Akai MPK Mini/MIDI Issue

Hiya fellas, First of all I just want to say hi - this is my first post on the forum and since I've just recently downloaded Reaper and bought myself a MIDI keyboard, expect to be hearing a lot more from me! My problem is, in fact, related to my MIDI keyboard. I understand that a MIDI device doesn't make sounds by itself, and that you need to play it through a piece of software ie. a plug-in (most of the time) for it to make a noise. My problem is that I can't seem to open up any of the virtual instruments I have and get my keyboard controller to interact with them so I can get started on making music! I've looked all over for some advice on Youtube and generally on the internet, but I can't seem to find anything that will solve the problem. The keyboard is plugged into the USB port and all the keys and pads light up as they should if everything was working properly, but nada. Do I need to do anything to make Reaper recognise my MIDI controller? It's an Akai MPK mini. The other question is - how do I connect the controller to make it compatible with the virtual instruments and assign which key does what? Thank you in advance for any help you can give me!

I see this post is from a month ago - hopefully you resolved the problem but just in case.... I use Reaper and the Akai MPK Mini - and it all works perfectly. Here's some steps... - plug the Akai into USB - some lights should come on the keyboard (but won't make any sound yet) - start Reaper - In Reaper, from the Options menu, select Preferences... click on "Midi Devices" - should see "MPK Mini" - right click and "Enable input" and "Enable input control messages". Then press OK - Add a VST in Reaper (right click and "Insert virtual instrument on new track" - then select the instrument. - make sure the track is "armed" - make sure the track is listening on midi (I usually just tell it to listen on All devices on All channels) And that should be it. Hit a key and the midi message should route to the VST and make a noise.

Hi, I'm looking for answers to the same question, thank you for the info above, i've followed it and unfortunately when I press 'ok' or 'apply' I just get the message; 'The following MIDI inputs could not be opened: MPK mini' I don't know if anyone else has come across this, as a novice i'd really appreciate any ways around this. Thank you for any advice

HI there, I'm a newbie myself and had some issues. Have you followed the instructions on the Quick Start guide? Here's what it says: "Always connect the MPK mini to your computer before opening the software editor. After opening the software editor, you will need to select the MPK mini from the drop-down menu on the opening screen and click "Done." For Mac or Windows Vista users, it will be listed as Akai MPK mini. For Windows XP users, it will be listed as USB Audio Device. (If you have other USB audio devices connected to your computer, which may have identical names, you may need to try selecting each one until the MPK mini is recognized.) IMPORTANT!: The first time you use the software editor, even if the correct device is already shown in the drop-down menu, you still need to click on the menu and select the device. (You will also need to do this if you move your files to a new location.) In future sessions, though, you can simply click "Done" if the correct device is shown in this window." I followed this, although it seems to be for the editor. I then closed the editor as I believe it clashes with Reaper. Everything works fine now, well, I can here notes played from the keyboard via the VST.