Just Beginning, Clueless and Need Synth Help!!

tweedledee

New member
Just Beginning, clueless and need help!

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Jere is my question. i have a synth that i love. a 76 key yamaha portable grand arranger with awsome sound but it only has midi cpabilities via USB connection and my sound card is not nearly good enough for midi to be nearly good enough.
so here is my question: is there any way that i can adapt my keybord or connect it to some contraption or other that will allow it to record audio rather than midi or do i need me a new synth?.......please advise soonest cuz i just ordered a bunch of studio equitment, mic, 8-track mixer,cubase and other stuff that i have no clue how to use and i wanna make sure i have everything i need before i attempt to learn or i'll just infuriate myself..

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tweedledee said:
Just Beginning, clueless and need help!

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Jere is my question. i have a synth that i love. a 76 key yamaha portable grand arranger with awsome sound but it only has midi cpabilities via USB connection and my sound card is not nearly good enough for midi to be nearly good enough.
so here is my question: is there any way that i can adapt my keybord or connect it to some contraption or other that will allow it to record audio rather than midi or do i need me a new synth?.......please advise soonest cuz i just ordered a bunch of studio equitment, mic, 8-track mixer,cubase and other stuff that i have no clue how to use and i wanna make sure i have everything i need before i attempt to learn or i'll just infuriate myself..

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Welcome, tweedledee. It'll help if you list exactly what hardware you'll be using. You say that your "sound card is not nearly good enough for midi..." This will present a problem if you're looking to use "triggered" midi events from external sources (i.e. keyboard, etc) during recordings. However, Cubase (& other software) allow you to place midi events wherever you want them in your recordings. If you want to use midi events as part of (during) the recording process you'll need to read up on midi interface devices such as MOTU's FastLane midi interface devices (or similar). Get back to us and list the exact hardware & specs that you'll be using. Hopes this helps for starters.
 
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toyL said:
Welcome, tweedledee. It'll help if you list exactly what hardware you'll be using. You say that your "sound card is not nearly good enough for midi..." This will present a problem if you're looking to use "triggered" midi events from external sources (i.e. keyboard, etc) during recordings. However, Cubase (& other software) allow you to place midi events wherever you want them in your recordings. If you want to use midi events as part of (during) the recording process you'll need to read up on midi interface devices such as MOTU's FastLane midi interface devices (or similar). Get back to us and list the exact hardware & specs that you'll be using. Hopes this helps for starters.
the mor ei read replies to my threads the more confused i am getting . i just placed an order on amazon for
pc recording for summies and home recording fro dummies and i'll be back after i have a better grasp of the basics. id id not realize how very technichal this stuff is.
 
Is there a "Line Out" jack on your keyboard? Or is MIDI the only one? If it's just MIDI, then you'll have to record it with a mic or hook it into a keyboard amp or something like that.
 
danny.guitar said:
Is there a "Line Out" jack on your keyboard? Or is MIDI the only one? If it's just MIDI, then you'll have to record it with a mic or hook it into a keyboard amp or something like that.
it has nothing but a usb and a jack that says sustain. the midi capabilities work via usb. i am nto sure if i should learn more about midi and record that way or proceed bia audio, buy a new synth, ect...
 
There are plenty of good sounds you can use via MIDI. Your sound card doesn't have to be good to use the MIDI if it's USB.

If your computer has a USB port then you can just hook it into there and you don't even need a sound card for that.

What kind of sounds do you want to use? Piano, organ, strings?

There are a couple decent free ones but if you really want to get good sounds you'll probably need to spend a little money.

Otherwise you'll need to find a way to record your synth with a microphone. You may want to get an amplifier and mic that.
 
danny.guitar said:
There are plenty of good sounds you can use via MIDI. Your sound card doesn't have to be good to use the MIDI if it's USB.

If your computer has a USB port then you can just hook it into there and you don't even need a sound card for that.

What kind of sounds do you want to use? Piano, organ, strings?

There are a couple decent free ones but if you really want to get good sounds you'll probably need to spend a little money.

Otherwise you'll need to find a way to record your synth with a microphone. You may want to get an amplifier and mic that.
i have been using the computer. i mena my pc soundcard is lousy. the beautiful rich sound that i hear out of my synth speakers sound like it came off a gameboy when i play back on my PC.

i am very interested in the mic idea. i had though if that a long time ago but i kept beig told there was no pay to make a nice recording off of my synth with a mic. that recoprding from an amp or synth would make feedback and staticy sounds ect.. can you reccomend a mic that is not to expensive for me to use cuz that would save me a whole lotta trouble and expense if i could get a nice recording that way? and could it be done from the synth speakers? the speakers are large and have fabulous sound. if i could capture it i would eb a happy camper.
 
Even with the mic, if you can't record good quality with your soundcard you won't be able to do much it it. Cheapest solution I can think of is get a single channel USB recording interface and a cheap mic (something like a SM57) and try that. I've never tried recording a synth before so I don't know what mics will work really well on it. Provided the speakers put out good sound you could definitely record directly from them, similar to how guitar or bass amps are recorded but you'll need a good interface to get good sound into the computer.
 
It sounds like your MIDI will sound as good or maybe better than the rest of your audio will. I would recommend spending a a little on a real sound card and either getting a set of monitors or running your line out to the best stereo you can get your hands on. It will sound just as it does now maybe worse with a better mic. I guess you can still experiment and learn the ins and out of cubase but it is not going to sound like you want it to.
 
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