Korg Forums

Hello! I am a desperate noob who knows nothing of synthesizers/controllers etc. or of the computer programs that go with them. Basically my goal is to plug my Microkorg XL into my computer so I can play it through my computer and eventually record things.

I bought a usb cable which connects my Microkorg XL to my computer. I can confirm that works. Next I downloaded a trial version of FL studio thinking it is a noob friendly program which would allow me to do this. After playing around with every knob I could find and pressing random buttons I could get nothing to work. I also looked at countless tutorials online but most are either specific to the Microkorg(not XL) or are not addressing the issues I'm having.

I found this tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtTtxSILm7U but it's for a Microkorg not a Microkorg XL and they seem to have completely different layouts. I ignored the beginning where he plays with the settings on the physical Microkorg because I could not find them and skipped to the part where he adjusts the settings on FL Studio. I went to the MIDI settings and set the Input/Output like he said then I added a channel with the Microkorg preset and went to the mixer on that and set it to stereo in the top right area. I then noticed that when I press keys the green light in FL studio was lighting up and I was getting a piano sound. I found that I could change the preset on the MicroKorg channel within FL Studio I had created to make different sounds besides the piano but I could not use all of the different presets on the actual Microkorg. I could also play sounds through my computer keyboard as well. I switched the settings on the fourth knob from the left to Full Edit and switched the settings to Routing MIDI+USB and also tried different channels. I still cannot get it to play the sounds from the actual MicroKorg XL. All I know is I know nothing about this and any help would be greatly appreciated. I am open to using different programs or whatever people recommend. Thanks!

Hi,

A lot of info, but not crisp clear to me what works and what not... So here some hints and checks.

* On the XL, check the MIDI Channel that is set up, by default 1. Check that the routing is MIDI+USB
* Do you connect the XL via its USB port or via its DIN MIDI IN/OUT ports to your pc?
-> Via DIN -> the video is pretty close what you should do. What may not work is the preset the guy chooses when setting up the MIDI Out channel track in FL. Skip that.
-> Via USB -> install the Korg USB driver on your pc. Make sure that in FL/MIDI settings, you choose the XL SOUND port as MIDI OUT (set up a port number) and the XL KBD/KNB as MIDI IN port (enable). Further follow the video.
* Set up a MIDI Out Channel track in FL (set up the channel nr corresponding to the MIDI channel of the XL (default 1), make sure the Port corresponds to the number you've set up in the midi settings of FL.
* When you click now on the keyboard associated with the MIDI Out channel track in FL, do you hear sound from the XL (Use a headphone connected to the XL, turn up the volume)?
-> if this is ok, your setup is fine!


Note that: you can setup FL to play different MIDI tracks, but your XL will play them always using the same program (the current selected one). This is because the XL is a single MIDI channel machine. There is one exception on this, some programs are set up in multi mode, meaning they have 2 timbres. The first timbre is controlled via the global midi channel and/or the keyboard on the XL. The second timbre can be controlled via a separate set up midi channel only (e.g. by FL). These programs allow you to have 2 different sounds from the XL at the same moment. But lets start with first things first...

Good luck.

OpAmp wrote:Hi,

A lot of info, but not crisp clear to me what works and what not... So here some hints and checks.

* On the XL, check the MIDI Channel that is set up, by default 1. Check that the routing is MIDI+USB
* Do you connect the XL via its USB port or via its DIN MIDI IN/OUT ports to your pc?
-> Via DIN -> the video is pretty close what you should do. What may not work is the preset the guy chooses when setting up the MIDI Out channel track in FL. Skip that.
-> Via USB -> install the Korg USB driver on your pc. Make sure that in FL/MIDI settings, you choose the XL SOUND port as MIDI OUT (set up a port number) and the XL KBD/KNB as MIDI IN port (enable). Further follow the video.
* Set up a MIDI Out Channel track in FL (set up the channel nr corresponding to the MIDI channel of the XL (default 1), make sure the Port corresponds to the number you've set up in the midi settings of FL.
* When you click now on the keyboard associated with the MIDI Out channel track in FL, do you hear sound from the XL (Use a headphone connected to the XL, turn up the volume)?
-> if this is ok, your setup is fine!


Note that: you can setup FL to play different MIDI tracks, but your XL will play them always using the same program (the current selected one). This is because the XL is a single MIDI channel machine. There is one exception on this, some programs are set up in multi mode, meaning they have 2 timbres. The first timbre is controlled via the global midi channel and/or the keyboard on the XL. The second timbre can be controlled via a separate set up midi channel only (e.g. by FL). These programs allow you to have 2 different sounds from the XL at the same moment. But lets start with first things first...

Good luck.

Thanks very much for the detailed reply! I've had a birthday, midterms and a wedding this week so I have not gotten back to my Korg. I am going to try the settings you recommended tonight when I get home.

Howdy, just an obvious revelation, if you’ve encountered difficulty with “Microkorg not connected to specified port” or other random error messages on a Mac, verify that that you have d/l the correct editor… I have Microkorg XL and spent all afternoon failing to load Thoracius’ patch… only to discover that I was using the Microkorg XL+ editor…doh. Upon using the correct editor, the patch installed easily and quickly…