LinuxMusicians

Hi all,

I'm trying to set up my midi keyboard to play through Qsynth, using Qjackctl. I'm running Mint Olivia - I'm no mastermind with Linux though so I'm learning a lot!

Qjackctl recognizes that I have plugged my midi keyboard (Fatar Studio 1176) into the laptop (via midi in/out to usb cable), but I can't seem to get it to communicate with Qsynth. I connect it all up using Jack connections, but the light doesn't come on in Qsynth when I press the keys.

I've followed a couple of set up how-tos, but something seems to be missing!

Any help appreciated, I'm fairly new to Linux. Thanks

Welcome!

Have you connected your midi keyboard to fluidsynth in the ALSA tab of qjackctl's connections window?

Yes, in the Qjackctl connections box, I have my midi keyboard connected to Qsynth in the Alsa tab, and Qsynth connected to System in the audio tab.

It seems that Qjackctl knows there is a midi keyboard connected, but Qsynth doesn't know when I'm pressing stuff on it.

I have downloaded ZynAddSubFX which I will play about with tomorrow to see if I have better success.

Could it be a setting on the keyboard that is wrong?

I have had my best luck, using LMMS with my portable midi grand piano.
This is a good tutorial to start from.
http://youtu.be/2eyloKqnJIo

Sample of my music made with LMMS.
https://soundcloud.com/eino1953/georges ... rmen-cover

Could it be a setting on the keyboard that is wrong?

Yes it could.

For diagnosis, I suggest qmidiroute. Connect the midi keyboard to it (alsa tab in qjackctl, of course) and play some keys in your MIDI keyboard. You should see the MIDI messages in the Event Log.

vmpk comes handy too. It is a virtual MIDI keyboard that you can connect to qsynth (or qmidiroute).

At least, this programs will be useful to narrow down the sources of the problem.

Cheers! Pablo

Ah, interesting! I have connected up the keyboard to qmidiroute, and it logs when I connect it via Jack, but no logs when the keys are pressed. I assume then that the issue is somewhere in the keyboard settings.

So, further to this, I think it is potentially my Midi to USB cable that could be the issue. Has anybody had issues with these cables before? THe one I have is Mistar Midilink, and is recognied by jack as TaHorng Istrument

What is the output of " lsusb" with the keyboard plugged in and turned on.
My output is" Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0a4d:00a0 Yamaha "

and the out put of the following " lsmod | grep usb "
mine looks like this
usb_midi 25348 0
snd_usb_audio 70592 0
snd_usb_lib 16640 1 snd_usb_audio

If your running ALSA do the following. If you running pulseaudio it will not work.
aconnect -i
the output should look something like this.
client 72: 'YM-361 USB MIDI keyboard' [type=kernel]
0 'YM-361 USB MIDI keyboard MIDI 1'
next check if it's connecting.
run aseqdump -p ## the ## are the client number in this case it would be 72
you should see
72:0 Active Sensing
If you press a note on the keyboard you will see the key-presses

"lsusb" gives me this,

Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0ac8:c33f Z-Star Microelectronics Corp. Webcam
Bus 005 Device 012: ID 1235:0004 Novation EMS
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub



"lsmod | grep usb"

snd_usb_audio 114886 2
snd_usbmidi_lib 24210 1 snd_usb_audio
snd_hwdep 13272 2 snd_usb_audio,snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm 80890 4 snd_usb_audio,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
snd_rawmidi 25114 2 snd_usbmidi_lib,snd_seq_midi
btusb 17986 0
snd 56485 16 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_usb_audio,snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_pcm,snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_usbmidi_lib,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_seq_device
bluetooth 202069 11 bnep,btusb,rfcomm


aconnect -i

client 0: 'System' [type=kernel]
0 'Timer '
1 'Announce '
client 14: 'Midi Through' [type=kernel]
0 'Midi Through Port-0'
client 20: 'TaHorng Musical Instrument' [type=kernel]
0 'TaHorng Musical Instrument MIDI'


aseqdump -p20:

Waiting for data. Press Ctrl+C to end.
Source Event Ch Data
0:1 Port subscribed 128:0 -> 130:0


Nothing happened when I hit the keys.

I don't really have much idea what this lot means as I'm new to Linux. Thanks for your time though, hopefully you can decipher this?

Looks like a bad usb connection, or cable. I did not see a keyboard anyplace.
lsusb should show your keyboard.

kinchy wrote:"lsusb" gives me this,

Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0ac8:c33f Z-Star Microelectronics Corp. Webcam
Bus 005 Device 012: ID 1235:0004 Novation EMS
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub



"lsmod | grep usb"

snd_usb_audio 114886 2
snd_usbmidi_lib 24210 1 snd_usb_audio
snd_hwdep 13272 2 snd_usb_audio,snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm 80890 4 snd_usb_audio,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
snd_rawmidi 25114 2 snd_usbmidi_lib,snd_seq_midi
btusb 17986 0
snd 56485 16 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_usb_audio,snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_pcm,snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_usbmidi_lib,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_seq_device
bluetooth 202069 11 bnep,btusb,rfcomm


aconnect -i

client 0: 'System' [type=kernel]
0 'Timer '
1 'Announce '
client 14: 'Midi Through' [type=kernel]
0 'Midi Through Port-0'
client 20: 'TaHorng Musical Instrument' [type=kernel]
0 'TaHorng Musical Instrument MIDI'


aseqdump -p20:

Waiting for data. Press Ctrl+C to end.
Source Event Ch Data
0:1 Port subscribed 128:0 -> 130:0


Nothing happened when I hit the keys.

I don't really have much idea what this lot means as I'm new to Linux. Thanks for your time though, hopefully you can decipher this?

aseqdump -p20 should be aseqdump -p 20

lsusb should show your keyboard But it dose not.

aseqdump -p 20 gave me the same results, still nothing when I press keys.

I'm going to try a new cable. Thanks for your responses, they've been very helpful.