# Hi everyone, a quick LPX question..



## Harris643 (Feb 18, 2022)

Hi all,
After several years (decades) of "lurking" I have decided to jump in to see if the waters "luvverly" or it's actually shark infested custard! - I suppose i will soon see!

Over the last 5 years i have been building up a small midi project studio, with four "vintage digital" 19 rack units and a small but fairly pricey clutch of tasty orchestral sample libraries. 

Thing is I porbably committed the cardinal sin of updating to the latest version of LPX with out properly consulting the doom mongers and naysayers - dumb I know but here we are...

Anyways my problem (music tech at least!!)is that LPX has decided it doesn't want to talk to my sound modules anymore - its not device specific as i have tried more than one. I also presumably would need to give you a heads up of the gear involved. Computer wise its a refurb 2020 imac i9 10 core running LPX 10.7.2. 64 Gig Ram

I also have been using the "midi environment" window as a work around foor remotely accessing the internal sounds from within the modules - info i believed I got on a forum like this one - so grateful for that.

Cheers

H


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## Living Fossil (Feb 18, 2022)

If you would also mention the used midi interface, it would probably be easier to help you.


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## Harris643 (Feb 18, 2022)

MOTU microlite - like me its old!

H


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## Harris643 (Feb 18, 2022)

Additionally there seems to be a couple of new things to select within the external instruments plug in and I wondered if these would play a part in this? e.g. midi in channel and midi out channel?
(I think that the midi in and out ports were there already). If I have got that the wrong way round then apologies

Everything else within the setup seems to work as before and this is the only visible differrence which i can see in the updated version.

H


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## Living Fossil (Feb 18, 2022)

Usually midi gear has a light that reacts if there is some midi data incoming.
Check first if the midi data is sent, and if yes, check if you're sending on the right midi channel.


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## Harris643 (Feb 18, 2022)

Thanks for that. 
I have checked the units and there is no midi signal. I will quickly run through the diagnostics which I have tried so far. I suppose all this is from my perspective that "it was working - now it isn't" which perhaps can be limiting in scope!

I have midi channels assigned and don't change this so it's easy to identify units within the external inst plug in. (inspector window)

I checked the audio midi setup and nothings "grayed out" so ok there I think. I also tried unplugging the usb cable into the usb hub and LPX reacted with the appropriate alerts so it appears that LPX doesn't "see" the lack of midi as an issue.

Anyway as a newcomer to VI forums I need to say that I appreciate this help and information.

H


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## Living Fossil (Feb 18, 2022)

The microlite site states the following:

_
The micro lite provides 5 MIDI IN, 5 MIDI OUT, 80 MIDI channels and compatibility with all Mac and Windows software. Large front-panel LEDs illuminate to indicate MIDI activity._

So it should be easy to check if you're sending the midi data on the right ports.


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## Harris643 (Feb 18, 2022)

Hi,
I would normally see the correct numbers light up to confirm that the data is being sent on the right ports, so at the moment I don't think that the issue lies with the midi interface, unless you think that there is something that might be worth investigating here. The microlite icon in the midi/audio setup window is not grayed out so it seems to be being recognised by the mac as fas as I understand.

Just to update this thread - at this moment I need to leave and do other things unfortunately - what is the correct etiquette for respectfully leavng a thread that one has started, and more importantly for me does the thread stay "active" after this for others to contribute to if they have something to add?

Any further suggestions Re any of the above are appreciated

H


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## Kent (Feb 18, 2022)

@Harris643 

In this situation, it's pretty unlikely that updating Logic really broke anything here—worst-case scenario is that something in your project or Audio/MIDI settings has become corrupted.

Here are two things to get you started:

1. https://www.snoize.com/midimonitor/
This utility will help you see what MIDI activity is going on in your system.

2. Go to Audio MIDI Setup and press ⌘2. This will bring up your MIDI Studio, which is what your computer thinks is connected to itself and how. Logic draws its port connections from what you've set up here.

After verifying that everything is correct in 2 and that Logic is sending correctly via 1, then you can think about next steps.

If either 1 or 2 is not working as expected, then you can narrow down your problem pretty quickly.


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## Living Fossil (Feb 18, 2022)

Harris643 said:


> Hi,
> I would normally see the correct numbers light up to confirm that the data is being sent on the right ports, so at the moment I don't think that the issue lies with the midi interface, unless you think that there is something that might be worth investigating here. The microlite icon in the midi/audio setup window is not grayed out so it seems to be being recognised by the mac as fas as I understand.


You should watch the lights to control if your connection is set up properly.


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## Harris643 (Feb 19, 2022)

Hi,
Thanks for the advice RE Midi monitor. I have downloaded it and tried to monitor any activity between the MOTU and the mac.
Interestingly I have just tried using the midi environment window with the "multi instrument" to change the internal patches on one of the external synths. This is working as normal - the midi light on the unit (JD990) illuminates and the patch within it changes as directed.

I have just had a peek at midi monitor, and had it open while selecting "program change" from the LPX midi environment window, but nothing showed up within midi monitor - as far as i could tell.

I have also been checking the "midi studio" within the audio midi setup utility as well, and running midi scans etc. but nothing is showing as abnormal.

The only thing seemingly missing is that the synths themselves don't play!

Also the midi port number on the MOTU is not lighting up, but I wasn't sure whether those were totally dependable anyway ?

The unit is quite old but has been perferctly dependable so far.

One more long shot is that I recently decided to try a years subscription to EW on one of their offers - I have no idea whether downloading anything like that would hi-jack the external instruments plug in?!

Any further suggestions gratefully appreciated

H


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## Harris643 (Feb 19, 2022)

Hi,
A couple more diagnostics which I have just tried are downloading updated MOTU drivers (didn't know it might need those) for OSX 11 and 12, and also tried the "test midi setup" function in the midi studio window of the audio midi setup utility, and by selecting the virtual "out" connector to the JD990 and clicking it, I seemed to be able to play random test notes on the unit which were coming through the headphones.

So things seem to be definitely communicating...

H


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## Harris643 (Feb 20, 2022)

Further updates..

Hi, Just to add further info and to respond to one of Kents points - I came across this video explaining that certain midi drivers (in this case logitech) can cause a conflict within the MOTU device.



Also I tried creating a completely new configuration, basically replicating the old setup. Then i deleted the old setup. I have also deleted existing drivers and re-installed the new ones.

I am still at the same point of standstill with getting the synths to respond.

The programme chabges still happen and the "test midi setup" function still works.

H


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## Kent (Feb 20, 2022)

@Harris643 can you take a video of your Logic Environment + MIDI Monitor + Audio MIDI Setup so we can see what's going on?


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## Harris643 (Feb 20, 2022)

Hi Kent,
I'm not sure that i am tech savvy enough to take videos but I can certainly send you screenshots?














BTW I contacted apple support, and they asked me to create a "support profile" which I have passed on to them - that was on Friday afternoon so whatever feedback they can give I will pass on to this thread

Further to your advice about audio midi setup possibly becoming corrupted, I found these helpful pointers on the MOTU website...






I have worked through the list and actioned all four suggested points but still no dice.

However during the reconfiguring of the "midi studio" and after deleting the actual Microlite icon, all the channels and port numbers suddenly lit up on the front of the Microlite. Up until this point only the power light was visible. I was hoping that this meant that I could reconnect all four synths to the microlite ad try again but - no dice.

I do feel that i am close but if you want to wait for the engineers report I certainly don't want to waste any more of your time !

Here is the "Midi Studio" page









I also tried plugging my Wavestate directly into the powered hub via usb and it accessed the "external instruments" plug-in as normal, so all signs still point to the MOTU.

One other salient point is that I have updated to LPX 10.7.2, but I am still on OSX 11.1 Big Sur - I am not sure whether this is also a factor?

RE Midi Monitor, I started it up and all I saw was constantly streaming data from my Fantom internal clock - so I filtered that out which resulted in no further data being created. Any pointers on how to use this in order to run more successful diagnositics would be very much appreciated

Thanks again for the help so far offered

H


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## Kent (Feb 21, 2022)

Harris643 said:


> Hi Kent,
> I'm not sure that i am tech savvy enough to take videos but I can certainly send you screenshots?
> 
> 
> ...


do you know how to test in MIDI Studio? I'll show you in my setup, which is reasonably similar to yours:

1. Select the rectangle of your MIDI interface such that it is highlighted. 
2. Activate the 'Test MIDI Setup' button.
3. Click the MIDI Out from the interface to a given external MIDI device.
4. When doing so, visually check the MIDI interface and that external MIDI device. Are you seeing things light up/activate?


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## Harris643 (Feb 21, 2022)

Kent said:


> do you know how to test in MIDI Studio? I'll show you in my setup, which is reasonably similar to yours:
> 
> 1. Select the rectangle of your MIDI interface such that it is highlighted.
> 2. Activate the 'Test MIDI Setup' button.
> ...


Hi,
Yes I can test the midi setup and indeed get a random "test tone" from the JD990 so the midi is being transmitted ok. The only missing piece as far as I can see is that when I play the midi controller there is no midi signal sent. I know that the midi controller (Fantom X8) is ok because I can still use it with all the sound libraries and other kontakt instruments within LPX.

H


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## Kent (Feb 21, 2022)

Harris643 said:


> Hi,
> Yes I can test the midi setup and indeed get a random "test tone" from the JD990 so the midi is being transmitted ok. The only missing piece as far as I can see is that when I play the midi controller there is no midi signal sent. I know that the midi controller (Fantom X8) is ok because I can still use it with all the sound libraries and other kontakt instruments within LPX.
> 
> H


Are you able to see the MIDI input from your controller in Logic's LCD Display? In MIDI Monitor?


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## Harris643 (Feb 22, 2022)

Issue Resolved 

Hi Kent,
It looks as though I have managed to resolve the issue - I have tried two external synths and they are responding as they should. It looks as though (like many tech issues!) it was down to a lack of basic oversight on my part - I tried deleting and re-installing updated drivers for the MOTU, but apparently it only works if you unplug the USB cable to the unit during this proces and then plug it back in.

After doing that when I got home from work today, things started to return to normal.

I will keep this thread open for the moment, as I am not as naive as to believe that something else might not crop up, but fingers crossed for the moment that things are fully functioning.

Thank you for your most helpful input, and I hope that this thread might prove useful to someone else further down the line.

Thanks again 

H


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