We have any MIDI gurus here?

[Suilebhain]

I am totally lost.

I purchased a Waldorf MicroQ from a studio used, one of the reasons I am selling my Moog (not an even exchange, I know, but...).

Anyway, it came pretty much wiped and now I am trying to import sounds so I can fiddle with it without having to build 300 sounds from scratch. I have MIDI-OX and a bunch of Waldorf patch files in .MID format, some entire banks, some singles. The problem is, I don't know how to set up MIDI-OX so that it is transmitting the MIDI files to the MicroQ. It is so simple that even a caveman can do it, I am sure, but I existed before their were cavemen and all I know is knobs and sliders.

Any help out there? Thanks!

[glitch]

I think the only problem is that you might be using the wrong tool.

It's been years (literally) since I played around with MIDI on a PC or booted up MIDI-OX, but from last I remember it's a MIDI-monitoring tool. You need a tool that's going to send MIDI, not just listen for it -- like Cubase, or any other sequencer. Which means, most likely that you're going to need to look for a cheap/free sequencer over at KVR (http://www.kvr-vst.com).

If you can't find one of those that suits you, search for a Yamaha utility called MIDI Radio. It was used to do the same sort of thing to update their gear. Roland also has a similar utility but I can't remember the name (I'll see if I can find it).

Also, make sure your MIDI channels match between your Waldorf and the sending program.

In short, you're not doing anything wrong other than using the wrong program, I think.

-- glitch.@#$%!

[Suilebhain]

Thanks, Glitch!

I found something that I am going to try next. It is called Q Bank Manager, and I found it at a Waldorf site.

The thing about the channels I'll have to look into a bit deeper as well. As I said, this is all new to me.

[glitch]

I found something that I am going to try next. It is called Q Bank Manager, and I found it at a Waldorf site.

There ya go!

The thing about the channels I'll have to look into a bit deeper as well. As I said, this is all new to me.

Channels are actually quite simple. There are 16 of 'em. You just have to remember that both your sending device (aka PC) and receiving device (aka Waldorf) need to be "tuned in" to the same channel, so they'll hear each other.

You'll also encounter something called "Omni", which means that a device will listen to anything on all 16 channels. This might either make things simpler, or add complications. Better just to play it safe and make sure they're both manually set to the same channel number.

Good luck!

-- glitch.@#$%!

[Suilebhain]

The Bank Manager does not look for files on the PC, so I am back to the drawing board. Let me try the one you suggested.

[Suilebhain]

I went to the KVR site and someone set me up with mQEdit, which appears to be exactly what I need. However, I still am missing something because nothing comes back to the synth. I have never done this before but the MicroQ manual says that nothing special needs to be done to get it set to receive sys ex, just make sure both things are set to the same channel.

Under Device Setup in the software I have

microQ In = EDIROL UM-1 MIDI
microQ Out = EDIROL UM-1 MIDI
Controller / Keyboard Out = EDIROL UM-1 MIDI

Device ID (int): 0
Channel: Omni

The MicroQ is set to Channel Omni (it really doesn't give me any other options) and Sys Ex is set to 000:00

Am I correct in assuming that I have both units set to the "same channel"?

[glitch]

Okay, I'm gonna bet you're probably not getting *any* MIDI out to the MicroQ. Further, I'm also gonna place cash that it's something having to do with the interface settings. Unfortunately, there's no real standardization for PC interfaces (well, there's the old MPU-401 standard from the 80's if some anorak wants to beat me over the head with that one, but it's been largely ignored for over 15 years now).

To test: can you play any notes from MQEdit? I mean, can you record and play a quick sequence of notes? The only thing to check is whether anything is coming out of the PC and reaching the MicroQ. If not, then it's either a setting on the interface (you may need to turn on some sort of monitor) or a simple cable mismatch (you wouldn't believe how easy it is to plug the input into the input, and vice-versa).

.mid files are loaded and played just the same as any old sequencer file fulla notes. It's just that they contain patch data instead. If you can play notes from a sequencer file and have the MicroQ respond, you can blast sysex into it. No difference.

Also, make sure you've gone through all the proper driver setup for the Edirol. I've got three Edirol MIDI interfaces (FA-101, FA-66, & a PCR-M1), one MIDI-compatible VJ interface (Motion Dive Tokyo) and two Roland devices that can act as MIDI interfaces (both VG-99's), and they're the only blinky pieces of gear I've seen that force you through such a convoluted setup process -- even on a Mac, where CoreAudio takes care of all this setup stuff for you.

In addition, set the send channel to something (anything). It's probably only talking about the channel it's monitoring on, but Omni sending is a strange concept and, as far as I know, not a part of the MIDI specification. Omni generally refers to a "listening" mode, not a sending one. If there were such a thing as sending Omni, it should mean that you're playing the same file out 16 different channels simultaneously. Listening on all 16 channels is one thing, but I've never seen anything blow the same data out all available channels (without explicitly jumping through hoops to do exactly that). Otherwise, make sure that MQEdit is set to the proper interface and channel. In a perfect world, you should never even notice the interface after the drivers have been properly set up -- any setup is done in the program you're using on the PC.

If all else fails, here are the links to the programs I mentioned before. You can get the Roland SMF updater at: ftp://ftp.roland.co.uk/productsupport/D ... FPLAYR.zip . I'm not certain if it will accept .mid files in addition to .smf files (.smf stands for Standard MIDI File, and there's really not much difference between a .mid and an .smf; it's just whether the Roland program will recognize it and load it or not). You can get some program usage notes on the SMF Updater at: http://www.synthman.com/roland/support/ ... C_SMF.html .

And, unfortunately, I can't currently find a copy of Yamaha's MIDI Radio, since it seems they stopped supporting it last year (a shame, since it was a simple and useful little widget). I'll keep looking, but you should be able to do pretty much the same thing with any sequencer (don't get caught up in patch librarian hell; you just need something which is going to load a standard .mid -- dumb MIDI sequence -- file, and play it out the interface).

Let me know if any of that helps.

-- glitch.@#$%!