How does one use multiple keyboards with Logic Pro?

In Logic, open the environment window, go to the click and ports layer. By default, the "SUM" of the MIDI arriving at all ports (PHYSICAL INPUT object) is passed to the sequencer (SEQUENCER INPUT object).

Remove this cable, and cable all the inputs you want to use to the sequencer input, and leve out the one you don't want.

Save that as your autoload song so it's always there when you boot Logic.

Yeah, I understand it's difficult to pitch it right - some people know the essentials and just need a procedure, others aren't very sure of the fundamentals and so probably need a little more in depth description - sometimes you can get the type of user from their words and structure a response accordingly, other times you can't really.

I try and not write too many essays here! 🙂

Ok, I'll go for some more details, bear with me (and if there's anything you're not sure of, don't hesitate to yell - I can't help if you don't ask! 🙂

In Logic, open the environment window, go to the click and ports layer.

The environment window has different layers, selectable from the menu on the top left of the window. Click-hold on this and select "Click & Ports". This holds some key environment objects that Logic requires so it can route MIDI.

By default, the "SUM" of the MIDI arriving at all ports
(PHYSICAL INPUT object) is passed to the sequencer
(SEQUENCER INPUT object).

Generally speaking, there is an object called "Physical Input" - this is all the MIDI signals arriving from any interfaces on your computer coming in to Logic. By default, this is cabled to the object called "Sequencer Input", so Logic can record MIDI data.

(The reason for differentiating the two functions is that often you want to do stuff to MIDI data before it hits the sequencer part of Logic, so you can break the cable connection between the two and route/transform the MIDI data as necessary).

The Physical Input object has an output called "SUM" - this is the sum of all MIDI data. If you were playing a keyboard on your MIDI port 1 on channel 3, and another keybord on a different port also on channel three, the SUM output would just have lots of channel 3 data, without caring what port it arrived on.

This is useful if you have a few master keyboards lying around that you use to record into Logic - Logic doesn't care about the ports, you just want to record the notes.

Ok, the Physical Input object also has individual outputs for every MIDI input port you have. In our above scenario, our first keyboard is on port 1, and our second keyboard is on port 2.

(If both keyboards are on the same port and just on different channels, you can use a Channel Splitter object to split the channels into different outputs which you can cable appropriately.)

If we remove the cable from the "SUM" output (click on the cable and delete it), and cable the "port 1" output to the Sequencer Input object instead, now our first keyboard will still record into Logic as normal - but our second keyboard will not, because it's MIDI data doesn't get passed to the sequencer (as there's no cable passing the data through).

Ok, you should still be following me here.

The way Logic normally works is that any MIDI data coming into the sequencer is "rechannelised" according to the selected track on the arrange. So if you've selected a MIDI track that sends to your DX7 on port 12, playing your master keyboard will send the notes onto your DX7.

Because this only works one track at a time (ie, you can't select multiple tracks and have multiple inputs feeding multiple instruments) we have to use our environment.

So, our first keyboard is working as normal - selecting a Logic track will echo the notes back to whatever instrument is selected.

To get our second keyboard sending to another instrument, we must cable it in the environment directly. (Bear in mind that as the second keyboard is not going into the sequencer input, it cannot be recorded - I'm keeping things simple for now).

Ok, on the Physical Input object, OPTION-click on the object's output for port 2 - a familiar list of all objects in the environment will pop up. Select "Audio Instrument 1" for now. We've just used a shortcut to cable objects together that are on different layers.

As we've now cabled our MIDI port 2 directly to Audio Instrument 1, when you play your second keyboard, it will play whatever instrument plugin you have have on Audio Instrument 1. Or you could cable that port to a MIDI instrument, or wherever you want.

So we end up with keyboard 1 working as normal, you can record with it and pick what instrument it's playing in the arrange window, and keyboard 2 is always playing Audio Instrument 1.

Of course you can set up more complicated routings, switching and all kinds of stuff, but this will get you started.

I hope that was more helpful than my previous post...

It does sound a little complicated, but in practice, it's very easy. Open up the environment. I think it opens on 'clicks and ports' automatically. If not, you will see some text on the left with audio or something written in it with up/down arrows next to it. Click hold that and select clicks and ports. On this page you will see a box with SUM and other things (depending on which MIDI interface you are using). SUM represents all of the MIDI ins added together, so that if that is cabled through to what (I can't exactly remember, it's been such a long time since I fiddled with it) is called sequencer and MIDI thru, the sum of all your MIDI inputs will be transmitted. Delete this cable by clicking on it and pressing delete, and then try to play a note. Nothing happens, as your inputs are not connected to your sequencer. Now, let's say you are using a MIDI interface with two inputs, they would be called INPUT 1 and INPUT 2, written just under where it says SUM. Simply find which input the keyboard you want to control Logic with is connected to, and cable that to the sequencer. Play something and you will start hearing notes. Play the one you want to control Reason, and you should hear nothing if Reason isn't open. If, however, you recable SUM to the sequencer, both keyboards will be transmitted to Logic.
Hope this makes some sense,
Best, Fred

Beat me to it Bee Jay!

i don't understand this at all. I am trying to playback a sequence on channel 1 from my Mpc 2000 which triggers drums from instrument 1 channel 1 in logic. everything is fine when I keep that Track selected, only when I select a different Track I get no sound, or if I select a different track with another instrument it will play the sequence with the sound from the selected track.

i followed what you said and got lost at this step as you written here. (Ok, on the Physical Input object, OPTION-click on the object's output for port 2 - a familiar list of all objects in the environment will pop up. Select "Audio Instrument 1" for now. We've just used a shortcut to cable objects together that are on different layers.) there is nothing in the options menu that lets me select objects output or audio instrument.

can you explain this simply step by step, and without all the tech stuff, is more confusing 🙂

I am trying to playback a sequence on channel 1 from my Mpc 2000
which triggers drums from instrument 1 channel 1 in logic. everything
is fine when I keep that Track selected, only when I select a different
Track I get no sound, or if I select a different track with another
instrument it will play the sequence with the sound from the
selected track.

Yes, because a fundamental concept in Logic (and most MIDI sequencers) is that the incoming MIDI (lets say you are playing a keyboard) gets rechannelised depending on the currently selected track.

If I select my DX7 track, my keyboard's MIDI gets directed to my DX7 - so I can play it. If I play my Audio Instrumnent 4 track, the MIDI gets directed to a virtual instrument, and so on.

The point of rigging up our environment like this is to get around this behaviour, so we can send multiple streams of MIDI to multiple destinations, rather than just one destination (the selected track instrument).

here is nothing in the options menu that lets me select objects
output or audio instrument.

Then you are not doing it right! 😉

Make sure in the View menu in the environment window, you have "Protect" off, and View Cables ON.

Now, if you hold option and click on the output cable, you'll see the same instrument list that you see when assigning instruments to tracks in the arrange window.

can you explain this simply step by step, and without all the tech stuff,
is more confusing 🙂

I thought I did that already!

no man thats not working!!! my keyboard is on port1, my mpc on port8. i disconnected the sum from the physical input and connected the output ports 1 and 8 from the physical input to the sequencer input. i want port 1 which is my keyboard to send to every device in my midi setup. and so when i click option and select anything in the list the cable disconnects. when i just connect it to the sequencer input and play a key no output to any device. in the arrange window only input notes can be selected other than my instruments which were already there. so what is the problem???

no man thats not working!!! my keyboard is on port1, my
mpc on port8. i disconnected the sum from the physical
input and connected the output ports 1 and 8 from the
physical input to the sequencer input.

No man, you're doing it wrong! 😉

If the whole point is to allow the MPC to play Logic multitimbrally, then you've not read and understood what's going on. In your scenario, we specifically don't want port 8 going to the sequencer input, whereas you're trying to cable it to the sequencer input and also elsewhere. Logic can only have one cable attached to each object's output (though many objects have more than one output).

So, with SUM disconnected (good), and port 1 connected to the sequencer input, create a new channel splitter object. Cable port 8 to the channel splitter (we don't want port 8 going to the sequencer input, instead we want each MIDI channel coming from that port to go to our Logic instruments).

Now for each of the 16 channel splitter outputs (one for each channel), option-click on each output and cable it to audio instruments 1 through 16.

i found out the problem i have twice port 1 and 2 then 3-8 once in the physical input and had the port 1 at the top connected selected which is from my digiface box which also has midi ports which i dont use.. thanks evrything seems to work now. 🙂

-

Excuse me for butting in Bee Jay


there is nothing in

the options menu that lets me select objects output
or audio instrument.

This one part where I think you are having a problem.
He did not mean the Option Menu which is next to the
View menu which is next to the Edit menu.
He meant to Option CLICK
which means to hold the Option key while clicking
the mouse. Doing this will bring up a menu with all
the objects in the environment.