Windows XP MIDI USB Setup
How to Setup your Windows MIDI Studio Using the USB
port on your MIDI keyboard or instrument.
by Ron Tongue

Setting up your Windows MIDI USB studio is very easy. I just went through the entire process start to finish and it took less than five minutes. Although Microsoft has released newer operating systems, I'm sticking with XP until they work more of the bugs out.

As of now, these instructions will work for Windows XP, I'm not sure about their newer operating systems. If you have the newer OS and these work, please let me know.

Follow the steps below to begin.

Step 1: Install the drivers to your MIDI USB keyboard or instrument.

You may want to refer to the documentation that came with your keyboard. Although each keyboard setup is slightly different, here are the steps I took using my Roland Fantom X8.

1. Download the most recent Roland MIDI drivers from their website.
2. Unzip and save the downloaded files to my computer hard drive.
3. Connect my keyboard to my computer using USB cable.
4. Turn on the keyboard.
5. Windows should automatically detect a new device and launch the drivers installation wizard.
6. In the wizard, choose the location where you saved the drivers from step 2 above.
7. Follow the onscreen instructions.

Your setup should be something similar to mine above.

TIP!! If you turn your MIDI USB keyboard on and Windows does not automatically launch the drivers install wizard. Do this:

1. Open your "Control Panel"
2. Choose "Performance and Maintenance"
   
3. Choose "System"
4. Click on the "Hardware" tab
5. Choose the "Device Manager"
6. Locate your device in question
   
   
7. Right click on it and choose "Update Drivers"
8. Follow the onscreen instructions

Step 2: Configure Windows MIDI to use your MIDI keyboard.

1. Open your "Control Panel" window
2. Choose "Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices"
   
3. Choose "Sounds and Audio Devices"
   
4. Click on the "Audio Tab"
   
   
   
   
5. Choose your MIDI interface from the "MIDI Music Playback" drop-down menu.
   
   
   
   
6. Click "Apply"

If your MIDI USB keyboard does not show up on the "MIDI Music Playback" drop-down menu, then either your keyboard is turned off, or the drivers were not installed properly. If the drivers are not properly installed, go back and repeat step one.

Step 3: Launch your Windows MIDI software.

When launching your MIDI software for the first time, it may ask you to configure your MIDI PC device input and output settings. If so, you should be able to choose your MIDI keyboard for the input and output.

You may or may not need to configure your windows MIDI PC software to work with your MIDI interface. Refer to your users manual for specific instructions on your MIDI software.

Step 4: Choose the proper MIDI settings for each MIDI track in your MIDI recording software.

For each track, you'll need to choose the proper MIDI channel and patch.

For example (generic example), let's say you have piano (patch 001) on channel one.

1. On your keyboard, select the piano patch for channel one.
2. In your MIDI software, set "Track 1" to "Channel 1."
3. In your MIDI software, set the patch to "001 piano."

Congratulations! You are finished setting up your Windows MIDI PC recording studio.

Troubleshooting!! If you are still having problems there are a several places you can go for help.

1. Click here for my MIDI troubleshooting guide.
2. Use the Windows "help" features.
3. Refer to your MIDI interface instructions.
4. Refer to your MIDI software instructions.
5. Refer to your MIDI keyboard owners manual

Back to Windows MIDI USB Setup Options.

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