Unable to record MIDI using external Keyboard

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Posted by Bob on June 04, 2003 at 16:45:36:



A few days ago I had ordered a Keyboard from Panasonic, model number SX-KC211. I also ordered the Midi connection kit, which contains one universal midi connector (a 15 pin D-plug and two 5 pin midi connectors) and a sequencer software, MAGIX music studio v2000.
My PC is an Intel celeron 500mhz and 192Mb RAM running on a dual boot system with Windows 98 (mostly used for internet) and Windows XP. Further I have a Creative Labs Sound Blaster PCI128 for a soundcard. The rest is probably not relative enough to mention.

First of all I connected the Keyboard to the Joystick/MIDI port on the soundcard as described in the Keyboard's manual. Secondly I installed the sequencer software in Windows XP. It installed two programs, a sound studio and a midi studio. I then started the midi studio.

After reading the documentation and trying a bit, I noticed a problem. I cannot record any notes when I play on the Keyboard and a track is set to record. I thought that it was a problem in XP, but I tried the same in Windows 98 and it also did not work.

I will stay in Windows 98, as this is used by many more people. When setting up the MIDI devices in the midi studio I see, one Input device:
A: SB PCI128 MIDI In
and three Output devices:
A: MIDI Mapper
B: SB PCI128 MIDI Synth
C: SB PCI128 MIDI Out
When I select the MIDI Mapper or SB PCI128 MIDI Synth for an output device, I can play a mid-file which sounds through the speakers.
When I select the SB PCI128 MIDI Out, it plays on the Keyboard. It even displays the patch/instrument and channel for every part. So no problem there.

So yesterday, I searched the internet trying to find a solution. Several mentioned to set LOCAL to OFF in the Keyboard's menu, and setup a channel to transmit the midi data. However the Panasonic Keyboard can setup every part (1 to 16) individually. So I set for every part LOCAL to OFF and the channels were already assigned to the part number (except for part 10 which uses channel 16 and part 16 channel 10, probably because of the Drum Kit).
Still it has no effect whatsoever. There are several other settings like MIDI CLK to INT or EXT, and MIDI RTC (RealTime Command) to ON or OFF. Tried every combinations but still no effect.

In the midi studio Option menu there are several MIDI settings like:
Timebase (set on 192), Message filters and Channel filters (all off).
There are also some Synchronization settings like:
Frames per Second (24; 25; 30 Drop; 30 Non-Drop) (set on 25)
Receive (MIDI Clock / Chase Clock; MIDI Timecode / SMPTE) (set on MIDI Clock)
Send (MIDI Clock; MIDI Timecode) (set on MIDI Clock)
But I do not think changing these settings fixes the problem.

Furthermore I also downloaded the program MIDI-OX, where you can test your connection and monitor your input and output. As I said before I have no problem with the output except for certain functions, but that is probably due to the limitations of the Keyboard. But when I press the keys on the Keyboard there is no input whatsoever.

I also read on the internet that it could be a problem in the cable, but I very doubt that as it is a brand new cable. But I have no similar cable to verify that. Also some said a USB cable is better, but I do not know if the Panasonic Keyboard supports that.

Been trying two days now to get the connection to work, but without any luck. Has someone had a similar problem and solved it? Could it be that the Keyboard or Cable is defective? Is it the software I am using, or do I need special drivers? Or is it just that the Keyboard does not support these functions, which if so I find very strange?
I have five days left in order to return the Keyboard and order a different one, so I hope I hear from someone soon.

Best regards,


Bob.


Keyboard Panasonic SX-KC211 Specifications:

http://www.panasonic.com/consumer_electronics/panasonic_musical/default.asp

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