Vintage Synth Explorer Forums

Hi,

I recently got a midi controller and am hoping I could get some help setting it up. I am not knowledgeable about keyboards or midi. I've got a Peavey DPM C8p and want to get it to work with Reason 3 on an ibook G4. I know that some of this stuff is pretty old. I do like that old version of Reason and it is working well enough with the old computer for me. I tried to set the Peavey as its midi controller, and the program seems to know that it is connected, but the "make master controller" button is greyed out. The Peavey is not listed in the dropdown menu as one of the supported controllers, so I added it just as a Peavey on midi channel 1. I am using a midi to usb cable to connect the keyboard to the computer. I did buy one of the cheaper $15 ones rather than a $40 or $50 cable. I don't know if that makes a difference. Is it a lost cause to try to get the Peavey to work with Reason? Or is there some kind of driver I can find somewhere?

Thank you

A lot of those USB cable style MIDI interfaces are questionable. Download MIDI-OX and use it to see if MIDI is coming into the computer.

You will not see the Peavey in the controller menu for Reason because, surprise, it's not a USB-based control surface. Reason just sees a MIDI interface on whatever channel you happen to be sending on. This should work fine for recording notes, aftertouch, mod wheel, etc.

Thank you for getting back to me. From looking it up, I think Midi-OX is only for PCs. I searched for alternatives and ended up downloading an old program called midiStroke. I don’t know if it can detect midi coming into the computer. On the midi cable I have, there are a few LED lights, including one labeled In, and another, Out. Only the out light is on.

Also, when the controller is powered on, the screen is blank, no matter what button I press on the controller. Is that because it’s not synced with the laptop, or is something wrong with the controller?

When I start up Reason, in the midi controller & surfaces list, it shows one called “Peavey PC 1600,” although I don’t have one of those. Is it just seeing that there is a Peavey connected, and using the closest name it has? To try to connect to the keyboard, I then add another controller, finding Peavey on the menu, and choosing it’s midi channel. The computer seems to know that it’s on midi channel one.

I’m not sure what to do. I’m not getting any sound from the computer when I press the keys on the controller.

For Mac download SysEx Librarian

It has a MIDI monitor to trace all messages going in and out of the Mac.