Attaching a MIDI-Device
Attaching a MIDI -device to a composing program differs depending on the program.
If you have never worked with MIDI before, this tutorial should be your first stop.
Some music applications automatically detect and assign MIDI -devices for you, but although Renoise
automatically detects them, currently it does not automatically assign them.
In MacOSX you even need to assign your MIDI equipment to one of your IAC busses (see further below).
You can select either the WDM edition of the MIDI driver of your soundcard, or the regular Windows driver.
The best advice is to try the WDM driver first. This is because the WDM driver is optimized for the fastest communication with external MIDI devices. If it fails then attempt to use the regular driver.
To enable your MIDI -device, go to the menu-bar, select Edit
Then select Preferences in the dropdown box.
Then, select the MIDI -Tab on the left (Next to Audio):
In the above picture, you can see three config panels:MIDI Master keyboard / Mapping (which is the most
important), MIDI Clock Master, and MIDI Clock Slave.
The second one, (MIDI Clock Master), only applies if your MIDI device has a MIDI -in
or a MIDI -through port, and your MIDI -devices can understand these clock
settings. Currently this is to control multiple MIDI -devices attached to your
MIDI -controller on your PC to make Renoise send synchronisation / clock signals to all
your MIDI -devices on the MIDI -bus and make them respond properly.
The MIDI Clock Slave setting allows a MIDI -device, to master Renoise (and
other MIDI devices on the MIDI bus if they are set slave). This is true whether you have just a
simple MIDI -Device with a MIDI -out port, or multiple MIDI -devices one of which
is set as a Master-device.
I target this purely to the MIDI -Input and Slave settings.
Though all your devices are automatically detected, they are not automatically selected.
You can select up to two devices (Device A and Device B) to which Renoise should respond.
All the other settings relate to extra options your MIDI -Device may support. If your
MIDI -keyboard has pitch-bend and modulation wheels, the relevant controllers should be selected as enabled. If your MIDI -device supports touch-sensitivity (note: aftertouch & touch-sensitivity are
not the same!), leave Record and Play Velocities enabled. If your MIDI -device has a program change
key, leave the Record and Play Program changes enabled. Noteoffs are registered when a key is released. Unless you have a specific reason, you should enable this option. A possible exception is if you have other MIDI -devices in a chain that you would rather deal with these events, instead of allowing Renoise to catch them. This goes beyond the
scope of this tutorial, I would suggest you go to the appropriate MIDI endorser for these kind of
matters.
How do you know if your MIDI devices are responding correctly?
You are advised to try the WDM driver first. If you have a Master Keyboard that only sends signals,
it might be that the WDM driver does not respond to your midi device. In that case, selecting the
regular MIDI driver should suffice.
But if you selected your device and Renoise does not seem to respond
to your (WDM) MIDI device, you should first check whether Renoise can detect it at all. Just select the
MIDI -In for your Device A. It is better to set the same
MIDI -In device as your MIDI Clock Slave.
Once set up, turn on your MIDI -Device if it is powered by an external power supply. Usually, the MIDI device sends an initial signal when it is turned on, and the Sync I/O green LED in the upper-right corner of the Renoise upper frame will flash once. If you have set the same device as your MIDI Clock Slave, it will flash at a constant rate. You know that Renoise is communicating correctly with your MIDI device(s) if you see these LEDs blinking:
The green MIDI I/O led starts to blink once you hit a key on your external MIDI -device.
The red LEDs will flash when output signals are sent by Renoise.
Currently, this is all there is to attaching your MIDI -device(s) to Renoise. If you have
selected the proper MIDI -in device, and your external MIDI -device is properly attached to
your MIDI -In device, but it still does not operate, consult the manual of your external
MIDI device for further troubleshooting, or try to seek help at the Renoise forums.
Setting up MIDI in Mac OSX
You need to configure your midi controllers on a Mac, as you would need to set up your audio devices.
This is handled in the same configuration area you set your audio hardware up in, but in a different tab.
If you click on the IAC Driver icon, you should get the following display:
If you click upon the arrow next to More information, the window will expand and you will see more properties.
You can add a new port / bus and assign the midi-in and -out channel connectors for it.
If you plug in your external device, you can attach it to the in-connector of the new device.
