User guide
Tracktion 4 Reference Manual
101
4.3 : MIDI and MIDI Clips
Working With External MIDI Equipment
In the next few pages we will look at how to use Tracktion to control external MIDI equipment. You
will learn how to assign Tracks to MIDI outputs, and how to call up different instruments (programs) on
your MIDI device by program name.
This chapter does not cover recording from MIDI, or synchronising Tracktion with external MIDI
equipment. Those two topics are covered in chapters Five, and Six, respectively.
The rst step before beginning your edit should always be to check that your MIDI equipment is cor-
rectly connected to Tracktion. One of the MIDI-OUT ports on your computer’s audio/MIDI interface
should be connected to the MIDI-IN port on your MIDI instrument or effects processor. If your audio/
MIDI interface has more than one output port, make a note of which port you connected the MIDI hard-
ware to.
Now that you have connected your hardware, open the edit in which you are planning to use your
MIDI device. At this point you simply need to assign a track to the MIDI device. Once assigned, the de-
vice will receive MIDI data from any MIDI clips that you place on this track.
To assign a track:
• Select the track you wish to use as a MIDI track.
• The properties panel will display the track properties.
• In the
destination output for this track list (Fig. 4.3.1), select the MIDI output to which your de-
vice is connected.
If you have some MIDI clips ready to try out, you can test your MIDI device right now. If you don’t
have an MIDI clips ready at this time, don’t worry, we’ll be looking at the MIDI editor in just a few sec-
tions time. Once you’ve seen how the MIDI editor works, you’ll be able to edit recorded performances,
and create new MIDI performances by hand.
What if you try it though and you can’t hear anything? If this happens to you, most likely you simply
need to change the MIDI channel that your clip is sending on. Your MIDI hardware may be congured
to listen to only one MIDI channel, and if your clip is set to transmit on a different channel, the MIDI de-
vice will simply ignore it. The documentation for your MIDI equipment will tell you how to check, or alter,
the channel that the device listens on; with only 16 possible channels, however, trial and error can often
be just as efcient a solution.
Figure 4.3.1