Old-school music production with MT-32pi and Cubase

[danielb]

Hi all,

I just got an MT-32pi, and it is finally set up and working well. It was a bit of a process, thanks to a defective SD-Card, voltage-draining power switch, and some gain-staging issues. The MT-32pi is connected to my IO board via the user port, and I have the standard MiSTer MT-32pi hat.

Anyway, I have it working with the ST core, and with Cubase 3.01. I can draw notes in and they will play back, and I can change programs etc to hear different sounds. Incidentally, I have it set up so that all Mister sound comes out of my studio monitors, which sounds great.

My question is, is there any way to connect my Midi controller keyboard to this setup and record notes into Cubase from the keyboard? It is an Arturia Keylab 3 Essential, which has USB midi and a DIN Midi out. It also gets its power from the USB, which may be an issue.

Also, can anyone recommend an MT-32 editor for the Atari ST?

Thanks,

Daniel

PS. What are the screws and stand-offs for that come with the Pi-hat?

[Chris23235]

Hi all,

I just got an MT-32pi, and it is finally set up and working well. It was a bit of a process, thanks to a defective SD-Card, voltage-draining power switch, and some gain-staging issues. The MT-32pi is connected to my IO board via the user port, and I have the standard MiSTer MT-32pi hat.

Anyway, I have it working with the ST core, and with Cubase 3.1. I can draw notes in and they will play back, and I can change programs etc to hear different sounds. Incidentally, I have it set up so that all Mister sound comes out of my studio monitors, which sounds great.

My question is, is there any way to connect my Midi controller keyboard to this setup and record notes into Cubase from the keyboard? It is an Arturia Keylab 3 Essential, which has USB midi and a DIN Midi out. It also gets its power from the USB, which may be an issue.

Also, can anyone recommend an MT-32 editor for the Atari ST?

Thanks,

Daniel

PS. What are the screws and stand-offs for that come with the Pi-hat?

I bought a cheap USB2Midi adapter for this purpose a while ago. I was able to chain a keyboard and a Roland SC88 module and connect this with over the USB port with the Mister. Cubase works fine with this setup.

Has your keyboard also DIN MIDI IN? You can chain the keyboard and the module with a Midi cable and if your keyboard only supports USB MIDI IN it should be possible to simply use a USB cable.

Note that you have to enable the correct Midi settings for USB in the core.

[danielb]

Thanks. So, if I were to purchase a usb-midi Interface, like a Roland UM-1, would the ST core with Cubase be able to use it for input and the MT-32pi for output?

[Chris23235]

Thanks. So, if I were to purchase a usb-midi Interface, like a Roland UM-1, would the ST core with Cubase be able to use it for input and the MT-32pi for output?

Yes, this would work. I use a OTraki Midi USB converter for this, it works in the same way as the Roland UM-1.

[danielb]

Thanks.

D.

[altitude909]

You are much better off using the MIDI in/out right off the digital shield (the USER I/O thin that looks like a USB port)

[LamerDeluxe]

But then you'd also need a USB to MIDI adapter for the mt32-pi.

[danielb]

You are much better off using the MIDI in/out right off the digital shield (the USER I/O thin that looks like a USB port)

Hi, thanks for answering. The user port is occupied by the MT-32pi, and functions as a MIDI out. All I want the MIDI In for is to connect my keyboard so that I can record notes into Cubase. If this is technically possible, I don't really see any other option in my present setup.

Any other ideas would be welcome...

Thanks,

Daniel

[danielb]

But then you'd also need a USB to MIDI adapter for the mt32-pi.

Exactly. I think any setup would require one USB to MIDI adapter, and it seems much better to have the keyboard connected via USB than the MT-32pi.

D.

[danielb]

Hi all,

It worked.
In Cubase, I can now play the MT-32pi with my keyboard, and record notes into Cubase, having connected the keyboard to the MiSTer with a Roland UM-1 MK-2. Audio is routed from the MiSTer into the Roland Studio Capture sound card.

This is my setup. It will get even more interesting if I can sync the Midi and route the audio into Ableton Live on my PC

setup.jpg (928.02 KiB) Viewed 12924 times

And this is my MiSTer. The Raspberry Pi is sitting in the bottom half of a standard Pi case. We'll sort that out later.

Mister.jpg (340.56 KiB) Viewed 12924 times

These are the UART settings that work:

Uart options.jpg (1.41 MiB) Viewed 12924 times

[altitude909]

You are much better off using the MIDI in/out right off the digital shield (the USER I/O thin that looks like a USB port)

Hi, thanks for answering. The user port is occupied by the MT-32pi, and functions as a MIDI out. All I want the MIDI In for is to connect my keyboard so that I can record notes into Cubase. If this is technically possible, I don't really see any other option in my present setup.

Any other ideas would be welcome...

Thanks,

Daniel

Keep in mind thats NOT a USB port, its just a break out so it has a MIDI in and out there. You need a MIDI adapter made specifically for that port, there are several around, I just designed my own

https://github.com/MichiganSynthWorks/MiSTerMIDI

[danielb]

You are much better off using the MIDI in/out right off the digital shield (the USER I/O thin that looks like a USB port)

Hi, thanks for answering. The user port is occupied by the MT-32pi, and functions as a MIDI out. All I want the MIDI In for is to connect my keyboard so that I can record notes into Cubase. If this is technically possible, I don't really see any other option in my present setup.

Any other ideas would be welcome...

Thanks,

Daniel

Keep in mind thats NOT a USB port, its just a break out so it has a MIDI in and out there. You need a MIDI adapter made specifically for that port, there are several around, I just designed my own

https://github.com/MichiganSynthWorks/MiSTerMIDI

Thanks.

On my setup, the user port controls the MT-32pi. MIDI in should go from the keyboard to the ST. If you connect the keyboard directly to the MT-32pi, then you won't be able to record notes into Cubase.

D.

[altitude909]

I would assume you would want keyboard -> Atari MIDI in-> cubase -> atari MIDI OUT -> MT32pi but Im not familiar with the MT32pi so YMMV

anywway: Here's what Im using. Atari MIDI IN, THRU, ATARI MIDI OUT x 3

PXL_20240304_224209558.jpg (2.26 MiB) Viewed 12643 times

[lagerfeldt]

Hi all,

It worked.
In Cubase, I can now play the MT-32pi with my keyboard, and record notes into Cubase, having connected the keyboard to the MiSTer with a Roland UM-1 MK-2. Audio is routed from the MiSTer into the Roland Studio Capture sound card.

This is my setup. It will get even more interesting if I can sync the Midi and route the audio into Ableton Live on my PC

setup.jpg

And this is my MiSTer. The Raspberry Pi is sitting in the bottom half of a standard Pi case. We'll sort that out later.

Mister.jpg

These are the UART settings that work:

Uart options.jpg

Wow, that's an old school Cubase. What version is that? I remember using it on my Atari back in the early/mid 90s. I think was Cubase 3.x perhaps.

[LamerDeluxe]

I would assume you would want keyboard -> Atari MIDI in-> cubase -> atari MIDI OUT -> MT32pi but Im not familiar with the MT32pi so YMMV

anywway: Here's what Im using. Atari MIDI IN, THRU, ATARI MIDI OUT x 3

PXL_20240304_224209558.jpg

Yeah, that MIDI adapter is fantastic, I followed it's development. The thing is, the mt32-pi doesn't have MIDI connectors. Also, you can power it from the user port and have it stream its audio back into the MiSTer.

To add MIDI to the mt32-pi, without using the user port, you have to power it externally and use a USB MIDI adapter with it.

[altitude909]

edit

All is revealed: https://github.com/dwhinham/mt32-pi/wiki/MiSTer-FPGA

So it doesnt use the user as the MIDI port. I guess if USB MIDI performs to your expectations, using for a dedicated MT-32 makes way more sense

[danielb]

Hi all,

It worked.
In Cubase, I can now play the MT-32pi with my keyboard, and record notes into Cubase, having connected the keyboard to the MiSTer with a Roland UM-1 MK-2. Audio is routed from the MiSTer into the Roland Studio Capture sound card.

This is my setup. It will get even more interesting if I can sync the Midi and route the audio into Ableton Live on my PC

setup.jpg

And this is my MiSTer. The Raspberry Pi is sitting in the bottom half of a standard Pi case. We'll sort that out later.

Mister.jpg

These are the UART settings that work:

Uart options.jpg

Wow, that's an old school Cubase. What version is that? I remember using it on my Atari back in the early/mid 90s. I think was Cubase 3.x perhaps.

Hi,

Yes, it's version 3.01. I couldn't afford it back in the day. I had to make do with the cheapo Dr. T. sequencer and a Yamaha FB-01. People nowadays tend to forget how expensive gear was back then.

Cubase.jpg (1.17 MiB) Viewed 12414 times

Anyway, I'm off to play with my new copy of Ableton Live 12...

D.

[virtuali]

Yes, it's version 3.01. I couldn't afford it back in the day.

As an interesting fact, Mister is (AFAIK), the only place where you can use the original, uncracked (and not-crashing) Cubase 3.01, without a dongle, because it's emulated in the core!

[RealLarry]

Yes, it's version 3.01. I couldn't afford it back in the day.

As an interesting fact, Mister is (AFAIK), the only place where you can use the original, uncracked (and not-crashing) Cubase 3.01, without a dongle, because it's emulated in the core!

No, it is the second place. First was on the MiST a day before or two.

[lagerfeldt]

Yes, it's version 3.01. I couldn't afford it back in the day. I had to make do with the cheapo Dr. T. sequencer and a Yamaha FB-01. People nowadays tend to forget how expensive gear was back then.

Cubase.jpg

Anyway, I'm off to play with my new copy of Ableton Live 12...

D.

Good to see a fellow musician/engineer;-) Yeah, spent a fortune on gear since the 80s. Sold all my production gear and focused on masteringsince 2004 or so.

[danielb]

Yes, it's version 3.01. I couldn't afford it back in the day.

As an interesting fact, Mister is (AFAIK), the only place where you can use the original, uncracked (and not-crashing) Cubase 3.01, without a dongle, because it's emulated in the core!

Thanks for reminding me of this. I have now "upgraded" to an uncracked copy of Cubase 3.1.

D

[danielb]

Yes, it's version 3.01. I couldn't afford it back in the day. I had to make do with the cheapo Dr. T. sequencer and a Yamaha FB-01. People nowadays tend to forget how expensive gear was back then.

Cubase.jpg

Anyway, I'm off to play with my new copy of Ableton Live 12...

D.

Good to see a fellow musician/engineer;-) Yeah, spent a fortune on gear since the 80s. Sold all my production gear and focused on masteringsince 2004 or so.

I've been producing electronic music as a hobby since I was at school in the early eighties. It's amazing what you can do at home nowadays, compared to then

[snd32]

edit

All is revealed: https://github.com/dwhinham/mt32-pi/wiki/MiSTer-FPGA

So it doesnt use the user as the MIDI port. I guess if USB MIDI performs to your expectations, using for a dedicated MT-32 makes way more sense

@altitude, your board looks fantastic!

I am having a nosy at your schematics and board layout and have a question about BAT54XY diodes.. Is it used as precaution for accidentally inserting CV signals or something else?

Would you still use it if you had a DIN-5 connector for MIDI IN instead? Or use a single diode?

[snd32]

Cubase.jpg

Anyway, I'm off to play with my new copy of Ableton Live 12...

D.

That is immense! How did you configure that high display resolution?

[RealLarry]

Cubase.jpg

Anyway, I'm off to play with my new copy of Ableton Live 12...

D.

That is immense! How did you configure that high display resolution?

Just set mono display, enable Viking and download the viking display driver from the MiST board. Start the program (or put it in AUTO) and you'll get a huge display area.

[german_user]

I ask me why not easy use Midi jacks and add it to the io ports of the pi? If you look at other hats with midi ports build in, the use the io pins also. There seem not much needed to do this.
Look at this variant:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w93uoiF ... QzMg%3D%3D