Logic Pro 8 issue: can't hear MIDI keyboard?

Are you recording onto a MIDI track with a MIDI instrument plugin on the channel?
Have you record-enabled the individual channel?

If you hear no sound still, does it record notes in the piano roll for the channel?

Are you recording onto a MIDI track with a MIDI instrument plugin on the channel?

Yes, I created a new track with the “External MIDI” option, then selected “Polysynth” from the Library.

Have you record-enabled the individual channel?

If this just means that the red “R” button is on, yes.

If you hear no sound still, does it record notes in the piano roll for the channel?

Yes, it just started recording notes in the piano roll. (It wasn’t doing this before.) However, I still can’t hear it.

Are you getting any sound at all? Is your audio set up right?

Are you getting any sound at all? Is your audio set up right?

Yes, I’m working on a project where I’ve already recorded several instruments (audio and MIDI), and I hear all of them fine.

I should add that I’ve tried closing and restarting the application several times.

Also, the fader levels would indicate that the volume is plenty loud enough. My keyboard’s volume lever is in the middle range.

What plugin/synthesizer are you using? Is there another volume control in the plugin?

I don’t understand the question, sorry. I’m very new to this, which means I’ve absorbing tons of basic terminology and have trouble keeping it straight. Where would I look to find an answer to your question?

You know MIDI alone doesn’t produce sound, you need a plugin. What are you using as the sound generator? It will show up under inserts.

Well, it’s apparently capable of generating sound since I get sound when I use the same keyboard with GarageBand.

As I said, I created a new track and selected the “Polysynth” sound from the Library (among others like “Grand Piano,” “Trumpet”), etc. Is this insufficient to produce sound? If so, what am I supposed to do?

I thought Logic Pro was supposed to be a higher-end version of GarageBand, with at least as many sounds, yet I can’t seem to find them.

I don’t know what “inserts” means.

You have a mixer window in logic like this, which I’m sure you know about, as yours would look a little busier than this. In this you can see the little “Massive” insert, which is a soft synth. Yours should look like the second one with some plugin in that “insert tab”. Try double clicking on that insert (with the synth in it) and see if a window pops up that allows you to modify the synth paramaters and in there there should be a volume control. Make sure that’s up.

Sorry if I’m dumbing this down, I just can’t see what your window looks like to help you.

Can you take a screenshot and upload it to see if we could help that way?

Here’s a screen shot. It doesn’t seem to include everything you’ve described.

Here’s a larger version.

And here’s what my main window looks like in case that’s useful.

At the top in the polysynth thing is your insert. Try fiddling with the chorus, frequency, response, and portamento controls underneath that insert to see if that changes the sound. One is set to -64, so that could be your issue.

If none of that works, hold down your mouse on the “polysynth” button and choose a new plugin. I usually add my synths in that way and then use the presets from there not from the browser. It could be that there is just an issue with the plugin.

Changing the frequency, etc. (including cranking up the one that was at -64) doesn’t seem to have an effect.

Clearly there’s a problem with this one track. It has no “inserts,” “send,” or “I/O” the way all my other tracks do. But I don’t know how to get these to show up.

I think the interface of the synth is overriding that somehow as the interface is taking up those spots.

I’d try changing the synth, but I’m out of ideas otherwise.

I’ve tried changing from “Polysynth” to “Perc. Organ,” and also creating the whole track over again. Still can’t hear it.

I solved the problem! I should have selected “software instrument” instead of “external MIDI” when creating the track. (I have no idea what “external MIDI” is for, then, but whatever.)

I thought this looked familiar.

Oh! Sorry I didn’t get on before you solved your problem. I’m glad you solved it though.

Just for future reference, an external MIDI track is used to record MIDI from a keyboard connected to the computer, send the MIDI through a MIDI interface to an external hardware synthesizer (such as one of these), and record the audio it makes though an audio interface. Otherwise this process would be a hassle to set up in Logic or whatever DAW you’re using.