How do I hook up a midi pad controller?

Tchapman96 wrote on 1/20/2015, 10:43 AM

I have an AKAI MPD18 and I have downloaded the software for it and set it up on magix. The problem is I bought the pad to use as a drum pad but it won't play the drumpad sounds that came with the instrument just the sound already programmed in magix. Is there a way to program the sounds off the instrument. I have read a forum about keyboards having an audio jack that will do this but the pad controller only has one jack which is the USB.

Comments

browj2 wrote on 1/20/2015, 11:32 AM

Hi,

In Program settings (P), under Audio/Midi tab, under Output device, select the Akai. Record some midi using the pad controller. When you play it back, the sound should come from the pad. At least that is how I do it with my keyboard. The sound is played back using the keyboard speakers.

Let us know what happens.

Tchapman96 wrote on 1/21/2015, 10:40 AM

Hi,

In Program settings (P), under Audio/Midi tab, under Output device, select the Akai. Record some midi using the pad controller. When you play it back, the sound should come from the pad. At least that is how I do it with my keyboard. The sound is played back using the keyboard speakers.

Let us know what happens.

What i'm understanding is record with the pad and when i hear it in realtime it would sound like magix sounds but when i playback it will be from my pad?

I tried it the way i explained with no luck, if you mean a diferent way please let me know so i can really understand what you mean

browj2 wrote on 1/21/2015, 11:21 AM

Hi,

In your initial post you said that "it won't play the drumpad sounds that came with the instrument" so I was assuming that the pad had its own sounds and that you could play them through an external speaker or amplifier. Looking at the documentation, I don't see that it has its "own" sounds. The sounds are made by a program, like MMM, that uses the pad for midi input. Midi input is just a signal. The pads are mapped to keyboard notes, and when you hit a pad, it sends a message to play the corresponding note (or records it) in MMM. In MMM, if the instrument selected is a piano, then hitting the pad will play the mapped note on the piano. If the instrument is a drum set, MMM will play the corresponding drum and the sound is the one from the instrument, not the pad.

So, forget what I said about sending the sound back to the pad, it doesn't work that way. You will have to use the "Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth" for the output. My keyboard makes its own sounds and I can have it play its sounds from a midi file on the computer. Thjis is impossible with your pad.

You have 3 banks on the pad. As far as I can tell, when you switch banks, the signal sent upon hitting a pad sends a message saying that it corresponds to a different note on the keyboard, which in MMM is mapped to a different drum sound. You need to investigate how this all works. Read carefully the MMMinformation about midi and the User Guide that came with your pad. It is rather complicated. You also need to look at the instrument that you select to use with your pad and you will see that the mapping. I believe that you can load the bank into the instrument but you will have to investigate further how to do this.

As a start, try out the Drum Engine and you will see the pads. Look at what happens when you hit a pad on the screen. Look at the keyboard. What happens when you now hit a pad on the Akai? Try different drum sets.

Perhaps someone who has one of these could help out here.