Help with MIDI ; yamaha keyboard

T

tweedledee

New member
I have a fabulous yamaha portbale grand piano that is nothing but a midi controller when ti comes to recording which is maddening becuase it has such great sound. any way i can record realistic arrangemets like what i hear out of my keyboard speakers? i read soemthing about soft synths? what are they? how do they work? and if i have a lousy soundcard will it do me any good?
 
Links for you:

http://www.tweakheadz.com/how_to_get_started_with_midi.html

http://www.tweakheadz.com/software_samplers.htm

http://www.tweakheadz.com/software_synths.html

If you are in love with the sounds of the keyboard, you'll want to record the AUDIO of it into your computer -- if there is an earphone jack or line-out, you just need to plug it into an audio interface to your computer. MIDI is just numbers stating "note 12 on, note 12 off, note 37 on, note 37 off", etc.

Rule #1 of recording: The cheap on-board soundcard of your computer is only made with $1 worth of parts for beeps, boops and light gaming, not recording music.

First off, immediately get a good beginner recording book (spend $20 before spending hundred$/thousand$) that shows you what you need to get started and how to hook everything up in your studio:
Home Recording for Musicians by Jeff Strong - $15
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/07...ce&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance
(Wish I'd had that when I started; would have saved me lots of money and time and grief)

Good Newbie guides that also explains all the basics:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/page/computermusic?entry=free_beginner_pdfs

21 Ways To Assemble a Recording Rig:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/rigs.htm

Plenty of software around to record for free to start out on:

Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net

Kristal: http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/

Other freebies and shareware: www.hitsquad.com

Another great option is REAPER at http://www.cockos.com/reaper/
(It's $40 but runs for free until you get guilty enough to pay for it...)

Music Notation and MIDI recording: Melody Assistant ($20) and Harmony Assistant ($80) have the power of $600 notation packages - http://myriad-online.com
Demo you can try on the website.

And you can go out to any Barnes&Noble or Borders and pick up "Computer Music" magazine - they have a full studio suite in every issue's DVD, including sequencers, plugins and tons of audio samples. (Last November, they gave away a full copy of SamplitudeV8SE worth $150 - pays to watch 'em for giveaways...)
 
record

thanx. i have kristal and already ordered beginners books.
i was specifclaly told by another member that using the earphone jack will produce lousy soudn quality and i should't bother. would you reccomend getitng a sound module?
 
tweedledee said:
thanx. i have kristal and already ordered beginners books.
i was specifclaly told by another member that using the earphone jack will produce lousy soudn quality and i should't bother. would you reccomend getitng a sound module?
Click to expand...
You dont need a sound module. If the Yamaha sounds good to you, then you record it. You need a decent soundcard. I have no idea if the headphone jack sounds good or bad. Errr, stick in headphones and see how it sounds. :D If it sounds good, it sounds good.

What model # is the Yamaha?
 
DavidK said:
You dont need a sound module. If the Yamaha sounds good to you, then you record it. You need a decent soundcard. I have no idea if the headphone jack sounds good or bad. Errr, stick in headphones and see how it sounds. :D If it sounds good, it sounds good.

What model # is the Yamaha?
Click to expand...
how can i record the sound? the headphons sound OK. can you gove me instructions how to record via the heaphone jack?
 
tweedledee said:
how can i record the sound? the headphons sound OK. can you gove me instructions how to record via the heaphone jack?
Click to expand...
You need:

1. Cables

2. Soundcard

3. Some sort of program to record.

You take some sort of cable out from the headphone jack to the in of the soundcard. You open recording software, you press record and play the piano.

What kind of soundcard do you have?
 
Sound

the soundguy at my BIL's company told me i could probably get started with just an audio interface between my keyboard and the mixer and record audio that way.i hope he's right because that would save me alot of toruble. i asked him about the idea for the headphone jack and he said it would not record in stereo.
 
tweedledee said:
the soundguy at my BIL's company told me i could probably get started with just an audio interface between my keyboard and the mixer and record audio that way.i hope he's right because that would save me alot of toruble. i asked him about the idea for the headphone jack and he said it would not record in stereo.
Click to expand...

If it comes out stereo, it's stereo. Take a walkman for example: if you can listen to it in stereo, you can hook it up to a home stereo and it WILL be stereo. Same thing with keyboards, if you can hear it in stereo on the headphones it WILL record in stereo.

You dont need a mixer unless the output is low. You just hook up the outs of the keyboard ( or the headphone out) to the audio interface and thats it.
 
sound

everyone is telling me someothing else. i am so confuzzled.
if i were to do this via interface (just because it would be a pain int he derier to send my computer to my Brother in law for a week till he gets around to instlaling the new soundcard for me) my soundcard is just a standard pc soundcard that the computer came with and it's not that great.....certainly not for a professional sound from recoridng.i see so many interfaces online and i am not sure which one would be best for this purpose.
can you reccomend a good one for me? that will allow me to record audio out?
 
This one Tascam has midi, audio and uses a USB port. There are a lot around that price, some use USB and some firewire. It would be very easy to use and install and comes with Cubase lite. You dont have to open the computer, just plug it in to the usb and follow directions. :)
 
sound

DavidK said:
This one Tascam has midi, audio and uses a USB port. There are a lot around that price, some use USB and some firewire. It would be very easy to use and install and comes with Cubase lite. You dont have to open the computer, just plug it in to the usb and follow directions. :)
Click to expand...
wonderful. my mixer is gonna come with cubase LE not that i know one from another. till now i have been fiddling with kristal.

edit: this interface received lousy review on that site. i'll look for another one.

lemme just make clear for myslef so i don't waste money on seomthing ican't use....my keyboard has no midi in ports or out ports or any ports. if i were to plug the usb into thie interface, would it still work to get audio out of the other side? (it can send out midi to my computer via the usb but i have no idea whether it works the same way for the interface)
i know that it probably does i just wanna double chakc that i am undertsanding correctly
 
First of all, what mixer are you getting? You might not need an audio interface! If you get one with usb or firewire, it IS an interface AND a mixer.

Latency shouldnt be a problem if you are just recording keyboards. You would only get it if you are recording a few things at once.
 
DavidK said:
First of all, what mixer are you getting? You might not need an audio interface! If you get one with usb or firewire, it IS an interface AND a mixer.

Latency shouldnt be a problem if you are just recording keyboards. You would only get it if you are recording a few things at once.
Click to expand...
i am getting an Alesis MultiMix 8 Firewire but i don't know if it has usb and i am not sure what firewire is as opposed to usb. if this thing is an interface on it's own i will be one happy camper.
 
tweedledee said:
i am getting a Includes an Alesis MultiMix 8 Firewire but i don't know if it has usb and i am not sure what firewire is as opposed to usb.
Click to expand...

You dont need an audio interface. :cool: Or software, Cubase LE is very good.

Firewire is a different looking port than usb, it is faster usually. Its a little wider looking and a little fatter. Make sure your computer had a firewire port, it should if it is less than 4 years old or so.

You are all set! Wait for the mixer, plug it in to the firewire, follow instructions, install cubase, and record. :cool:

PS You still need a cable from the headphone jack to the mixer.
 
DavidK said:
You dont need an audio interface. :cool: Or software, Cubase LE is very good.

Firewire is a different looking port than usb, it is faster usually. Its a little wider looking and a little fatter. Make sure your computer had a firewire port, it should if it is less than 4 years old or so.

You are all set! Wait for the mixer, plug it in to the firewire, follow instructions, install cubase, and record. :cool:

PS You still need a cable from the headphone jack to the mixer.
Click to expand...
:mad: :mad: i don't see a firewire port on my pc.....URGH!!

and why do i need the cable? and what kind do i need? and most of all is there soem kidn of adaptor i can use to turn my usb port into a firwire port?
 
tweedledee said:
:mad: :mad: i don't see a firewire port on my pc.....URGH!!
Click to expand...
Dont panic. Yet. :D It might have a number over it- 1394, or a little diagram that looks like a Y. What model number of computer is it?
 
DavidK said:
Dont panic. Yet. :D It might have a number over it- 1394, or a little diagram that looks like a Y. What model number of computer is it?
Click to expand...
it's a rebuilt pc that my BIL put together for me from various parts. there is no firewire port. but surely someone muct have invented a converter....be backl soon my baby needs me.
 
DavidK said:
There is a usb version of the mixer Alesis usb If you can, cancel the firewire one and get this instead.
Click to expand...
i can't cancel it because it was part of a recording package that i ordwered, but dear old briother in law sauid he would coem to my rescue and install a firewire card in my computer. whew!

so tell me again what kind of cable i need to connect to my headphone jack?
and will it record stereo if there aren't two ports? and woudl an adaptor fix that?
 
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sound

i have this nervous feeling that i am getting something wrong. i emailed yamaha lot sof times asking how i could record audio from this keyboard and i got lots of respondes about midi virtues but never a siggestion about line out cables or intefaces.... just hope this is gonna work.

there is no port in or out on my keyboard other than usb and headphone jack.
 
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