A friend (a good friend!) just lent me a full pc, mbox2, protools, ableton, reason, etc. I got mics and everything. I can't even hook up a damn midi keyboard to this ****, I wanna do some electronic music as well as using protools, where do I start?

If the machine has USB port (Which I should hope it has) just get a UBS midi controller keyboard, like this.

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Ever Changing Noise Machine: Squire Super Sonic - Westone Thunder IIA ---> Korg DT-10 ---> EHX Nano Small Stone ---> Modded Proco Rat ---> Zoom PD-01 Power Driver ---> Pearl AD-08 Analogue Delay in TB loop ---> Vox AD50VT

All powered by a Diago and all on a diago gig man board

Bass - Fender American P-bass in black in maple board ---> Roland BD-700

If you want to plug a MIDI keyboard in you'll need MIDI ports on the sound card, or as an external USB device. A USB connection straight to the keyboard is usually faster though so if that's a possibility then go for that.

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Guitars:
Epiphone Thunderbird Bass, Fender Stratocaster (mex), Guild D25, Line 6 Variax 300, Squier Master Series Chambered Mahogany Telecaster

The keyboard doesn't have a usb port, but it has midi as well as the mbox, I'm trying to plug it in to the mbox but nothing seems to happen, its a ***** keyboard but I'm thinking about buying a small, cheap controller with USB.

Don't worry, my sister got a new Macbook Pro with Garageband, and I insisted on her letting me install the softeware for my Line 6 Toneport so I could record, and never was able to figure out how to get it to record onto garageband

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Where's Mike McCready? MY GOD! He's been ate!!

my rig

Is the keyboard switched on?
Does the software have a soft synth or sampler selected?
Is the MIDI input set as the keyboard in the option menu or in the track properties?

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Guitars:
Epiphone Thunderbird Bass, Fender Stratocaster (mex), Guild D25, Line 6 Variax 300, Squier Master Series Chambered Mahogany Telecaster

Reference the manual for Pro Tools and the keyboard.

MIDI is data, it is not sound. My bet is you're trying to record an audio signal? Not gonna work.

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Gentle Robot - Chapel Hill NC Rock Band

Seagull Artist Mosaic (acoustic)
Fender Strat Plus
Line 6 M9
Traynor YCV40WR

The manual will probably be a bit dense.

To expand on the point that Moo is making, the keyboard is a trigger for sounds from another device, which in your case will probably be a software synthesizer in one of the recording applications. You need to send the signal to your computer, and then within your computer you need to send it to the soft synth.

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Guitars:
Epiphone Thunderbird Bass, Fender Stratocaster (mex), Guild D25, Line 6 Variax 300, Squier Master Series Chambered Mahogany Telecaster

I'm assuming that you've installed the Mbox2. And that you've plugged the MIDI out on the keyboard into the MIDI in on the Mbox.

Now, make sure that the channel in protools is armed to record from the MIDI port of the external sound card (it might be set to record from the internal sound card instead) and make sure that it's set to record from the MIDI in rather than the line in. I don't know much about pro tools lay out but all of those options should be in a menu that's called 'recording options/preferences/what ever they've called it' so look out for something like that.

So in short;

Make sure that the right sound card is selected.

Make sure you're recording from the right input.

Make sure you're monitors are on.

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