midi newbie needs some help

[wreckthisplace]

this may or may not be a dumb question but here goes.

i am using the mbox with pro tools 4.

i want to buy either a usb midi keyboard or an actual midi interface. that would be my first question. what do you all recommend for the setup i am using? I am running on a Powerbook G4. 1 ghz. 512 ram.

what i want to do eventually is to use a sampler such as NI kontakt or NI battery or other drum samplers and have it so i can set up a whole drum kit in the sampler software and be able to trigger each drum (snare, kick etc...) sample by hitting the corresponding key or pad on my midi keyboard.
is that how it works?

is there a way to load up a whole classic piano so you literally turn your midi keyboard into a piano? or organ? etc...

i also use a Boss Dr. Rhythm DR-670 drum machine which has midi ins/outs. can i use that with drum sampler software? could i program certain kicks and snares etc... from sample cds so that they can be triggered using the drum machine pads?

i would appreciate any help on on this.
i've wanted to get into midi and triggers for a while now but before i spend money on some equipment i want to make sure i understand how it all works.

thanks in advance. looking forward to hearing some responses.

cheers.

[djui5]

MOTU makes a nice little usb interface that would work perfectly for your application....it's a 2 in 2 out piece....around $60.....


http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/FastlaneUSB/


I'd suggest going to Barnes and Noble and getting a midi book....it's easy to say "hook this to that and this to that" but there's other things you need to know that would take a while explaining on here...

[web01169]

what you're trying to do is not impossible but rather easy, you just need to know about how to get things up and running. first using your midi keyboard as a controller to your software instruments plug-in is used alot these days, just the configuration is what is going to trouble you at first. on the dr670 issue you dont want to sample those sounds into your sampler what you want to do is use it as a modual and trigger the sequence from your sequencing software not your sampling software...two different things. now i am not familiar with kontakt or battery but i know that when you're are using pro- tools as your daw you will set up your many midi tracks and you will use either plug-in instruments as your source of sound or you will use your midi out(going to the dr670) as your source for sound, for an example
MIDI track 10: going to your kick on the 670
MIDI track 11: going to your snare software plug-in
and so on and so on

another thing you have to keep in mind, the dr670 is not multitimberal, it can only be set to one midi channel, usually 10 but you can change it, so any other modual or plug-in must be set to a different midi channel. so if you wanted to use the snare and the toms in the 670 but the kick somewhere else, on the snare and tom miditracks on your daw you will set them to trigger out on midi track 10 or whatever your 670 midi channel is set to and the other sounds to whatever midi channel those sounds are set to. i hope i didnt confuse you in this, but like i said you will get it it just takes patience and going back in forth to your how to set the midi channel in your synth or drum plug-in page of the help menu to get it going.