OT MIDI out to A4 MIDI thru to control external synth

I’m struggling to figure out the best way to hook together my OT, A4, and desktop Evolver synth. When I connect the OT MIDI out directly to the Evolver, I am able to both play the Evolver and enter sequences for it using the OT.

But when I swap cables and go

OT MIDI out ->
A4 MIDI in ->
A4 MIDI thru ->
Evolver MIDI in,

I can no longer play the Evolver from the OT.

So I’m thinking there must be some settings on the A4 that are the issue. I’ve hunted around for info and tried changing A4 MIDI settings, but nothing is working. Folks, what’s the fix I’m missing?

Alternatively, if there is a way to play and sequence the Evolver from the A4 directly, I’d also be interested in that possibility. If I have this straight, the last A4 firmware I updated enables MIDI, so I’m assuming that it should be fairly easy to now play a synth using the A4. I will try looking that up now, but in case anyone has tips or a recommended link to external sequencing using the A4 that comes to mind, please let me know!

In order to ensure that the Analog Four passes MIDI messages to its MIDI Thru port, you need to:

  • set INPUT FROM to “MIDI”, and
  • set THRU PORT FUNC to “MIDI”

in the GLOBAL > MIDI CONFIG > PORT CONFIG menu.

The OT is a much better MIDI sequencer but if you want one of the Analog Four’s tracks to send MIDI, you need to activate SEND MIDI in the NOTES SETUP menu for that track. See “SEND MIDI” in the manual for full details.

The Evolver also has a fun internal sequencer that you can synchronize with the Elektron sequencers.

3 Likes

Hi Peter, thanks so much for your reply. You successfully showed the way for both questions! Weirdly, though, the MIDI Thru configuration was already correct when I turned my gear on, and worked accordingly… baffled why there was a roadblock before. In any case, I am grateful for your clarification of what the settings should be and therefore what to check in case of similar struggles in the future. Thanks again.

1 Like