Reply to Controller issues

Let me begin by saying I have tried searching for solutions to this, but, that being said, I really don't quite know what to search for.

Here's what I have:
I have an old keyboard (Yamaha PSR-220) that I had lying around that just happened to have midi capabilities, as well as a korg nanopad. Nothing special.

Here's what's happening:
With both of these devices, I am getting the same problem in both Reason and Ableton. They both seem to work fine with whatever instrument I am using at the time in either program, and when I begin working with a new instrument they still appear to work. But, whenever I try to go back to a previous instrument track or clip, whatever I hit on a controller comes through as if it were interacting with the most recently used instrument.

Here's an example:
In reason, I'll put together a drum beat on redrum. Then play around with maelstrom over it. Let's say now I want to fiddle with a thor device. If I try to mess with what I did in the redrum or maelstrom, all I'm hearing is the thor and it wont record to the other tracks anymore.


I don't seem to have any problem drawing in notes on any tracks. There just seems to be a disconnect with my midi controllers and the active device in the DAW. I'm sure it will all boil down to user error, as I don't really know a lot about midi-computer interaction and customization. If there are threads about this already, I apologize, but I couldn't find any answers on my own. Thanks in advance to any help.