Trouble With External Midi Connection

I am using a new intel iMAC and I have connected a MOTU Midi Express 128 USB interface. I have a keyboard controller and three external synth modules. I have used the midi setup utility to map the keyboard controller IN to the MOTU and map OUT of the MOTU to the various synth modules on different ports. I am running Logic Express 8 and within that app, everything works perfectly. So far so good.

But sometimes I would like to just "play" the synth modules myself from the keyboard controller. I was under the impression that I could route from the IN port of the MOTU (where the keyboard is connected) to any OUT port of the MOTU and thus to any module, without having to run any app like Logic.

In other words I thought I could direct what goes out to a module: midi from the mac, or midi from any of the available "ins".

Take it one step further, I would like to use Logic to feed midi to one module and I would like to have the keyboard controller feed a second module so I can "play along" with a different part.

All this was terribly simple with my old manual midi 3x8 mechanical switching box and I some how thought it would be a snap with the new Mac and MOTU. Please tell me I am missing something obvious.

Thanks, Dave

 

Yes. Keyboard OUT to port 1 IN. Port 2 OUT to synth module IN.

I'm quite sure all connections are correct because it all works fine within Logic Express. It's outside of Logic that I can't figure out how to route the keyboard to the module.

For any of the 8 outs in the midi setup, how does each of them know which of the 8 ins (or a software app like Logic) is supposed to feed it.

The way it looks to me right now, the 8x8 inteface can only direct 8 ins TO Logic (or some other app) and out outs FROM logic. You can't actually use the 8x8 interface as a switch box between ins and outs directly.

Dave