MIDI connection to FL Studio problem

[Jordy2136]

First time posting here. A few weeks ago my MiniBrute arrived & i couldn't be more happy with it. However just today i finally picked up a midi/usb cable so i can actually make some stuff. I followed the instruction on the little manual for the midi cable, plugged it in, driver apparently installed correctly, followed all the instructions to hook up a midi controller on the Image Line website BUT it seems Fruity Loops or even Audacity will not pick up anything. I've tried changing the sound driver to ASIO4ALL but that just leads to no sound output at all. I've tried muting & unmuting sounds through the windows volume setting. Nope. It's just weird because it seems i've followed everything correctly but i'm having no luck getting any sound or recognizable controls. My operating system is Windows XP & i'm using Fruity Loops Studio 10 if that helps.

[Jordy2136]

OH. I forgot to mention the firmware updates aren't picking up the MiniBrute either. Here's a couple of images from earlier today of my current setup
http://s16.postimg.org/qb2s03i9x/IMG_0117_1.jpg
http://s21.postimg.org/bgsgsf77r/image.png

[Quinthius]

One thing just to be clear on (I wasn't totally sure from the way you worded your post), but MIDI does not transmit actual audio signal, so you will need to make sure the AUDIO OUT from your MiniBrute is also hooked up to some kind of audio interface, monitor speakers, etc.  Play it manually with the MiniBrute's keyboard just to make sure you can hear sound and there are no problems there.  Then leave that in place, don't change anything, and move on to addressing the MIDI control.

Also this may sound "obvious" but make sure the MIDI OUT from your USB/MIDI interface is connected to the MIDI IN of your MiniBrute.  To simply things for now, I would leave the MiniBrute's MIDI OUT disconnected (and corresponding MIDI IN to the USB/MIDI interface), since it is not critical at this point for the MiniBrute to SEND MIDI data to the computer, first you want to make sure your computer can send data to the MB and trigger some sounds.

Assuming all of that is hooked up correctly, not sure if I have any other suggestions.  Do you have any other MIDI-capable devices you can test with?  I know with some of those "cheap" USB MIDI devices there can often be problems (I say "cheap", but I paid $50-60 for one and it did not work properly, dropped notes, left notes hanging, etc.)   If there is any way at all you can test with other devices to see if maybe there is an issue with the USB MIDI adapter itself, that would be something to check.

ALSO, EVEN MORE IMPORTANT, IN CASE YOU DON'T KNOW --  If you are just hooking your MiniBrute up to computer and not integrating other MIDI devices, you really don't need a MIDI adapter at all.  The MiniBrute's USB port does this already.  It carries MIDI data and registers in Windows as MIDI IN and OUT devices.  If you just hook the USB up from MiniBrute to computer (exit FL Studio first), give it a couple minutes to install and settle down... then you should be good to go.  Load up FL Studio and you should see MiniBrute in your devices.

[Jordy2136]

Yeah it plays fine just through my logitech computer speakers (half assed setup for the time being, using my bass guitar lead & two jack converters haha). It just won't play sound/even recognize it through any programs. And yeah the MIDI in/out is connected correctly. Now that you mention it, it could even just be the cheap cable i picked up for like $8 on ebay :/ i'm really tight at the moment because i'm surviving off my last pay cheque for a while. I noticed that white input, looks sort of like fire wire or something right? Where can i grab one of those?? Would be super handy & hopefully fix this problem. Thanks.

[Jordy2136]

Alright i managed to find one of those usb cables lying around my house & it's working fine
Just gonna put it down to the poor quality of the midi cable. Thank you a bunch for your help. But now just to be clear, i actually can't do anything with the knobs now that it's hooked up can i?

[Quinthius]

Cool, glad you got it working!!

You can use the knobs just as you normally would.  For example you can set up a MIDI sequence (or even a full song's worth of sequenced notes... or endless loops... whatever you want), then as it plays the notes, you can keep tweaking the sound in realtime with the knobs.

The main thing to be aware of is that none of the knobs transmit MIDI data to the computer (and vice versa, you can't control any of the knob settings from the computer).  I'm assuming that's why you're asking and maybe didn't understand.  You can still USE the knobs in realtime, manually, even if the synth is being controlled by MIDI for notes.  You just can't "record" your knob movements into the computer and have them automated by the computer.

However, I believe the MOD wheel, Bend wheel, and Aftertouch settings are transmittable via MIDI, so I assume in a roundabout way you can have control over any of the components that are assignable by those controls... so Cutoff, LFO amount, and Vibrato... and I guess any combination of the three since you could access Mod Wheel and Aftertouch at the same time.

OK, rambling a bit   Basically none of the other knobs on the synth can be automated or recorded via MIDI, but you can tweak them all you want manually even while using another source to play the notes (i.e. sending a note sequence from FL Studio, then tweaking the sound while that plays)

[Quinthius]

oops, by "any combination of the three" I guess that should be any combination of 2 out of the three available... i.e. set After touch to Cutoff, Mod Wheel to LFO amount.. then  theoretically you could control those two components via MIDI automation by sending CC messages for mod wheel and aftertouch.  I have not tried this yet, though.