MIDI to Casio lighted keys in real time?

August 14, 2010 9:19 AM

If I send MIDI notes in real time to the MIDI in jack on a Casio LK series keyboard (with the lighted keys), will the keys light up?

This question is similar to this one, but it's different in that I am not interested in playing MIDI files. I am more interested in just sending plain ol' MIDI notes to the MIDI in port on the keyboard. I want to know if, for example, I plug another MIDI controller into it, or...let's say.......send MIDI from Ableton....(grin), will the keys light up in real time? I don't have to worry about file conversion or any of that because I am not asking it to play an internal pre-sequenced pattern. I am just asking it to respond to the MIDI it is receiving in real time. Does this work on the Casio LK series keyboards? Does it work on some of them, but not all of them? Why would it have a MIDI in jack if this is not possible??? That would be a waste, so I'm hopeful.

posted by DJ Broken Record to technology (6 answers total)

Not to be patronizing, but I suspect the easiest way to find out is to try it.
posted by LSK at 9:42 AM on August 14, 2010

Based on this video, yes - at least for that particular model.
posted by O9scar at 10:04 AM on August 14, 2010

This is going to be highly dependent on the details of the device, so you should just try it (as LSK suggests). The odds are yes, but no guarantees -- for instance you'd think a korg padkontrol might work this way, but it actually takes a lot of work to control its lights externally.

Why would it have a MIDI in jack if this is not possible???

MIDI requires daisy-chaining if you want to use more than one device (unless you have something that can function as a hub). So most decent MIDI devices have at least a MIDI in and MIDI out jack so that people can connect multiple devices together. But many of these just pass the data from the in jack to the out jack.
posted by advil at 10:33 AM on August 14, 2010

LSK - the reason I'm asking is because I want to know if I should buy one. I don't have one at the moment. However, if someone reading this thread does, it would be awesome if they could try it for me =D

O9scar - yeessss....that looks like what I want! However, I believe some of the older models don't have USB, only MIDI jacks, so there's still the possibility that it won't work with just the MIDI input. But it's good to know that if I find a USB model, it'll work. Thanks a lot.

advil - ah, right, forgot about that. good point
posted by DJ Broken Record at 10:44 AM on August 14, 2010

So most decent MIDI devices have at least a MIDI in and MIDI out jack so that people can connect multiple devices together.

Erm, MIDI in, MIDI out, and MIDI thru (which is what you're talking about).
posted by Sys Rq at 12:59 PM on August 14, 2010

The existence of a midi-in just means that you can use the device to produce sound from midi input, i.e. use it's synthesizer. You can also probably change patches and stuff from midi input.

Whether you'll get notes lighting up, I have no idea. Search for a PDF manual online, maybe that will help?
posted by RustyBrooks at 1:40 PM on August 14, 2010