User Manual

CHAPTER 13. ROUTING AND I/O 169
otherwise been assigned to remote-control elements of the Live interface. To prevent this,
you can turn the computer MIDI keyboard off when it is not needed.
13.3.3 Connecting External Synthesizers
Routing MIDI to an external synthesizer is straightforward: The Output Type chooser is set
to whatever MIDI port the synthesizer is connected to; the Output Channel chooser is used
to select which MIDI channel to send on.
In addition to routing via a track's In/Out section, it is also possible to route from within a
track's device chain by using the External Instrument device. In this case, you can send MIDI
out to the external synthesizer and return its audio - all within a single track.
Important: If you are using a keyboard synthesizer both as a master keyboard to play into
Live and as a sound generator, then please make sure to check the synthesizer's Local
Off function. Every synthesizer has this function, which effectively separates the keyboard
from the sound generator, allowing you to treat both components as if they were separate
devices. This allows you to use Live as the hub of your MIDI studio, which receives MIDI
from the keyboard and dispatches the incoming MIDI, as well as the MIDI from the clips, as
appropriate.
13.3.4 MIDI In/Out Indicators
Live's Control Bar contains three pairs of indicator LEDs that tell you about incoming and
outgoing MIDI. These indicators tell you not only about the presence of signals, but also
about their use. In every pair, the upper indicator ashes when a MIDI message is received,
and the lower indicator ashes when a MIDI message is sent.
The Control Bar's MIDI
Indicators.
The three indicator pairs represent, from left to right:
1. MIDI Clock and Timecode signals that are used for synchronizing Live with other
sequencers. Note that this set of indicators is only visible when an external sync
source has been enabled in the MIDI Ports List in the Preferences;