LAN hookup not intuitive

C

Christopher Murphy

Freshman
Jul 4, 2013
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Hi there, I'm new to soundforums, but a peek around told me you guys can point me in the right direction.

I've had dreams for a while now, but the frustration that I can't figure it out has been only the past two days:

At a high-level, go from keyboard to mixing software, except the computer is 50 feet away and on a different floor. I'm no professional, and this is purely a hobby. I've gotten close many times, but there always seems to be a missing link. All I'm asking for is a fresh pair of eyes to read over the constraints.

The hardware available to me:
  • Keyboard with MIDI output/input capabilities (either MIDI ports or USB)
  • Small Media Computer (I figure it can sit right next to the keyboard, that connection is the easy part)
  • Main Desktop Computer (resting a considerable distance from the keyboard and media computer).

In the past, I would record tracks onto the media computer, producing either MIDI or wave/mp3. I would then transfer the files to my main computer, which is my powerhouse when it comes to processing and mixing. This approach gets tiresome, so I want to do it all in one step.

I would be interested to hear some suggestions on how to tackle this problem, in the meantime here is how I already went about it (and failed):
  • Hardware hookup: Keyboard -> wired -> Media Computer
  • On the Media Computer: MIDI -> piped -> sequencer software -> piped -> LAN transfer software "sending" -> over wireless network
  • On the Desktop Computer: LAN transfer software "receiving" -> piped -> mixing software.

Thanks in advance, Chris
 
Re: LAN hookup not intuitive

Sure, let me explain: I want it in real time. The desktop computer mixing software uses the keyboard as an input, but there is a lan separating it. That's why there is the complicated sequence listed above. The internet led me to believe that it would work, and it apparently did for some people, just not me.
 
Re: LAN hookup not intuitive

Christopher Murphy said:
I would be interested to hear some suggestions on how to tackle this problem, in the meantime here is how I already went about it (and failed):
  • Hardware hookup: Keyboard -> wired -> Media Computer
  • On the Media Computer: MIDI -> piped -> sequencer software -> piped -> LAN transfer software "sending" -> over wireless network
  • On the Desktop Computer: LAN transfer software "receiving" -> piped -> mixing software.
Click to expand...

You are not likely to get real time audio and control over WiFi.

Mac
 
There are some vnc programs that might can do that, but they cost money and use a lot of bandwidth. You'll also likely have to manually configure the midi ports for it to work properly.

Sent from my neural implant
 
There are many flavors of vnc programs. The free ones are usually windows remote desktop (which is actually a vnc itself) with better encryption. You need one that has file sharing and input forwarding. I have never used one with that capability, but I know they exist. Google is your friend.

Sent from my neural implant is both commentary on how attached to our phones we've become and that I consider myself part of the transhumanist movement. Once again Google is your friend
 
Re: LAN hookup not intuitive

Hi Chris,

Maybe I'm confused on what exactly you are trying to do.... but essentially what I get is this.

You want to sit at computer A with a midi keyboard attached to it.

You want to play the midi keyboard and record midi/trigger a software synthesiser in your DAW on computer B.

You then want computer B to transmit audio back to computer A for monitoring. You also want mouse and keyboard control of computer B from computer A. Correct?




Lets take this step by step.


There are Mac and PC equivalents of each of these softwares....


1. Transmitting MIDI over a network:

If you are on Mac's this is actually built in. http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5171

If you are on Windows you can use 3rd party software like:

rtpMIDI Tutorial | Tobias Erichsen

2. Transmitting audio back over the network for monitoring:

NETJack Downloading JACK | JACK

I use Soundfly abyssoft - soundfly on my macs to do this.

3. Mouse and keyboard control...

Any VNC app can do this for you.... Windows Remote Desktop..... Remote Desktop for Mac etc




So this kind of setup is very possible and has been done by others before.
 
Re: LAN hookup not intuitive

Thanks for the reply Mike! You hit the nail on the head in terms of what I was describing. These are great links you posted. It's nice to hear that the setup has been done before!

I'm running windows on all computers, currently linked with teamviewer as a vpn providing remote control. I'll see if I can get rtpMIDI and JACK to work for me.

Thanks again for your reply,
Chris
 
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