cpc@HOLMES.LCS.MIT.EDU (08/25/88)
Hi,
About 2 years ago, I bought a 520 ST with a monochrome monitor and 2
single-density drives. As it turned out here in school, I am mainly
using it as a terminal. (I use Uniterm.) However, I have a synth
(a Kawai K1) and a MIDI sequencer (the cheaper of the 2 Dr.T's), and
would like to use them together.
The problem:
When the ST receives a note (or, probably, anything) through MIDI IN,
it pipes it through to MIDI OUT. My evidence is that when I hook both
cables between the ST and the synth, the synth reports that it is
*receiving* info whenever I play a noth on its keyboard. The sound is
slightly different, and the number of voices is cut in half (because
every note is being played twice. This has nothing to do with the
Dr.T sequencer, because it happens when I just turn on the ST.
Some possible explainations:
o Perhaps this is the proper default state for the MIDI ports, and
sequencers are expected to perform some kind of initialization to take
them out of that state. In this case, it *would* be Dr.T's fault.
o Something with my synth. I don't understand the technical aspects
of MIDI perfectly; however.... I had another synth (a Yamaha
DX100), and whenever I ran Dr.T's with both cables hooked up to it,
the synth reports a MIDI error and starts acting strangely. I
can't remember ever trying it without running Dr.T's (like I tried
with the Kawai).
Question:
Does anybody know why this is happening? Does anybody have any
suggestions for a solution? Any help would be *greatly* appreciated.
Thanx.
-chris colbysirkm@ssyx.ucsc.edu (Greg Anderson) (08/26/88)
In article <8808251416.AA06362@stark.LCS.MIT.EDU> cpc@HOLMES.LCS.MIT.EDU writes: > When the ST receives a note (or, probably, anything) through MIDI IN, > it pipes it through to MIDI OUT. My evidence is that when I hook both > cables between the ST and the synth, the synth reports that it is > *receiving* info whenever I play a noth on its keyboard. The sound is > slightly different, and the number of voices is cut in half (because > every note is being played twice. This has nothing to do with the > Dr.T sequencer, because it happens when I just turn on the ST. The problem is probably in your MIDI _cables_. Whenever the ST receives a note, it sends it out on the "Midi through" port. "What MIDI through port?" you might ask. "I only see two MIDI ports; out and in." That's where the problem lies--there are only two physical ports--MIDI through is crammed into the MIDI out port. The MIDI standard only uses three of the five pins available on the MIDI port. One of these pins is ground, so someone at Atari realized that two MIDI ports could be put on one physical connector. If you want to make use of MIDI through, you can build a special "T" cable that splits the non-standard ST MIDI out/through into two standard MIDI cables. Why does this cause problems with some cables? Since the MIDI through pins on a standard MIDI synth are unused, many "standard" MIDI cables short the unassigned pins to their respective used pins. (I'll explain why and how if anyone cares; suffice it to say that it's cheaper and easier.) On a standard MIDI port, this doesn't cause any problems. On the ST's MIDI out port, it can cause problems. Such cables will also make MIDIMAZE non-functional. If you ever have MIDI problems on an ST, the first thing you should check is the cables. Greg Anderson || The Temple of Zuul BBS: (408) 462-3832 Social Sciences Computing, UCSC || sirkm@ssyx.ucsc.edu
edg@squid.rtech.com (Ed Goldman) (08/27/88)
In article <8808251416.AA06362@stark.LCS.MIT.EDU> cpc@HOLMES.LCS.MIT.EDU writes: > > > About 2 years ago, I bought a 520 ST with a monochrome monitor and 2 > single-density drives. As it turned out here in school, I am mainly > using it as a terminal. (I use Uniterm.) However, I have a synth > (a Kawai K1) and a MIDI sequencer (the cheaper of the 2 Dr.T's), and > would like to use them together. > >The problem: > > When the ST receives a note (or, probably, anything) through MIDI IN, > it pipes it through to MIDI OUT. My evidence is that when I hook both > cables between the ST and the synth, the synth reports that it is > *receiving* info whenever I play a noth on its keyboard. The sound is > slightly different, and the number of voices is cut in half (because > every note is being played twice. This has nothing to do with the > Dr.T sequencer, because it happens when I just turn on the ST. >Question: > > Does anybody know why this is happening? Does anybody have any > suggestions for a solution? Any help would be *greatly* appreciated. > Thanx. > Midi in should definately *not* be automatically routed to midi out. Since the atari is not equipped with a midi thru port, most sequencers for the machine allow you to echo midi in to midi out. But, only if you explicitly tell the software to do so. I think you may be experiencing a problem with your midi cables. I was told when I bought my synth that there was something a bit off with the ports on the atari (I can't remember exactly what it was now) and that the higher quality midi cables were needed. The cheaper cables have a pin or two fused together (or something like that) and won't work correctly with the atari. -edg-
CSYSMAS@OAC.UCLA.EDU (Michael Stein) (09/02/88)
> Date: Thu, 25 Aug 88 10:16:42 EDT > From: cpc@holmes.lcs.mit.edu > Subject: Midi ports > When the ST receives a note (or, probably, anything) through > MIDI IN, it pipes it through to MIDI OUT. My evidence is > that when I hook both cables between the ST and the synth, > the synth reports that it is *receiving* info whenever I play > a noth on its keyboard. The sound is slightly different, and > the number of voices is cut in half (because every note is > being played twice. This has nothing to do with the Dr.T > sequencer, because it happens when I just turn on the ST. Check your cables. The MIDI out port on the ST also has MIDI thru available on some of the pins. MIDI thru is a copy of the MIDI "in" signal (unchanged). It sounds like you are getting this instead of the MIDI out signals (which can only be data from the ST). MIDI OUT port: pins 1/3 = midi thru pins 4/5 = midi out pin 2 = ground (just for shield of cable) MIDI IN port: pins 4/5 = midi in