Part responds to all Midi In Channels and Ports

So i am starting to figure out Multis but can't figure out the MIDI page Midi channel routing. I'll break it down as simple as I can, my apologies if I'm not wording it right

I have an external drum pad and an external keyboard, each sending from their MIDI out ports into the MPC's MIDI I and II in ports respectively. In my Multi I have two parts, in part 1 there is a drum program assigned to channel 1A, in part 2 there is a synth program assigned to channel 1B. Seems straightforward right?

When I hit the external drum pad, part 1, the drum program plays on the MPC… cool
When I hit keys on the keyboard, part 1, the drum program plays on the MPC… not cool.

Why isn't the keyboard triggering part 2, the synth? Again, my keyboard is connected to the MPC's MIDI in port II and part 2 is assigned to 1B. So both the external drum pad and keyboard are triggering the same part despite separate routings.

Here is the kicker… If i switch part 1 to the synth program and part 2 to the drum program both my external drum pad and keyboard will now play the synth.

It seems the MIDI channel routings have no affect on the parts within my Multi.

Any ideas?

No sooner did I post this than I stumbled on a possible answer.

So going into the main MIDI page and selecting routing, and switching MIDI I and II routing to bypass the sequencer and go straight to the sampler the Multi routing works as expected.

So I guess now my main questions are:

1) how does the midi routing work if MIDI I and II first go through the sequencer. In this scenario are the Midi channel routings as defined in the Multi simply ignored? What determines which part will respond to MIDI in?
2) what are the advantages/disadvantages changing the midi routing to go straight to the sampler bypassing the sequencer?

I think I have everything sorted. I realize I look pretty daft with all these messages, normally I would just delete the post and try to save face but I'll leave it up in case anyone else had the same confusion and wants to follow my train of thought.

AleksKlax wrote:I think I have everything sorted...I'll leave it up in case anyone else had the same confusion and wants to follow my train of thought.

All you left up are questions, what conclusions did you find to answer them? Just in case someone else wants to follow your train of thought...

all of your questions are addressed in the manual. you should read it. it is immensely helpful.

- jim

Clint,

Here are some of my conclusions:

1) From what I gather if MIDI I and II are first routed to the sequencer the channel assignment in the Multi page will have no affect. In this scenario all MIDI in regardless of port or channel number will affect the currently selected part(s) within the current track and sequence on the main page.

Advantages of having MIDI in bypass the sequencer:
- Your external midi devices can discretely be assigned to a particular program.
-This can prevent external midi devices from inadvertently triggering other programs. -This method also allows you to save midi routings with the Multi instead of with the sequence.

Disadvantages of having MIDI in bypass the sequencer:
-Programs will only respond to one particular MIDI channel and port
-Midi routings that are saved within the sequence will be ignored (preference giving to routings assigned in the Multi page)

Jim:

Thanks for the suggestion to read the manual. I agree it is helpful and I give you my assurance that I have throughly read each and every page (as well as the addendums). That said, the manual leaves some room for some confusion which is why I posted this question.

The following is the full extent of what is found in the manual regarding MIDI routing, as you can see not one of my questions is addressed:

"Routing block
Here you can change the destination of the MIDI events that are input from the [MIDI IN I]/[MIDI IN II] connectors or generated by the pads.

A Block diagram
Displays the current routing of MIDI messages.
B MIDI in-I field
Selects one of the following as the destination of the MIDI events received at the [MIDI IN I] connector.
INT-A ..................... Virtual MIDI port A of the sampler section
SEQUENCER........The sequencer section
C MIDI in-II field
Selects one of the following as the destination of the MIDI events received at the [MIDI IN II] connector.
INT-B .....................Virtual MIDI port B of the sampler section SEQUENCER ........The sequencer section
D Drum pad field
Selects one of the following as the destination of the MIDI events generated by the pads. INT-A .....................Virtual MIDI port A of the sampler section OUT-A....................MIDI OUT A
SEQUENCER ........The sequencer section"

AleksKlax wrote:the manual leaves some room for some confusion

I agree, but you could also say 'the manual leaves some room for user experimentation' as you yourself have just found out. Everything is not immediately obvious so the MPC4000 is not the machine for 'skimmers', but ideal for 'divers'. Compared to the previous model (MPC2000XL) the MPC4000 is in a different league of samplers, the Premier League...