SoundDiver and POD aren

Here’s a quick tutorial on a couple MIDI topics:

There are a couple of considerations with SoundDiver and Windows soundcard systems.

1. SoundBlaster type cards have more than one MIDI driver. The system will usually default to the driver for the built in synth on the card,
rather than the external MIDI port. This means that you must select the correct driver, before SoundDiver can see the POD.

2. MIDI cables must run from Out to In and viceversa. Think of it as the direction the information is flowing; Out of the Pod In to the
computer. Out of the computer In to the POD.

3. MIDI channels must be set to the same value. The quickest way to ensure communication is to simply set the POD MIDI Channel to ‘A.’ for all (In MIDIese, this is known as Omni mode).

Mac systems don’t have the above problems, but sometimes, especially with Power Books that have a single serial port that doubles as both printer and modem port, establishing initial MIDI communication can be difficult. If this happens, check with the manufacturer of your
MIDI interface, as they probably have a solution for this problem.

Here are some basic steps to ensure communication with the POD:

1. When you get the dialog box stating that no new device is found, click on the button that says ‘Manually’. You will be dropped in the Memory Manager window of SoundDiver.

2. On the left hand side of the Memory Manager window, you will see a list of parameters. Make sure that the ‘Out Port’ is set to the driver for the External MIDI. As different companies have different driver names, there’s no one set name, but the selection should be fairly
obvious.

3. Make sure that the ‘Device ID’ is set to 1.

4. On the right hand side of the Memory Manager, click on the title bar that says ‘User Programs’ This will highlight all 36 of the user preset locations that are currently blank.

5. Now click on the leftmost icon in the upper left of the Memory Manager. It should look like a little keyboard with an arrow coming out of it and a small question mark. This requests the current programs from the POD. At this point, you should see all the patch names fill in, and
you’re good to go.

Once you’ve got the POD talking to SoundDiver, you should first build a library of the sounds that are in your POD. Here’s how:

1. Now that the ‘User Programs’ area shows all the patch names, select ‘Build Library… All Entries’ from the Entry Menu in the Memory Manager Window. This should open a Library window with all of your patches listed.

2. Save the Library by choosing ‘Save’ from the File menu. Give it a name that’s fairly descriptive like ‘My first patches and boy am I excited’ or, if you don’t have long file names active, ‘MFPANAIE.LIB’.

Once you have the library created, you can store new patches in it (the libraries can store more than just 36 patches, the only limit is how much disk space you have) by just dragging the patch over from the User Programs or Program Edit Buffer to the Library. You can also
drag patches from the Library and drop them on the POD location where you’d like them to live.

Knowledge Base