Auracle for X-Series

Deep Dive

Part 4: MIDI Routing

What is Auracle for X-Series?

Auracle for X-Series is the free control software that allows you to set up and configure your iConnectivity audio and MIDI Interfaces. In this new video series, we’ll be walking through all the features of Auracle for X-Series so you know exactly how to set up and configure your interface.

In this video, we’ll be taking a look at the MIDI routing page, and how you can quickly and easily perform tasks that previously took an engineering degree and a 4 day weekend to accomplish.

While we show MIDI routing using a MioXM, the process is the same, no matter what interface you have. The only difference is the number of ports on your interface.

Before we dive into today’s video make sure you’ve downloaded Auracle for X-Series and installed it on your computer.

Entering the MIDI Routing Page

With your interface connected to your computer, click the MIDI Routing button to enter the MIDI Routing page.

Understanding the MIDI Routing Page

The power of the MIDI routing page is its simplicity. While the thought of managing lots of MIDI inputs and outputs can feel overwhelming, the MIDI routing page is anything but overwhelming. It’s made up of two parts, Sources, and Destinations.

Think of sources as MIDI inputs. If I’ve connected a keyboard to the DIN 1 port of my MioxMX, I can think of DIN 1 as the source that contains my keyboard. (More on a tip to make this easier in a moment).

Destinations are MIDI outputs. These are outputs on your interface.

As you’ll see soon, managing MIDI routings on your interface is as simple as routing sources to destinations.

Sources

As mentioned earlier, we are using a MioXM for this article. The number of sources that show up on this page will depend on your interface, but the layout and process are exactly the same, no matter what interface you’re using.

Let’s take a look at what sources are available on our MioXM.

DIN Ports

First up on our list, are the 5-Pin DIN ports on our interface. In the case of the MioXM, we have 4 DIN ports. These are the physical 5-pin connections on the interface.

USB/Hosted Device Instrument

Next, we have the Host Port connections. These are the devices connected to the USB Host port on your interface. The amount of Host ports shown here depends on your interface. Make sure you’ve made USB host port reservations for any devices connected to the USB host port.

Device Port to Computer/DAW

Next are the MIDI connections that show up in our DAW when connected to the USB-DAW connection of your interface. For example, If I connect my MioXM to my computer and open Ableton Live’s MIDI preferences, I’ll see these ports listed in my DAW.

It’s worth noting, that these ports are only available when connected via USB. If you are connected to your computer via RTP only, these ports won’t show in your DAW.

For the MioXM and MioXL, you’ll notice a Preset Selector listed that allows you to send Program Changes to change presets on your interface.

You’ll also notice 3 reserved ports that aren’t actively used. You can use these creatively to route MIDI like creating a MIDI loopback port.

RTP/Network MIDI

Finally, if your interface has an ethernet port on it, you’ll see RTP MIDI ports listed here. The number of RTP ports shown depends on your specific interface.

Destinations

On the right side of the screen, you’ll notice destinations that function as MIDI outputs for your interface.

To see Destinations, click on a source to the left and you’ll see Destinations listed on the right side of the screen. Similar to Sources, the Destinations shown depend on your specific interface.

Renaming MIDI Ports

As mentioned earlier in the post, the power of MIDI routing with Auracle for X-Series is in its simplicity. To make MIDI routing simpler, you can re-name the ports to match what is connected to them. For example, to route MIDI from a Drum Pad, you can click on a source named “Drum Pad” instead of DIN 1.

Let’s walk through the process to re-name a MIDI port.

Click on the pencil icon next to the source your controller is connected to.

Using the Rename Port prompt, you can enter what name you’d like your source to be. When done click Save to save the new port name.

Now, instead of seeing DIN 1, you’ll see the name of your controller listed instead. You’ll also notice that re-naming a port in Sources, also renames the same port in Destination.

MIDI Routing

MIDI routing in Auracle for X-Series, is as simple as choosing a Source and choosing what Destination you want to route MIDI to. Let’s walk through the process.

Choose a Source

From the list of Sources on the left, choose your source by clicking on your port.

Choose a Destination

On the right-hand side of the screen, choose the destination you want to route to by clicking on a specific destination.

You can choose multiple destinations by clicking on an additional destination from the list.

Send to All

To speed up the process, you can route one source to multiple destinations at once, using the “Send to All” button.

In the upper right-hand corner of the screen, click Send to All, and choose the Ports from the dropdown you’d like to send MIDI to.

Oops… I did it again

From time to time, we make mistakes. Last-minute changes before shows, trying to route MIDI backstage with a production manager hovering over your shoulder…stress can cause mistakes. In those cases, you can make use of an additional button in the MIDI routing page, the “Clear All” button.

Once your press Clear All, it will clear all the routings to destinations for that specific source.

The Nuclear Option

If you’re in a situation where you want to start fresh with ALL your MIDI routings, you can use the Clear MIDI Settings button to clear all your routings and start over.

Go back to the main screen in Auracle for X-Series and press the “i” button to enter the Device Information screen. Press the “Clear MIDI Settings” to remove all the current MIDI routings.

MIDI Filtering and Remapping

Stick around as we continue our deep-dive in Auracle for X-Series. In our next video we will take a look at MIDI Filtering and Remapping in Auracle for X-Series.

Auracle for X-Series Deep Dive: Pt. 4: MIDI Routing