Newbie with questions about Cakewalk and MIDI

[Big Yellow]

Hi. I'm relatively new to home recording and very new to MIDI, and I'm
hoping someone here can answer a few questions for me. I have a Gateway
2000 solo laptop running Windows 95. I'm using Cakewalk Guitar Studio.
My computer also tells me that I have Yamaha OPL3-SAx Sound System,
Yamaha SXG50 driver, and Yamaha SoftSyth S-YXG50, although I don't
really know what any of that means, which is part of my problem. My main
instrument is guitar, and I play mostly roots-rock, alt-country type
stuff. I record with a Roland VS-840EX. What I'm hoping to do is use
Cakewalk to sequence (I believe that is the correct term) MIDI bass
lines, drums, keyboard parts, etc. and synch them with vocals, acoustic
& electric guitar, and mandolin that I record on the VS-840EX. I don't
have a MIDI keyboard or controller, so I've been entering notating the
stuff I want Cakewalk to play in the note staff, which is working ok for
me for now, although I hope to get a midi controller soon. Here are my
questions:

1)I'm having a problem accessing the XG drum kits and banks in Cakewalk.
If I select an XG drum kit or bank, I get General MIDI sounds. Any idea
why this might be?

2)Right now I don't have a MIDI interface, so I've been sequencing bass
tracks in Cakewalk, running that through a line out into the VS840EX,
recording it, and then overdubbing guitar and vocals. What I'd like to
do is be able to synch Cakewalk and the VS840EX, so I can go back and
add stuff later. The laptop doesn't have a MIDI port or a joystick port,
but it does have a USB port. What type of MIDI interface should I
consider? Midisport 1X1? 2X2? Portman? Any advice would be very much
appreciated.

3)Any suggestions on a relatively inexpensive MIDI controller?

Thanks in advance

 

[Euphoric]

The MidiSport is pretty cool. You could probably get away with a 1x1 although in the long run you'd probably want to get a 2x2.

Here's what you would do:
1.Get a controller- depends on what you want to do with it later what you get. When I first started out, I used a Casio CTK-511 that I got from Target for $100. Make sure it has MIDI IN, MIDI OUT and MIDI THRU.

2. Run the midisport to the keyboard in->out & out->in run the Midi THRU of the keyboard to the MIDI IN of the VS840.

3. Look up MIDI SYNC in Cakewalk you probably have fewer limitations if you set Cakewalk as the Master and the controller and the VS as slaves.

If you want a "real" MIDI controller I've heard the StudioLogic series are decent. Check out musiciansfriend.com or something like that for some ideas.