MIDI keyboard not working in Garageband

Question

Level 1

8 points

MIDI keyboard not working in Garageband

I just bought a new M-Audio Oxygen 25 USB MIDI keyboard controller for school (I'm a student at Berklee College of Music) and I'm trying to use it to record in Garageband. I put in the disc that came with the keyboard, clicked "install," and it said the installation was successful and I had to restart my computer, which I did. I then opened Garageband, plugged in my keyboard, turned it on, and tried to play it. Whatever key I press, I just hear the same pinging sound. It won't play different pitches, and when I try to record anything, the right notes show up onscreen in the track itself, but nothing plays back. The keyboard shows up in the Garageband preferences and in the Audio MIDI setup, so my computer definitely recognizes it, but I don't know why it won't play anything. I'm using Garageband '11 on a MacBook Pro running OS X 10.7.5, if that helps. I'm a bit technologically illiterate, so if there's anything really obvious that I forgot to do, definitely let me know! I've never used MIDI before so I kind of have no idea what I'm doing, but I have a project due later this week so any help would be much appreciated! Thanks very much.

GarageBand (Mac) '11, Mac OS X (10.7.5), M-Audio Oxygen 25 USB MIDI keyboard

Posted on Oct 6, 2012 2:30 PM

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Answer 1

gjmnz

Level 3

858 points

Oct 6, 2012 7:10 PM in response to isaroo

Did you install the DirectLink drivers?

Check this page http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.directlink and follow the link to the drivers. Don't worry that it only lists GB 08 & 09 as compatible. I use GB 11 with my M-Audio keyboard and it is fine. Hope that helps.

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Answer 2

isaroo Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 6, 2012 7:28 PM in response to gjmnz

The keyboard is class compliant, and the user manual said that that means I don't need to install any drivers in order for the keyboard to work. But is it actually necessary?

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Answer 3

gjmnz

Level 3

858 points

Oct 6, 2012 8:10 PM in response to isaroo

If the keyboard is class compliant then you do not need any drivers. However M-Audio supplies a special driver called DirectLink that enables mapping of knobs and faders for certain popular DAW's. Garageband is one of those. If you want to extend your controllers usability beyond keys, sustain, pitch bend etc and use the knobs and transport controls then you will have to install DirectLink.

I am not suggesting that your controllers problems are due to not doing the DirectLink install, I am suggesting that perhaps by doing the install you may solve your problem.

Another thing you may want to do first is download a trial version of another popular DAW and see if your controller exibits the same behaviour. That way you can eliminate the keyboard as the issue.

Not sure what else to say. I am still on 10.6.8 and would normally do a Repair Disk Permissions as my first stop.

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Answer 4

isaroo Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 6, 2012 8:25 PM in response to gjmnz

Okay, I'll try that. Thank you so much for your help! :)

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Answer 5

isteveus

Level 5

4,340 points

Oct 6, 2012 8:51 PM in response to isaroo

Does software keyboard or musical typing work?

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Answer 6

isaroo Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 6, 2012 10:54 PM in response to isteveus

I just checked and both the software keyboard and the musical typing are doing the same thing as the MIDI keyboard, only without the pinging sound. This time I can't hear any sound at all, even though notes show up on the Garageband tracks when I hit record. I've used both very recently and they've worked fine, only just now have I had any trouble.

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Answer 7

isteveus

Level 5

4,340 points

Oct 7, 2012 5:28 AM in response to isaroo

Do you have the audio output set correctly in garageband preferences.

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Answer 8

Dec 8, 2012 2:23 PM in response to gjmnz

I have garageband 11 and I'm trying to get direct link working and it won't. I downloaded the direct link software that was on m-audio's website and also the software on the original disc. I have it on preset 10, but I'm not sure what I need to do. What folder is the M-Audio.Bundle file supposed to be in?

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Answer 9

Jun 1, 2013 10:55 AM in response to isaroo

Hello. I am posting this here in case it helps you out. I was having no luck using my midi controller - a M-Audio plug and play Keystation 61es - when it was plugged in to a USB port on the back of my brand new iMac. I finally tried plugging it in to a USB port on my computer's keyboard (the one you type on), and it works fine. Very odd, but it solved my problem. Garageband would recognize my keyboard, but would not allow it to interact in any way with the software - no response when I would play it.

After plugging my controller into the computer's keyboard, it worked fine.

This may be a Mountain Lion issue, or a new iMac hardware issue. I have an older laptop running Snow Leopard, and when I plugged directly into that computer, I had no problems at all.

I hope this helps someone. I had spent two or three days trying to get this to work.

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