Logic Pro Environment: Sequencer Input Confusion

[HFTobeason]

What I'm trying to do is a bit unusual, I think, and I'm having some trouble sorting it out.

Please refer to the attached screenshot of my Environment setup.

In a simplified version of my setup, I have an external MIDI SEQUENCER which connects to the laptop running Logic Pro. This sequencer has a sequence with two tracks running, one outputting on MIDI channel 01, and one on MIDI channel 02.

I have set up the following sets of tracks (A & B) in Logic (a total of six tracks):

TRACK 1A/B [MIDI]: Software Instrument track with no plugin and no output. These tracks are set to MIDI channel 01 and 02, respectively.

TRACK 2A/B [OUTPUT]: Software Instrument track with a synth plugin. The output of this track goes to Bus 01/02.

TRACK 3A/B [AUDIO]: Audio track. The input of this track is Bus 01/02, and the output is Stereo Out. Both tracks have their Input Monitoring enabled.

In the Environment, I have cabled MIDI Port 1 to a Monitor object so I can see what's coming in -- this is the input from the external sequencer. As expected, notes come in on channels 01 & 02.

I then cabled the Monitor object to a Channel Splitter object, which is, in turn, cabled to TRACK 1A and TRACK 1B, from its respective channel 1 and channel 2 outputs.

The outputs of those two tracks are, respectively, cabled to the inputs of TRACK 2A & TRACK 2B, which is where the synth plugins are located.

Those two tracks are routed to Bus 01 and Bus 02, respectively. My final two tracks, 3A & 3B, are listening to Bus 01 & Bus 02, and routed to the stereo output. I now can listen (and record the audio, if I want) through/onto these two Audio tracks.

And now to the issue:

I'd like to be able to record the MIDI data onto the first two tracks in Logic (TRACK 1A & 1B). The only way I can see to get those tracks to "hear" the incoming MIDI is by cabling the outputs of TRACK 2A & 2B to the Sequencer Input object.

And that's the problem. Now, if I send MIDI data on channel 01 ONLY, and TRACK 1A is armed, everything's fine. I can record channel 01 MIDI data onto TRACK 1A.

But if I send MIDI data on channel 01 ONLY, but arm TRACK1B, both instruments play -- TRACK 1B is "hearing" MIDI channel 01.

I'm stumped. I know that my relative inexperience is preventing me from seeing some elegant and simple way of solving this problem, and I would very much appreciate any advice. Thanks.

 

[HFTobeason]

Well, I don't see the image, so here's the link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2ck2foow1pzuya0/Screen Shot 2015-08-08 at 13.26.12.jpg

 

[HFTobeason]

Well, after a lot of research and a lot of fiddling around, I've come up with a much simplified version, which seems to be working...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rejuq5a7mme6380/Screen Shot 2015-08-08 at 16.35.41.png

The only trick appears to be keeping my wits about me in terms of selecting/arming the instrument tracks.

Oh, and "Project Settings -> Recording -> Auto demix by channel if multitrack recording" is checked.

 

[EdgarRothermich]

You forgot yo mention one important thing: "Why are you doing that?"

You have to explain what you try to achieve. What is the purpose of the external sequencer? Is that were you record your song and use Logic just as a sound module. But you mention to record audio on Logic, how is Logic synced with your external sequencer? What's the big picture?
.

 

[Peter Ostry]

Just two rules:

1. MIDI input to the sequencer plays and records on the selected track.
2. Direct MIDI input to an instrument channelstrip plays the instrument but does not record.

Therefore, if you cable directly to channelstrips and want to record MIDI, you additionally cable to the sequencer. Use an ornament object for distribution or, if you want to see the data, a monitor object.

Example:

There should not be an instrument on your MIDI recording track, because when selected, it would receive all data. One idea to make multichannel recording convenient is, to reserve one MIDI channel for the recording track and have all instruments and controllers on other channels.


For playing, do not select the instrument tracks or Logic may get confused (stay on any other or the recording track).


For recording, select the recording track, record and separate by channel. This way your recording track will always be empty:

Quick Tip:
After separating by channel, you may select the new regions and call "Functions => Name Regions by Track Name" from the local menu.

 

[HFTobeason]

Apologies for not being clear (nor concise). To explain:

I am using a Synclavier (200 track sequencer, 64x16 MIDI outputs, keyboard) to "drive" Logic.

The Synclavier sequencer acts as the master, syncing to Logic using MTC.

But - I would like to be able to record the incoming MIDI in Logic at some point.

Also - I would like to be able to record the audio output by the MIDI tracks in Logic.

Thanks to the above suggestions (and others), I believe I have finally sorted this out. A simple two-track version looks like this (I still can't figure out how to embed images):

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pusnq29c8qawlmp/Screen Shot 2015-08-09 at 12.00.04.png

This seems to do what I need. I can select one of the Audio tracks to avoid the MIDI bunching problem. And I have "Project Settings -> Recording -> Auto demix by channel if multitrack recording" checked, so the tracks automagically get separated after MIDI recording stops.

Thank you all again for your help.