Hooking MIDI Keyboards Together

[adamdiehl]

I'm familiar with what MIDI does with keyboards, but I'm not familiar with HOW to do it. I figured that when the need to use MIDI arose, I would learn how to do it. Well, the need just arose.

Keyboard 1 is a great keyboard with great patches. Keyboard 2 is a decent keyboard with stinky patches. I want Keyboard 1 to be played as usual, playing a Strings patch found on itself.... AND AT THE SAME TIME someone else plays Keyboard 2, but uses a Brass patch found on Keyboard 1. Can I control two different sounds from one keyboard?? How? I've never set up anything MIDI before... I've only used it after someone else set it up.

I prefer solutions that DON'T include a laptop (I don't have any software, or a MIDI interface to work with a laptop at the moment... and this MIDI setup is for March 27, so I don't have time to get it).

In case anyone cares.....
Keyboard 1= Kurzweil PC1x
Keyboard 2= Kurzweil SP76 OR a Yamaha PSR series keyboard, slightly better than something like a Casio or Radio Shack keyboard... but its got the MIDI interface (which keyboard I use for Keyboard 2 will depend on whether my player would like weighted or synth action keys.)

[Elec R. Winner]

I don't think what you want to happen is possible.
The way I see it, you want to be able to play keyboard 1 while using a second keyboard to play the sounds off keyboard one. This isn't possible. You can only use a keyboard for one thing at a time. What MIDI allows you to do is utilize several synths with one controller (keyboard) For instance, you could have your PC76 hooked up with MIDI to a korg triton rackmount synth and an Alesis D4 rack and a bunch of other synthesizer modules, then play the pc76 and have it control the triton sounds. If you're happy playing the pc76, but want more sounds you can buy more rackmount synths. To make it make sense to me, I have to think of it like each "brain" can only do one thing at a time. You can't use two seperate patches off any given synth at the same time, even if you have two controllers. hope this helps, MIDI is confusing as heck to me and I studied it in school for two semesters.

[adamdiehl]

Yea I was affraid of that. I'll think of something else! Thanks!

Without having time to look up the specs on keyboard one, it MAY be possible. It is definitely possible with the right equipment. In order for it to work:

1) Keyboard one must have "patches" that will let you assign different sounds to different MIDI channels (so you would set up MIDI channel one to the strings for keyboard 1 and then set up MIDI channel 2 to brass).

2) Keyboard two must be able to send out its MIDI signals on channel two, to access the brass sound on keyboard two -- MIDI channel 2. Make sense?

It can get complicated. You really need someone very familiar with MIDI to see if your equipment can do it; but it is possible if the keyboards are programmable this way. MIDI is my specialty