Introduction to Computer Music: Volume One

Troubleshooting MIDI recording

After recording, nothing plays back.
This is by far the most common sequencing problem, which unfortunately can be caused by dozens of factors. Use the following checklist for several more common causes.

• Confirm that your keyboard is communicating with Performer using the steps above. After recording a few measures of notes, check to see if any of the 'phrase' boxes in Performer's Tracks window have appeared (as they should if information is getting through). If not, check all MIDI connections, interface (is it turned on and switched to pass MIDI data?). Some MIDI keyboards can be set to not transmit any MIDI data--be certain the keyboard is transmitting on CH 1-16.
• If you have confirmed that Performer is recording data, next check to see if the instrument is receiving it. Play back your sequence and observe any MIDI indicator lights on the front of the instrument or see if it has a MIDI monitor. If you believe no information is making it to the instrument, check the following:

• Are the Performer tracks PLAY-ENABLED. The sideways arrow in the PLAY column should be selected.
• Are the tracks being sent to the correct instrument? Double-check the DEVICE assignment. It should read K2000R-1 through K2000R-16.
• The K2000 will remember controller information from previous users, even if it has been turned off! If a previous user ended with low volume data, you may not hear the program. Press the PANIC soft button on the K2000 front panel to reset all controller data, including volume and pan.
• You may have selected an empty program location on the instrument, or if it is a sampler, the samples may not be loaded, even if the patch names appear.

When I record, I don't hear the correct program.

• Check the MIDI Patch Thru window located under the Studio menu. It should be checked and set to "Auto Channelize." This means it will remap a MIDI message to the correct MIDI channel when a track is record-enabled.
• Confirm that OMNI mode is off for all MIDI Channels on the instrument.

When I record, I hear two or more timbres at once.

• With the Patch Thru set to autochannelize, you may be triggering notes on your keyboard's MIDI Transmit channel as well as the remapped channel.
  Solutions:(1) Turn LOCAL OFF on your MIDI keyboard (see manual for instructions). (2) Set your keyboard to transmit on MIDI Channel 16, then set the instrument's Ch16 patch to none or Program 0 (3) Ignore the extra timbre--you won't hear it when playing back the sequence. For the CECM studios, see Using a PC88 with a KxxxR webpage.
• Confirm that OMNI mode is off for all MIDI Channels on the instrument.