: Equipment setup I have a Roland A-49 keyboard controller (USB powered, MIDI out), an Edirol UA-4FX external sound module and a Roland Integra-7 synth hooked up to running (or not running) on Sonar platinum. Does anyone know

Vote Up Vote Down   0 Reactions

Login to give Reaction!

Sure. Your question, though broad, is tagged with MIDI, so I will focus on that.

But let’s get some terms straight, first. The Edirol UA-4FX is better named an audio interface. (The term sound module is usually used to describe a synthesizer or similar instrument without a human-playable interface. Your Roland Integra 7 is a sound module.) An audio interface translates information between your computer and audio hardware.

Think of audio as sound, represented electronically. Usually, an audio interface also has limited MIDI support, and your UA-4FX is no exception. It’s important to understand the distinction between MIDI and audio. MIDI has nothing to do with sound; it’s a digital way to communicate a musical performance. For example, it may contain a message that says, “start playing the note D3”.

To make your setup work, the keyboard controller’s MIDI out jack should be connected to the interface’s MIDI in jack. The interface’s MIDI out jack should be connected to the sound module’s MIDI in jack.

Part of the interface’s job is to pass MIDI data to and from the computer, which it does through the USB cable that connects it to the computer. However, you still need software to make the whole thing work. That’s where a DAW comes in. A DAW is a digital audio workstation, which combines the features of a sequencer, a recorder, a mixer, and other components into one piece of software. Sonar is a DAW. Assuming you’ve properly installed the driver for the interface, its MIDI ports (and audio ports) will show up in your DAW. When you create a MIDI track in Sonar, you can specify that its input should be the MIDI input from the UA-4FX, which is connected to the A-49 keyboard controller, and you can specify that the track’s output should be the MIDI output on the UA-4FX, which routes to the Integra.

Once you arm the track for recording, you should be able to hear sounds from the sound module when you play on the controller. That, of course, assumes that you’ve also made the necessary audio connections and that you have monitoring equipment to hear it with. At a bare minimum, you’ll be able to hear the sound module if you plug headphones directly into it.

To describe the necessary audio connections makes this question even more broad. In short, you would need to connect the audio outputs of the sound module to the audio inputs on the audio interface. Additionally, you would need to connect monitors or headphones to the interface's outputs. Owners’ Manuals are available online for each of your devices. The UA-4FX also has an Applications Guide which illustrates many common setups. Since everything in your setup is from Roland or a Roland subsidiary, you’ll find everything you need at www.roland.com.
I’ve described how to connect everything through the UA-4FX, which is what you asked about. It’s a bit old-school given the specific equipment you have. An alternative is to connect the A-49 controller and Integra directly to your computer via USB. You’ll need to install drivers for both devices on your computer. You will bypass the UA-4FX by doing so. The devices will show up directly in Sonar. The Integra can send audio along with MIDI on its USB connection. A further advantage here is that your UA-4FX remains free for additional audio and MIDI connections. For example, if you had an older synth with MIDI connections but lacking USB, you could easily add that to your setup. Disadvantages include the additional consumption of USB ports on your computer and the need to install and maintain separate USB drivers.

You can also play the sound module directly from the controller by simply connecting the controller's MIDI out directly to the sound module's MIDI in. If you do this, you lose the ability to store and edit your performance as MIDI data. You can still record what you play, but the recording will necessarily be audio, not MIDI.

Some links for you:
www.roland.com/global/products/ua-4fx/ www.roland.com/us/products/integra-7/ www.roland.com/global/products/a-49/