Can't get midi over usb working

[brianr19]

I can't get midi over usb to work so I can use my Stage 2 as a midi controller in Ableton Live. I think it is because it is using a 64 bit driver. I have problems with 64 bit anything it seems. What is supposed to come up in the preferences page? I see "Nord Stage Midi"... one for in and out. Isn't it supposed to say USB or something? Please help me!

[nordyboy]

I read that they don't have that facility, only midi via midi cable. , Im sure someone will clarify who knows more though.

[brianr19]

Where did you read that? Just curious...

[Hanon_CTS]

Hi Brian,
have you set the NS2 midi channel for usb?
The possible range of settings are 1 thru 16 for 5 pin midi operation, and usb1 thru usb16 for usb midi operation.
The NS2 does midi over usb, and the 64 bit driver shouldn't be a problem.
Cheers, Hanon

[brianr19]

I don't think so. I'll have a look.

[mjbrands]

With preference I assume you mean the preferences for Ableton? If it shows the Nord Stage MIDI ports, then MIDI via USB is working correctly. That dialog doesn't show devices, but MIDI controllers. Since the Nord Stage 2 presents two MIDI controllers when you connect it via MIDI things are working as intended.

If you'd connected the Stage via (for example) an M-Audio MidiSport, you choose the right MIDI in- and output ports, the name of which would probably look something like 'M-Audio MidiSport port 1'.

Select the two Nord MIDI controller ports and enable MIDI for them. If you use the Nord as a controller you might want to send MIDI clock data to the Nord, so the Nord syncs up with the clock in Ableton. To do this, enable the 2nd option for the output port (probably has the word clock in it, I'm working from memory here). Ableton will also show you a small blinking square in the top-left of the screen to show it is sending MIDI clocks to some device.

You can also slave Ableton to the clock on the Nord, which is probably better if you're playing on the Nord and use Ableton to accompany your playing. In that case enable the MIDI clock for the input port - Ableton will blink a small yellow square in the top-right to signal it is receiving a MIDI clock (might be the same indicator as the one indicating incoming MIDI data, I forgot).

Don't enable MIDI clocks on both, as strange things will happen with both devices trying to get a clock from and set the clock of the other device. If you want the Nord to send a MIDI clock, you may need to enable that on the Nord (I don't, really). The manual should have more on this.

Btw. choose MIDI clock, not MIDI time code (MTC). MTC is for syncing things like recording devices, video equipment, etc. to a sequencer, it isn't meant for connecting to another sequencer (or instrument) and it only sends one clock tick every 'frame' (24, 25 or 30 per second) instead of one tick every quarter beat.

Please note that the 3rd option (remote) is of no use with the Nord. It is meant for devices such as the Lauchpad or a workstation that has transport control buttons (start, stop, record, etc).

The whole thing I'm talking about here happens at the bottom of the Ableton MIDI preferences screen; the settings in the top half (in the white box) are for controllers such as the Launchpad or APC20 that have clip/scene launch buttons.

Phew, that was quite some bla bla to type on my phone.

[mjbrands]

Btw. like Hanon said, having the Nord MIDI controllers show up doesn't mean the Nord us actually sending/receiving data via those.