Recording keyboard sound patches using MIDI files

R

Robert27191

New member
Hi,

I'm not sure if I will be able to frame this question correctly - more to do with my lack of proper understanding - but I'll try my best.

I have a kurzweil sp4-8, which has built in sounds and can also act as a controller keyboard.

To record from the keyboard, I could just plug the line into my audio interface and record as usual, but what I want to know how to do is how to record a track as MIDI files - via the USB cable - and then use the inbuilt sound patches on the keyboard as the 'VST' or 'instrument sound' for the MIDI track.

Ie - the kurzweil is loaded with some of Kurzweil's great grand piano sounds. I don't want to record it 'live', so that I can have the ability to change whatever notes need correcting post-recording - but would then like to put the Kurzweil piano sound onto the MIDI track. It could, of course, be any other sound that is built in to the keyboard.

I know (I think!) there is a way of doing it, I'm just not sure how to set everything up.

Many thanks for any help at all.

Robert
 
Audio out from keyboard to audio in on your interface/soundcard.

You can still run midi out of you daw and capture the sound to another track in your computer.
 
Hi Time,

Thanks for the swift reply.

I'm a self-confessed technophobe who is only beginning to get into using MIDI - could you explain your answer slightly further for me?

Appreciate all the help and advice.
 
Would help if we knew what DAW, but...

First figure out if there's a way to turn off "MIDI echo" or "MIDI thru" inside the keyboard itself. It might be that it's just not an option using the USB, which should be ok. Usually a good idea to turn off "Local Control" if possible also.

Set up a track to record the MIDI from your keyboard, and set it's MIDI output to the your keyboard. Turn on monitoring so the MIDI passes through.

Now make a track taking input from whatever hole you plugged the keyboards audio outs into and arm it to monitor and/or record.
 
I've done this many times using Logic and Reaper.

1 Create and arm a track to record midi

2 Hit record, start playing

3 Stop when done (for me, usually after the first note because I hit the wrong one).

4 In Reaper (or Logic, or whatever) edit the midi file you've just recorded to get rid of all the dodgy notes and stuff.

5 Route the output of this track back through midi to the keyboard.

6 Connect the audio output of the keyboard to the interface

7 Create and arm a track for audio recording

8 Set up the sound patch on the keyboard

9 Hit record

The DAW will play the midi file, sending its output to the keyboard. The keyboard's audio will be recorded.
 
Thanks Gecko - that is a brilliant explanation - exactly what I was looking for.
Will work exactly how you have suggested and hope it turns out OK.

Am I to assume therefore that the final track will be a regular audio file, not a MIDI file, even though that is how it started life?
 
Of course, you'll still have the MIDI too, in case you need to tweak or re-edit something later. It's only the "final" file if you don't make another one. ;)

This thread made me realize that I have not tried to send MIDI to hardware since I switched to Reaper a few years ago... Back when I was using hardware, I like to record both audio and MIDI while playing. Just in case, really. Especially if you're unplugging and replugging the keyboard because of a lack of inputs for other things, it's nice to have that "working" track to reference until you're ready for your "final" pass.
 
ashcat_lt said:
This thread made me realize that I have not tried to send MIDI to hardware since I switched to Reaper a few years ago.
Click to expand...

Yes . . . the same for me.

With Logic I would send midi all the time to a Roland Sound Canvas, and record its audio. I only ever recorded the audio of the midi at the end. In those days, with slower CPU and less RAM, the economy of midi was handy. It was also easier to change the midi to fix wrong notes than it was to change the audio.

These days, with Reaper, the SC barely gets used, and most of the sounds I derive from VSTi.

However, I expect there are specific sounds in the Kurzweil that Robert wants to use.
 
Correct - using Logic, whilst some of the piano sounds are fairly good, nothing (IMO) comes close to Kurzweil's sounds - at least for dedicated piano reproduction. It is for this reason I wanted to know the above!
 
The Roland SC had some reasonable, though not overwhelming, piano sounds. I also have a couple of piano VSTi that are not too bad.

But I much prefer the piano from my Technics.

So what I do is play the Technics and record its midi in Reaper. I then go through the recorded midi and get rid of mis-hit, wrong or otherwise unacceptable notes. When I'm happy with this, I send the midi file back to the Technics and record its audio.
 
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