Traktor Pro Startup Question

This is bit of an odd question, but I reckon if anyone knows the answer, it's someone on here!

At home I have a Midi drumset that I have been trying to hook up to Traktor fo the past few days. I have a Midi-Usb cable plugged into it and the red Midi light is on, which means there is a connection between the comp and the drums.
Thing is, the Midi Input/Output lights on the cable only flash when Traktor is starting up (i.e. loading collection and the rest).

This is the ONLY time I have ever seen these lights flash and I can't get the drums to work with any program on my computer. Just seems there is no output which makes sense, as the output light is never flashing.

So what I'm wondering is, does Traktor have some strange protocol on startup that sends messages to all connected devices? The instant track collection finishes loading, the output light stops flashing. Very weird, has me pulling my hair out at this stage.

Big ups to any who can answer!

Yes it does.

:)

Agrees!

Any details on what sort of messages lads? Trying to narrow down why the set won't work with any other app or after collection is loaded.

Cheers

have you enabled the drum kit in Traktors midi settings?

are you on mac or pc?

Yep have quadruple checked all of that, I'm on PC. Was originally trying to set it up for Ableton but seeing as nothing was working, I gave it a lash in Traktor and then noticed this flashing light so I guessed there must be some sort of messages sent out on startup in Traktor.

Do you need to assign values to the drums?
Is there a light on the drums that tells you whether or not it's sending any information when you hit a drum? It could be on the hardware end.

might want to try connecting after startup. I have to do this with my VCI sometimes.

Also, check your settings on your Hardware devices and make sure that your computer is recognizing the drivers for your midi kit.
Definitely sounds like a driver problem to me.

Actually, as a follow-up to JeRK, don't turn the drumkit on until after Traktor has loaded. Don't even connect it to your system. Once it's on and the collection has loaded then plug it in and turn it on.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DvlsAdvct

Do you need to assign values to the drums?
Is there a light on the drums that tells you whether or not it's sending any information when you hit a drum? It could be on the hardware end.

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Yeah the drums all have pre-assigned values, nothing happens when I use 'Learn' in Traktor at all. And the midi output light doesn't light up when I hit one either. Starting to feel it might be the cable.

About the drivers, there are none supplied on any yamaha site, none mentioned in the manual so I assumed it was plug and play. The 'new hardware found' box pops up when I plug them in via usb and installation completes automatically.Thats as far as I can get. Any other apps I can use to check if they're sending out midi data or not?

Oh and it's a set of these http://www.thomann.de/ie/yamaha_dd65.htm, just in case anyone has used em before.

Cheers so far dudes

I would try midiox to see if any midi signals are actually being sent from the drums.

http://www.midiox.com/

I forgot to ask what you are using to connect midi-usb.
Are you using something like this http://www.zzounds.com/item--MDOUNO

Could have to do with configuring that properly to read the proper midi signal.

I have used that cord before listed above, but with an old school midi keyboard, and no configuration was needed. but using it with a Drum kit maybe a whole nother story.

If the MIDI Output light isn't going off then the drums aren't sending anything for the computer to receive, or even for the cable. That'd be my guess, at least.

Is anyone else amazed by this concept? With the right cue points set the live sound could be incredible.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CerebralExcretion

I would try midiox to see if any midi signals are actually being sent from the drums.

http://www.midiox.com/

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Tried that before and got nowhere, any chance you could explain how to actually use midi-ox? I know I haven't got it set up right, my vci isn't sending it any messages.

Chis bruv

What you do is close out Traktor (or any software that is using the VCI-100), restart the VCI and load up MIDI-Ox.

There's a menu to tell MIDI-Ox to read the VCI-100 port. I can't remember the menu name and I'm at work, damnit.

But, you select the VCI-100 and then hit stuff. If it's loading into MIDI-Ox then it's working. If not, then it's either the cable, driver or hardware.

Yeah man cheers for that, just found it. Right basically it's either the cable or the drums as they are the only usb device connected to my comp, they are selected in Midi Ox as an input and switched on. Bang as much as I like and nothing happens. Nowt.

Did the exact same thing for my vci and loads of messages come up, so I'm bankin' on it bein the shitty cable I bought on the cheap on ebay!

:mad: times a trillion

Is it a USB - MIDI cable or just a MIDI cable?

Just switch out the cables from the VCI-100, if it's USB-MIDI and try that :) If that doesn't work then there's something wrong either with the unit or your settings.

Nah it's just a simple Midi one man. Cheers for the help sortin this out by the way, brains were being racked for days over it. Just gotta save up for a new cable I guess:mad:

Well, that could also be the MIDI ports you're plugging into. Might want to idiot check and make sure you're going from the MIDI Out on your drums to the MIDI In on the rack to the comp. Lord knows I've done that ;)