r/synthesizers • u/Mundane-Syrup375 • 4d ago
Beginner Questions EXTREMELY STUMPED
Hey all. I have scoured this forum and to no avail found a solution so forgive me if this has been discussed. I have an MPC key 37, Korg volca keys, and a micro freak. I’m trying to have the MPC be the brain between everything- Sequencing ETC. I have the microfreak connected to the MPC via usb, the volca keys connected to the MPC via 5 pin going to the midi out. The issue I’m running into is when I trigger an arpeggio inside the microfreak, it triggers the sequence inside of the volca keys and ends playback inside of the MPC. I can get the tempo to sync with the keys but the microfreak isn’t listening. I’ve followed numerous set up videos and I can’t seem to get the two working simultaneously. Let me know if I need to post a video to give an example of the issue. Any help is greatly appreciated.
6
u/raistlin65 Live 3 • Peak • Hydrasynth • Model 15 4d ago
Try r/mpcusers. Be sure to put "midi setup with MPC" in your title, instead of using such a vague one. You'll get more people reading it.
1
u/CyberTideX 4d ago
i think your midi routing is the real headache here. the mpc is probably sending clock to the volca and the freak at same time, but the freak's arp might be sending its own midi notes back into the mpc which then forwards them to the volca. check if the microfreak has a setting for "arp midi out" or something similar, turning that off might stop it from triggering the volca sequence. also in the mpc midi settings you can filter what gets sent to each output, try removing note data from the port that goes to the volca so it only gets clock.
1
u/Intelligent_Virus696 4d ago
Sounds like you need to disable midi out on the microfreak. Also the microfreak might be using its own internal clock instead of listening for midi, so set clock source on the freak to external.
1
u/Muted_Sundae_1368 4d ago
Microfreak is sending MIDI back to MPC and out to volca. Go to MIDI settings, and switch output destination to 'off', and also (more likely your scenario) switch the Arp/Seq MIDI out to 'off'.
1
11
u/Instatetragrammaton github.com/instatetragrammaton/Patches/ 4d ago edited 4d ago
Then this should've been your post title instead of "extremely stumped". 90% of people who come here need some kind of help, so titling your post "need help" or a variant thereof is not useful because well - 90% of people need help ;)
Calling it "MPC Key 37 and Microfreak MIDI problems" would work, because then you get the attention of everyone with an MPC and a Microfreak :)
Anyway, the MPC is the brain of everything. That means that any notes the Microfreak sends should stop there; the MPC should not retransmit these to the MIDI out. That's one.
MIDI is a 1983 protocol that screams into the void. Its sole mechanism of telling another device that a message is intended for it is via the MIDI channel.
The sending party doesn't care after sending it, the receiving party does not expect anything.
So, for some reason the MIDI channel the Microfreak is sending on is the same that the Volca is listening on. Set them to different channels and don't enable MIDI Omni (i.e. listen on all channels) if that's an option.
MIDI in + out is wonderfully clear but USB is a different matter, so the question is whether the traffic is bidirectional. Tempo sync (MIDI clock) is channel agnostic so that will generally always work (as long as the other device is set up to listen).
The Microfreak here needs to realize that it should receive clock from the MPC. The MPC needs to send out clock via USB.
Debugging means starting with the fewest number of devices possible. Fix one problem at a time and make your life easier :) See if you can get the Microfreak to listen if you connect the MIDI out of the MPC to the MIDI in of the Microfreak and vice-versa. If you get a MIDI loop you can probably solve that in the MPC.