Superior Drummer/Axe-FX Simultaneous MIDI control/patch changes through Logic/Protool

[actionjackson12]

Is it possible to control Superior Drummer via electronic kit while controlling axe-fx patch changes via logic/protools simultaneously?

Current Setup:

Axe-fxII >XLR Out 1 (L&R)>Tascam USMKII XLR IN L&R
Roland electronic kit>MIDI out>Tascam USMKII MIDI In

TASCAM USMKII USB out> Macbook Pro USB> Logic (or on an IMAC desktop w/Protools)

I know how to create patch changes inside logic/protools and also how to trigger superior via electronic kit...but my question is how can I do both simultaneously since logic will only allow 1 driver/interface to operate the I/O? Certainly can't plug axe-fx in to computer via USB while another interface is plugged in...thats a no no right? What is the best interface to use for something like this? Is there some kind of multi MIDI channel interface I can get?

The other challenge is that I want to keep the setup simple...plug everyting into one ext. interface/unit and then THAT unit into the laptop. The Focusrite Scarlet 18i8 is ideal for me to hook up ax-fxII, Electronic drumkit via MIDI, additional bass guitar and lastly, ext. monitors...but that still doesn't solve my need to control patch changes on axe fx and superior on elecrtic kit simultanesouly since the Scarlet only has one MIDI I/O...

any ideas? Any suggestion on interfaces?

thanks in advance

 

[Evz]

Hopefully I can give you some insight:

Your configuration should work, as long as you make sure that the edrums are on one midi channel (sending), and logic's channel strip receives on that same channel (would have to armed to record I believe), and the axe receives on a separate channel and logic sends to that specified channel (that should be possible to do in the event editor). The Tascam should be able to handle multi-channel midi... all midi enabled devices should be able to do this (for 16 channels of midi available).

Now the main issue I can see, is that typically edrums send a lot of midi data, which may cause a problem for your Mac's midi driver when it is trying to send and receive at the same time, that is why Roland typically recommends plugging the edrums in via USB, and then setting the sound module to MIDI out only (to reduce the module's latency of loading/playing samples).

Best recommendation I can make for your proposed setup:
- In logic make sure the SD track has a dedicated Midi input channel and only receives on that channel (you can test this by setting the drum module to output on different channels, and logic should only trigger on the corresponding channel)
- Make all your Axe-controlling tracks output on a different midi channel, and set your Axe to only that channel (although, I can't recall where to do this on the Axe).

It might take some playing around with the Midi settings on logic to make it gel together, but it should work!
good luck!

 

[actionjackson12]

Thanks for the quick response! So you are suggesting I plug the axe-Fx and edrums into my laptop through USB (axe-fx into USB 1 and edrums into USB 2)? I thought that was a risk of damaging the axe-fx. (thought were not supposed to use axe-fx w/other interfaces) Or are you suggesting I plug the edrums into the Tascam MIDI in and the tascam MIDI out into my axe-fx MIDI IN so the Tascam stays as the main I/O driver in logic allowing both to be controlled? Or is that also a risk of damaging the axe-fx...I guess im not sure what the precautions are when using external interfaces w/axe-fx besides SPDIF or XLR out etc. I assume USB and MIDI connections could be the danger.

thanks again!