Cubase 6 MIDI as master sending to Roland R-70

Cubase
1

Hello. I have some grasp of MIDI but I am trying to do something specific I have never done before.

I have a MIDI drum track in Cubase 6 (Windows 7 64 bit). Currently I am using Groove Agent One for the sounds. But I want to use those MIDI notes to trigger the sounds inside my Roland R-70 Ryhthm composer instead.

What settings do I need to make on the Cubase side to send the MIDI notes from my MIDI track to the R-70?

I am using a MIDISPORT UNO as my Midi interface. I have MIDI-OX on my PC also.

Thanks in advance.

P.S.- I know I could sample my R-70 sounds into GAOne but I do not wish to do that for this project. I specifically need the sounds to be generated by the R-70.

2

You need to set the correct MIDI Output on the sending track.

3

Yep, it’s as easy as changing the midi output of the track from Groove Agent ONE to the Midisport. (I suppose you have the R-70 hooked up to the midisport already.)

4

Thanks. I had done that already. Changed the output from GAOne to the Midisport.

Should I be seeing the MIDI activity from Cubase in my MIDI-OX program? I would think so.

Note that I have another project with some MIDI keyboard. That keyboard track is getting through to the R-70, as I hear a few random notes being generated. Though no activity is showing in MIDI-OX.

I tried making sure the output settings on the Drum midi track were the same as the keyboard track but no luck.

5

I don’t know what MIDI-OX is, but you shouldn’t need it. If your midisport is installed properly it’s really just as easy as selecting the right output in cubase and the drumkit should receive midi.

6

MIDI-OX is a utility for the PC that allows you to see the MIDI data being generated. It helps to ensure that the MIDI notes are actually getting sent or received. And you can confirm the channels, etc.

Here is more info I have after experimenting.

The original drum MIDI was sent to me by a co-author of this song. I imported it into my Cubase project and then manipulated the MIDI and changed some things.

I decided to play the original MIDI file from within MIDI-OX and BAM, the signal got through to the R-70.

So I exported my MIDI from Cubase to a MIDI file and tried the same thing. But no luck. The file plays but sends no signals.

I then took the MIDI file I had exported and imported it into a new Cubase project. The MIDI data is there, I can see it.

Here is the rub. When I initially brought my MIDI file into a new project, I forgot to assign a drum map. When I hit PLAY, the MIDI data did get through to the R-70. When I changed it to use a drum map, the signals stop getting though.

So could this somehow be a drum map issue?

7

Quite possibly. Have you tried simply removing the Drum Map again?

8

Yes I did. Roland tech support emailed me to say that the MIDI notes assigned inside the R-70 are static (cannot be changed). I also see that they appear to differ from the notes assigned in a normal Drum MIDI mapping.

So I created a new map and am having some success. I am testing with a single MIDI note, for my kick drum. The SOLID KICK in this case. The MIDI is reaching the R-70, and a sound is triggering. Just not the drum I expected to trigger.

This even though I am using MIDI-OX to confirm the Note # the R-70 is generating. I was assuming that outgoing R-70 note # assigned to the SOLID KICK would be the same as the incoming, but I see from the MIDI DRUM SETUP section of the R-70 that this isn’t necessarily the case.

It’s confusing but I seem to be getting there at least.

Roland said the notes are static and cannot be changed, yet in the MIDI DRUM SETUP section, it does seem possible to change the notes for each sound.