laptop composing

[jax]

can someone help me out here? I'd really like to know how I could hook up my roland keyboard to a laptop and run Sibelius software to compose. Right I don't have a laptop because the computer people I talk to keep saying I need a Mac. Someone said that the laptop soundcards can't handle it. I don't need to record audio I don't think because I can hear the keyboard voices right? I do have an Edirol UM-1S midi to usb kit that I never use. Can that help me or do I need something else? Am I right thinking all I need is the laptop, the software and somekind or midi jack for the laptop. Any help from someone who has done this kind or thing already would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Uncle Roel]

Mac - PC discussions are almost history. People that still discuss this are not up to date with current day PC's and the homestudio market.

PC's can handle just as much as Macs these days; and above that, there's more/cheaper soft and hardware available for the PC platform!

MIDI is a protocol that was outdated even when they first put it in a commercial synth. ANY modern computer can handle it. If you find the drivers and the right interface. With a PC running XP, you won't have any problems. I'm a long time PC user, and I used to hate windows for it's instability, but they got over it. I had more crashes on the G4 running protools at school then on my PC running so much more than that.

The edirol interface will do fine. Do make sure you get the latest drivers from the internet though.

What they probably mean with "laptop soundcards can't handle it" is that a laptop soundcard doesn't have MIDI. But since you have the edirol, that's no problem.