Switching between MIDI hardware and virtual

[TwoShedsJackson]

hi all,

First time poster. Love Reaper, have used it for a while, and have a question about MIDI.

First off, I have a Digidesign MBox2 that I usually play MIDI through, whether that be my external drumkit, or a MicroKorg. This all works fine, no problems.

However this weekend I wanted to look at some synth stuff with an arpeggiator plugin. As this didn't seem to require me being in the usual place (the desk where the MBox2 is 'installed' with lots of cables set up just so), I unplugged the laptop (a Dell Latitude 5590, in case that proves to be a key detail), so as to sit more comfortably elsewhere in the house and noodle around with the software (Syntronik and SampleTank from IKMultimedia), both of which work normally.

I did get a message about the MBox2 not being attached when I started Reaper, which I understood, but however now I find that I cannot get any sound from the Virtual MIDI keyboard.

I have the track armed, 'All MIDI channels' selected for input, the synth software in the FX, and all the other hints I saw for these sorts of problems. However in the monitoring bar for the actual track, there is no sign at all that anything is happening.

I realise that this is probably because the current setup requires the MBox to be plugged in. So my question is: Is it possible for me to set up two MIDI inputs, the Digidesign one, and another for the virtual keyboard, so that I can switch between the two? Or is there something fundamental I'm misunderstanding here?

I notice that on the virtual track where I have selected MIDI for the input, it does say 'not connected', which is presumably referring to the MBox2, but under Options->Preferences->Audio->MIDI Devices, I don't see how to add 'virtual'. There is only a button saying 'Add joystick MIDI' which again seems to refer to hardware.

Sorry, I've rambled on a bit here, hopefully it's clear what I'm describing, of course I can supply any additional detail that might help. And apologies if this is something really obvious. I have tried googling and searching the forums, but most questions are for when people are simply trying to work with the Virtual MIDI without already having hardware set up.

Thanks,
Paul

[beingmf]

Obviously Reaper will alert you about hardware not being present when, erm, hardware is not present, which was connected the last time you used Reaper.

If you disable the MBox in Preferences > Midi Devices, you're fine, you can re-enable it when you use the interface again.

There's no need to enable the Virtual Midi keyboard though, as it is always active if you want. I have most of my templates set to "All Midi inputs", which includes the Virtual Midi keyboard.

Aside from that: what audio driver do you use in case the MBox is not connected? For less latency you should use Wasapi or ASIO4all, not "WaveOut" or similar.

[TwoShedsJackson]

Originally Posted by beingmf

Obviously Reaper will alert you about hardware not being present when, erm, hardware is not present, which was connected the last time you used Reaper.

I agree, that's why I noted "which I understood". I was just trying to give the full picture of my setup, and the steps that brought me to the situation I was describing, as I was not sure which details were pertinent.

Originally Posted by beingmf

Aside from that: what audio driver do you use in case the MBox is not connected? For less latency you should use Wasapi or ASIO4all, not "WaveOut" or similar.

This was the solution - under Audio->Device, the setting was ASIO, the setting that works with the MBox. I changed that to Wasapi and after saving I am able to get MIDI via the Virtual Keyboard.

Thanks for your help.

[beingmf]

Originally Posted by TwoShedsJackson

This was the solution - under Audio->Device, the setting was ASIO, the setting that works with the MBox. I changed that to Wasapi and after saving I am able to get MIDI via the Virtual Keyboard.

Thanks for your help.

Wow, that was quick. Very happy to help.
Wouldn't it be great if we could quickly switch between hardware setups?