keyboard usage?

[bachrodi]

is there a way to use my comp keys, to interact with the keyboard on the program?  i dont have a midi keyboard...and clicking each note is annoying.

thanks

bachrodi

[Meffy]

Hi, bachrodi. I Googled for "Virtual MIDI keyboard" and among many other items came up with this:

http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Campus/6501/vmk_man_main_window.htm

It's an on-screen keyboard that you can mouse on or play using the computer keys (about two and a half octaves out of four, anyhow). Haven't tried it myself, but if it doesn't work for you just try the same search and see what you come up with. Good luck!

Meffy

[Anonymous]

So has anyone got this to work?  I can play the MIDI keyboard but I can only get the VMK sounds... how do you play MMV via the keyboard?

[Meffy]

I don't think the VMK has any sounds of its own, so you're probably hearing your sound card's built-in MIDI synth.

VMK's online manual suggests using Hubi's Loopback Device to connect it to soft synths:

  www.hitsquad.com/smm/programs/Hubis_LoopBack_device/

If you use WinXP you'll want to try MIDI-OX or MIDI Yoke instead:

  www.midiox.com

Give the VMK manual a good read-through; it's brief but hits just about everything you'd want to know (including which keys play what notes). To see it, click the "Info" button on the VMK, then click the "Manual" button on the info dialog box.

Meffy

[dzy88p]

Well, I have VMK and I have MIDI OX, but I can't figure out how to get the VMK keyboard to trigger MMV.

I think it would be really handy to have so that when I am moving cables around on the Page Synth screen, I can hit a key to test the sound without having to switch over to the SEQ/FX screen.

[Meffy]

Fair enough -- and that is a sensible use for such a thing.

Might be better to try some other program. This just happened to come up first in my Google search; I don't have a use for such a critter m'self, so can't really tell you what's good and what's a goat.

Could be that a search of Tucows or a similar software index will turn up just what you need. Sounds like the kind of utility a lot of people would like to have -- not terribly good for a real performance but good enough to mess around with.

Better still would be to get a compact entry-level MIDI keyboard, such as the Evolution MK-225C or the Oxygen 8. Each has two octaves of cheap but perfectly usable keys, eight assignable MIDI controller knobs, pitch-bend and (essential!) mod wheel, plus assorted other gizzies.

I like the Evo slightly better; YMMV. When I bought mine street prices were around US$120 for Evo, $130 for Oxy. Either one will take up slightly more desk space than a PC keyboard, and be several times as thick. Well worth the money, even if you have to save up for a bit.

If money is a problem you could look for used MIDI keyboards. You can probably get an old Yamaha PSR or something similar for almost nothing; look around on ebay and read up on models that are selling cheaply to be sure they have the features you need. Leave volume at zero -- voila, bargain MIDI controller. (This can be refined but it'll get you started.)

Best of luck!

Meffy

[dzy88p]

Okay, I had to download MIDI YOKE and install the driver.  Now I can play the MMV from my computer keyboard, but I have to have MIDI OX open and clicked on it to hear a sound.  So that means I can click on MMV, make a change, click on MIDI OX and hit a key and listen.  It is far quicker than scrolling all over the place to get to MMV's keyboard.  Drawback is that occasionally notes get stuck and I have to hit the Panic Reset.

I hope that Arturia will make an upgrade that would allow MMV to simply play from the computer keyboard.  That would be ultimate!