Help - Record Multiple Pre-recorded Midi Tracks in Keyboard to Audio

kvsmidi

New member
I understand the very basic concepts of midi. I've recorded a lot of songs using the voices and drum tracks supplied in my keyboard (Yahama PSR-S910) in midi and songs can have up to 16 midi tracks. This has been very useful for live performance. I like the sounds in the keyboard and don't feel I need to have a different midi sound generator, either external or built into DAW software. I want to record all of those pre-recorded midi tracks simultaneously to audio (but each midi track with a parallel audio track) using the built-in keyboard sounds. Having a lot of difficulty navigating that desire. The keyboard has the standard midi interface and does not have USB-midi capability. I realize I will need some kind of hardware to interface from the keyboard to probably a PC with a DAW software program loaded. What I am having problems with conceptually is how to get the keyboard-generated voices in those midi tracks to translate over to audio. I am a very computer-literate person, and pretty well literate on the Yamaha PSR-S10, just not midi-literate. I've used some audio recording software, but minimally. I do plan to record from a microphone after the midi-tracks have been "laid down."

What would you all recommend for me?
 
There is MIDI and there is audio. You just need to record the audio for the DAW.

After that, or at the same time, you can record the MIDI "performance" data. That MIDI has to go back out and control the sound module in the keyboard . So, the recorded MIDI performance works with whatever sound module you connect to - the only place that has the psr sounds is the psr
 
If you want each voice on its own track so that you can add effects or processing and mix it all together after you've recorded, as opposed to just recording a stereo mix of all those instruments that you can't really change much, and you want to record all the tracks at the same time then you need:

1) At least one audio output from the keyboard for each of those instruments AND

B) An audio interface for your computer with a matching number of inputs.

Since the keyboard probably doesn't have that many individual outputs, you'll need to kind of work around it.

1) Record the MIDI data from the keyboard to your DAW. If you can get the DAW to actually sync to the keyboard's time code, that would be great, but it's not really necessary as long as you don't change the tempo in the DAW until you finish the rest of the steps. If you can get it to record each MIDI channel to a separate track, that might make things easier, but not exactly necessary.

2) Plug MIDI OUT from computer to IN on keyboard, and audio OUT from keyboard to IN on computer and

3) Set up a new audio track to record that audio input.

4) Mute all but one of the MIDI channels either in the DAW or at the keyboard itself.

5) Hit Record in the DAW and it should play the MIDI data out to the keyboard, which will play back the sound for one of the instruments, which goes into the computer and gets recorded on that new audio track.

6) Repeat steps 3-5 for each of the remaining instruments.

Now you should have each instrument on its own audio track and you don't really need the MIDI track(s) in the DAW anymore. I know this is all kind of vague, but the specifics are very much dependent on both your DAW of choice and your interface(s).
 
Hey all - thanks for the help. Slowly but surely some of this info is sinking in. Since I don't have hardware or software yet, I'm wondering what would be my best option.

I worked with a guy a few years back who was able to plug my keyboard directly into his surface recording interface (i.e., like a mixer) and had the option to record both midi performance and audio on every channel, we were able to the channels we wanted, etc. but it was a very expensive Apple/Mac set-up. I was just wondering if I could accomplish something similar with a PC (Surface Pro), but since I am not anywhere near his level, something more affordable?

Thanks all :)
 
If you have 16 tracks in the sequencer, then you need 16 audio inputs for the Audio part, and you have to work with whatever Audio outs you have at the keyboard - usually just 2-chan. Stereo.. So, if the keyboard is just 2-channel out, that is what you can record at any one time - you play them all, or play two tracks at a time. All 16 MIDI channels can come over the MIDI cable

MIDI in and out on a 2-channel interface;
echo_gina_3g.jpg

I also use a Turtle Beach MIDI DIN to USB cable and it works very well
 
Thank you garww - you've given me some ideas. I think I am making some progress. My keyboard manual says I can "transmit" over all midi 16 channels. The internal voices are already assigned to each channel when it is recorded.

Can anyone tell me if this set-up will work? I just want to capture the pre-recorded midi songs from my keyboard into audio/analog.

MOTU Track16 Breakout Box - The "Track16" is a DB25 outut, looks like.

MOTU Track 16 Breakout.jpg

Avid DB25-XLRM DigiSnake

DB25.jpg

Couldn't find any DB25-XLR cables that gives all 16 tracks? This is only 8 XLRs.
 
You just need the 5-pin DIN in and out for MIDI. Since you want to do Audio, also, you can get Audio i/o combined with MIDI i/o in the same box as a interface. I used to run MIDI off the old joystick port, so it's pretty simple. As a matter of fact, the previous computer had a joystick port breakout box in addition to the interface ports and my USB MIDI.

So one MIDI cable which is, basically, 4-wire networking = send and ground and receive and ground. You can just add a channel address to segregate things - like they do in your song sequencer. Drums are mapped to keys differently and are often on Chan. 10
 
Do we need to back way up and explain that the MIDI cable caries nothing at all like sound? That's a digital connection and the information it sends is pretty much just what instrument should play what note how hard and for how long.

To put it simply, as much as I'm sure you don't want to hear it, there is no way to get the actual sound of all 16 voices out of that keyboard and onto separate tracks at one time. CanNOT be done. Don't feel too bad, there aren't two many synths in the world with that many separate audio outs. :)

The only way to do this is the way I outlined where you do one track at a time. For that, something like what garww posted is about right. There are a bunch of other reasonably priced options, I think.


Edit - Oh! For software? Reaper. ;)
 
Well, it doesn't need to be a track at time, unless the board is so old it don't know left and right - both Pan and Balance . Certainly, at track at a time could be less painful and quicker than editing parameters. Beyond synths, though, you can find 8-channel boards for in and out and some will take two for 16 chan..

The important thing in the step by step was that all the control for recording is controlled by the DAW imported MIDI. It might be smooth to edit L & R in the DAW - have to experiment
 
Whether a board can take 8 or 16 channels is immaterial if the synth only has a L + R output.


I'm saying, that as a MIDI device, keyboards are limited in that way. While in Electronica, they may need an audio out for each MIDI voice
 

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I have a MIDIsport 4X4 interface to connect from my Casio WK3700 to my computer. As its name suggests, it will accept four MIDI inputs and four MIDI outputs. I have the QWS sequencer (available from QWS.com) for recording my MIDI playing. Since you are satisfied with the sounds in your keyboard, you wouldn't need another "sound box" - whether hardware or software. My reasons for liking QWS is that it is freeware (donations probably accepted) and it is extremely accessible to a blind musician (I am totally blind). It happens that I found a Roland SC88 which I use for most of my sounds, though I also use sounds from my Casio. I run both audio outputs into a mixer so that I can play with their levels and EQs a bit as I make my recordings (I love to record a one-man band with my equipment). Hope this information gives you at least a few ideas to investigate. I bought my MidiSport from Sweetwater Music, though I am sure you can get it from several different dealers. I went ahead and bought the 4-channel interface simply to allow for a bit of expansion, should I decide to add another device later.
 
Actually, it IS possible to do what OP wants, BUT

The BIG problem is that OP will need 16 PRS-5910 keyboards, which I suspect is quite impractical, and the keyboard system must allow each keyboard to RECEIVE midi data on one channel ONLY.

Just to clarify for the sake of OP, the problem is the fact that you want to use the PRS sounds, BUT once the midi data is changed into audio data, there is no longer any indication as to which sound relates to which channel, so no way to put, say, guitar onto one track, and, say, keyboard onto another track. Using the 16 keyboards allows the data to be split by channel BEFORE the data is transformed from MIDI to AUDIO.

Maybe, you could use 8 keyboards, if each could handle two channels (left and right), and assign a separate instrument to each channel.

Using some sort of intermediate unit to split the MIDI data would not help, as you would then lose the Yamaha sounds that you indicated you want to keep.

Geoff
 
I already explained exactly how to do this close enough that reading the manuals for your specific gear would get you the rest of the way. Not that I would mind clarifying some if you had specific questions on one of the steps.

Yes, to get them all at the same time you would need a lot of those keyboards AND a lot of inputs on your interface AND...

You could do them one at a time. Takes longer, but it's the best you can do. You might find that you can get away with "submixes" if maybe you don't really need individual control between some group of voices, and you can just grab them all on one stereo track.

It really comes down to how badly you want it, and very quickly starts to beg the question "Why?" Like, what are you hoping to achieve here that you can't accomplish at the keyboard itself and just record the stereo mix?
 
Well, I don't think it is all that often anyone wants the onboard sounds. I was devastated when I found out Jan Hammer was in the box for decades : ) I wouldn't think there is anything close to traumatic about doing two tracks at a time. The take away from Tomita is plan ahead. I can do, maybe, 12/14-tracks at once
 
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