Since a system restart, Dorico no longer recognizes my MIDI keyboard. Sort of.
The keyboard is listed in Preferences–Play–MIDI Input Devices, and the device is checked. But when I play, there’s no green dot, and note input doesn’t work.
My DAW is recognizing my keyboard, so I’m stumped. This is the same keyboard and same computer I’ve been using successfully for several years.
Any ideas? Cross-posting to FB because it’s work time and I need a solution!
Edit: same keyboard, same USB cable, different computer - MIDI works in Dorico.
Some stuff (Cough, Cough, AKAI) just uses really old reference Microsoft drivers for USB>MIDI. They didn’t go in and make them ‘multi-client’ friendly so multiple apps can use it at the same time.
I ‘suspect’ your DAW grabbed the interface FIRST, so now Dorico can’t get to it. Had you run Dorico ‘first’, then the opposite would be true. Dorico would get the events, and your DAW would not.
There are solutions.
One is to simply set up a Virtual port. Launch your DAW First, and arm an empty MIDI track out of the way somewhere that simply takes any of your keyboard input and sends it out that virtual port.
Now Dorico can pick it up off the Virtual port.
Another option is to use something like Bome Translator Classic AND a Virtual Port. Launch Bome First (It has lots of interesting features for making your keyboard a little ‘smarter’). Divert the output of the keyboard into Bome, and then from Bome into a virtual port, and then ALL of your clients can get the messages from the ‘virtual port’.
Are you on Windows or Mac?
If Windows, I recommend loopMIDI for setting up virtual ports. It’s multi-client friendly, secure, and easy to add or remove as many ports as you like, and name them anything you like.
If you are on a Mac (somehow I doubt it, as that wouldn’t be likely use those old exclusive mode MS reference drivers I was ranting about), there are OS utilities for creating virtual MIDI ports. For Macs, it might even be possible to set up a loop-back without the need for Bome?
Thing is, I do always have this conflict… but here, I was Dorico-only, normal workflow, hadn’t used the DAW in days (and many hours of successful Dorico use since then). When I saw Dorico wasn’t seeing my MIDI, I closed it completely, then opened the DAW… MIDI input works. So it wasn’t a conflict caused by simultaneous programs receiving MIDI data.
Hmm, if you can’t reboot at the moment, sometimes it works to unplug the USB, plug it back in, maybe in a different port even.
Come to think of it I’ve had MIDI just ‘stop working’ at times as well with Dorico 4 in the picture. I didn’t think much of it because I do lots of ‘weird and unconventional things’ with my rig, so I rarely blame a host like Dorico until I’ve uninstalled a dozen things and run it ‘clean’ for a while.
I run MPK2 > Bidule > loopMIDI…it got hung…disconnected it in Bidule, cold booted the MPK2, reconnected in Bidule, and was lucky to get it back without shutting down all my projects.
I recall it happening ONCE when I was in no mood to restart everything and I got ‘lucky’ I guess.
My setup is similar to what @Brian_Roland described above. I used loopMIDI to set up quite a few virtual ports, then Bome to route the signal to multiple MIDI ports at once. All of the following can receive the MIDI signal simultaneously:
MIDI-OX is a freeware MIDI router. It’s ancient but was still working in Win10 when I last had checked. You could give it a try. Another thing to check is make sure your sound devices aren’t running in exclusive mode. In Win11 this is in Settings/System/Sound then scroll down to “More sound settings.” Select your active device, hit Properties then the Advanced tab. Make sure “Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device” is not checked.
One other thing that sprang into my mind. Is your project actually activated? In the top right area of the project window is left to the bar/beat/time display a “power” button, is that active with you?
Yes, indeed, that was going to be my next suggestion. If the project isn’t activated for playback, Dorico will receive no MIDI input: MIDI input is handled by the audio engine and if the audio engine isn’t connected to a project, then no MIDI will make it through.
@Martin_Reyna_Zuniga , first please check in the Dorico Preferences dialog.
Select the Play tab and scroll half way down to the ‘Recording’ section, there is the option ‘Enable MIDI Input’. Is that one ticked with you?
If so, then please do Help > Create Diagnostics Report and post the corresponding zip file here.
Also, please tell what is the MIDI input device(s) you are using.
Thanks
Thank you very much for the attention, my midi keyboard is an axiom pro 49, today I checked the configuration of the keyboard itself, nothing in dorico, and I noticed that the midi output was different, I had selected keyboard instead of USB, this is in the global keyboard configuration, I definitely did not change that configuration, at least not intentionally, on the other hand it is a very specific configuration and not very direct access.
Now everything works, before I made that setting my privia px-5S keyboard and my Komplete m keyboard don’t worked. They only worked when I disconnected my axiom pro. But now everything works correctly
Thanks Ulf, I was sure I had done this back and forth several times, but it’s entirely possible it was user error! And that would be the preferable solution…
In my case, I solved this by going to Edit > Preferences > Play > Midi Input Devices. I unselect the keyboard, click Apply, then select it, and click Apply. Maybe this will help someone.
