the distortion, it locks up the MPC.

Many, many thanks.

Not sure what is going on, but it could be midi feedback - you are sending a note to pt, it is sending it back to the mpc, which is sending it back to pt....etc etc.

You can hit 'open window' on the midi portion of your track on the main screen and turn off the midi passing back through the track (remember I told you routing is where it starts to get complicated).
Or for a quick test, simply unplug the cable going to the mpc midi IN.
Now play the pads on the mpc again, are you still locking up the mpc / getting distortion?

If YES, then you are definitely experiencing a midi feedback loop and you need to figure out a way to either not pass the midi back to the mpc, or not pass the data back OUT of the mpc...its confusing but play around and you will get it.

Finally, when you say you are hearing distortion, I am confused. You could try to describe this distortion better, but if it's a midi feedback loop, i imagine its like the sound of your pad being triggered thousands of times, running out of polyphony, and generally just freaking out.

You need to read your mpc manual section about midi and passing it back out from the track, or your protools manual about midi and passing it back out while recording (you don't want to...only on playback).

I apologize about the lack of explanation regarding the distortion......but you are a genius! It is in fact midi feeding back on itself. I have it all working now. The MPC is outputting midi information into Pro Tools and it is showing up on the midi track within pro tools. I am able to use the pro tools editor now to manipulate the midi information recorded there.

Just for posterity sake: I highlighted, on the main screen on the MPC, the DRUM section. I changed that to MIDI by spinning the jog wheel. Then selected next to that where it shows: OFF and selected 1A (jog wheel). Then while the 1A was still highlighted, I hit "open window" and turned Soft through: OFF.

This worked!

While transferring midi to pro tools, would one be expected to "hear" as well as "see"? I can see the midi notes showing up (in the pro tools editor) as it's playing through a seq from the MPC, but I can't hear it as it is doing it.

This is reflective of the setting being set to "DRUM" or "MIDI". If set to DRUM, I can hear it (but no midi information is outputted). If set to MIDI, midi info is outputting, but I can't hear anything.

I mean, this makes sense as to why, just wondering if there is a way to have it both ways. No worries cause once the midi info is recorded into Pro Tools I just switch back to DRUM and then I can "hear". Pro Tools is playing the midi info triggering the sounds from the MPC.

Again - thanks you so much. You are a gentleman and an absolute scholar.

Great that you got it for the most part working.

Still, to make it work exactly like you want, it's all a matter of routing. You probably want to make the settings so that you can still leave both plugged in at the same time.

On my mpc (xl), you can have a track be a DRUM track, and still output midi on 1A, etc. That might be one way to get around your problem. If you can figure this out, this is probably the easiest way to go. On my XL, I dont change DRUM to MIDI, but I change OFF to 1A. So it says DRUM:1A.

Another option, though a bit hacky, is to configure an extra track on your MPC, set to DRUM, and set it up so that it receives all the midi. Set up the other tracks so they do not.
Then, as you play a note on a midi track, it will get routed to protools, and finally back to the mpc track which is set to receive and is set to DRUM. It is a bit roundabout, and maybe even latency will be an issue, but it might work. Still, I think there must be an easier way, I just do not know what capabilities my XL has that the classic does not.

Once you have this working the way you want, you realise you can use the mpc to sequence vsts, or even a more featured sampler.

Ok. Very cool that does work leaving it set to drum and just selecting 1A. I can see and hear everything.

But it sounds as if I am hearing "two" of the same sounds stack on each other. Like phasing sounds. Like if your playing back a drum seq and as it is playing, kick, snare, kick, snare and then you also are hitting kick, snare, kick, snare on the pads. That is what is sounds like.

Would this be expected?

Routing.

Midi is going from the mpc, tirggering the sound, going into protools, coming back into the mpc, triggering the sound again.

You need to configure protools to not playback the midi on record, or, you could set up your mpc to only respond to midi...like turn the drumpads triggering sounds off. The manual will explain how to do this. That way, the mpc will only react to the midi, not the drum pads.

A definitely better way though is just not sending midi back out of PT. Perhaps while you are recording, you can have PT output to an unused midi port, or to NO midi port. Then, you just select the correct port when you want to play back.
This is probably what I would do.

There might be other ways to do this.

Thanks for all your help yet again. I understand what you are saying and have changed, on the midi track itself within PT, to output to port 2 rather than port 1. No more issues with phasing.

Very cool, indeed!

I think that's it for now. Just need to dig into it all now that you've helped me get the basic routing and setup going.

Man- I can't thank you enough for all your help.

Kind regards-
joe

Very happy to help.
Hopefully this thread will help others later, as well.

Absolutely! You have outlined things in a very easy manner.

How do you set pro tools to record fr MPC 2000xl? I have PT and MPC connected and when I hit space bar it triggers the MPC. Do I need to set each tracks fr Pro Tools as mono or stereo?

When I have 5 tracks on PT it records entire beat and not separating the tracks out.