Midi Setup, Midi Patchbays, & PT

prior to my newest setup, i've been using all my gear (hardware) live and recording the audio raw/straight. my experience is from recording 4-track-style recordings, into analog and digital. but i've been able to learn the basics of protools since i bought my digi 001.

so now, i want to step up and be able to sync-up and even record my midi info/sequences into protools now too, from any and/or "all" of my machines, whenever i want and into seperate protools tracks. and basically ive aquired a few more midi-compatable keyboards, samplers, and sequencers in a short period of time recently, and i now want them to cooperate with protools gracefully.

figuring from what i've seen, a lot of you here have similar setups, and could hopefully lace me with some midi knowledge. i have a traditional hip-hop-intended setup: sp1200, mpc 2kxl, juno106, asr-10, s950, a Tascam m2524 mixing board, with an apple g4 tower and a digi 001 running protools le 6.4. but alas, i play and record the audio straight, and i have no clue how people link up this many items through midi effectively.

i've heard that i need a midi patchbay. but before i buy (either) the most expensive or the "crappiest" one, i want to know if there'd be any suggestions on which would be most appropriate for my gear and/or sound. would protools le recognize and support one, does it need usb? that and why there are such steep price differences.

yeah im ashamed to say i never done this earlier. therefore, i am still kinda clueless on this midi patchbay / linking stuff. i hope i'm asking the right questions. any help would be most appreciated.

-KB

With your midi thrus and the in / outs on your MPC, you may be able to get away with no or a very limite MIDI patchbay...of course you'll need midi from and to your computer. USB can oftentimes cause latency problems so if you can get a dedicated sound / midi or midi card it'd be a good idea...

i had these recommended recently:

MOTU MTP
emagic unitor / amt8
edirol um-880
or um-550

NOW....do you know if ProTools LE (digi 001, mac) supports any of the above mentioned patchbays? would it be best (or required at that) for it to be usb or serial? would you recommend any of those?

PLEASE, HELP ME GET THIS OUT OF THE WAY! LOL

Any of those will work with pro tools I'm sure because it's just a data transfer. I'm using the MTP AV now. It's way more than you need though. Think basic. USB has been known to have some latency issues but is workable for sure...Alot of that depends on your computer and choice of sound cards. I'm pretty sure that with a MIDI out and 2+In's on your PC that you won't really need a MIDI patchbay at all You can go from your PC MIDI out to the in on your MPC. MPC outs to the PC and One of your sound modules or controller. connect the MIDI THRU on module 1 to module 2 etc.. MIDI out on your keyboard controller to the MPC IN.