Keyboard Help

[TheTomTrendy]

So I have a keyboard that's midi capable by a USB connection. I'd like to record my keyboard's piano sounds and others through that function and I use Audacity, but the software doesn't handle midi.

Does anyone know what I can use to record and edit midi? I don't want to go about the ways of putting a mic next to the keyboard speakers and recording room noise too.

Thanks in advance.

[montage]

Perhaps one of the Cakewalk products so you could edit MIDI and audio...probably Sonar Home Studio if budget-minded.

www.cakewalk.com

[mikeh]

If the software does not do MIDI - you're probably out of luck, unless you change software.

Assuming you can record audio - you can take the line out from the keyboard and record the sound direct (vs. mic'ing the keyboards speakers)

[dementedchord]

if you think mid is going to be a long term issue to you then bite the bullet and get a starter version of cubase or sonar... personaly ive had eearlier versions of sonar but prefer cubase (using at present)... though admittedly the learning curve for cubase is a bit steeper...

[TheTomTrendy]

Originally Posted by mikeh

Assuming you can record audio - you can take the line out from the keyboard and record the sound direct (vs. mic'ing the keyboards speakers)

So how would I go about doing that? I'm not sure how the connection would work.

And if I do get another software, it should be possible to record the midi through it and then convert to wav files and send to Audacity for mixing, right?

[mikeh]

I must assume your keyboard has some type of audio output - either 1/4". RCA or mini plug. At very least it must have a headphone out (either 1/4" or mini plug). I must also assume your computer has some kind of sound card.

So you plug a cable with a male jack into the female out of your keyboard with the other male end of the cable into whatever female input of your computer interface (soundcard). You may have to buy some adapters to convert 1/4" to mini plug etc.

You should now be able to send an audio track into your computer - to be converted from analog to digital. I have never used Audicity and I have no idea what your computer setup is.......but since you are planning on recording, I must assume you have some basic analog/digital conversion capabilities and that Audicity can except that type of data.

If you do purchase software that can process MIDI - you would still need to get audio into your computer if you want to create wav files.

MIDI does not create analog sound. MIDI simply tranfers various performance data (note on, note off, etc.). The software records the MIDI data and then sends it back to a MIDI instrument (or to samples). When the MIDI instrument receives the performance data back it then responds by creating the analog sound (no different than if you were pressing the keys on a MIDI keyboard. But - you still need to record that analog sound.