Here's a MIDI conundrum. Anybody solve it?

[palestrina7]

I am a college professor and I have been teaching music technology since the beginnings of midi. I have run into some interesting technical issues over the years, but this has got me stumped.

My old controller keyboard on my personal, extensive 3-computer studio has always been missing a midi signal on F# 4 --- figured it was a bad contact. I liked the old keyboard, so for the last few years I have always had to put in an F and sharp it later! (Amazing what you can get used to.) Weirdly, even quickly transposing the keyboard would not allow me to get that pitch entered. I guess that was significant, but I didn't really think about it.

I finally bought a brand new controller keyboard and hooked it up. Much to my total shock, the F#4 is STILL DEAD. Every other pitch works, just like it did on the old keyboard. Doesn't matter which piece of equipment I send the midi signal to, it is dead on that note. My midi hub shows no signal at all when I play it.

How can that be? Midi gremlins in my house? Should I consider moving?

[palestrina7]

OK, no takers. I solved the problem, but technically, I don't really know how.

I replaced the midi cord from the keyboard with a new one. Instantly the F# worked. Just out of curiosity, I replaced the old midi cord and it STILL WORKED.

Hooking up a new cord solved the problem, and it's working just fine with the old cord.

I'm still not sure about the gremlins. It's still the best explanation I have.

[Marko]

Perhaps the socket at the end of the plug was not making a clean connection until you switched cables and replugged them.

Other than that, I would have surmised that it was corrupt software, a bad keyboard, or a problem with the MIDI interface.

It's great that your solution was simple enough.

Marko