HELP!!!!!!

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chryslerconcorde

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Help please!,

I have a basic Hewlett-Packard 4540 Pavilion PC and I am wondering about MIDI cables. I'm looking to get Cakewalk Home Studio 9 and I want to get sounds from my hardware synth into the program....how do I do it. I know you have to get a USB-MIDI port, but I read that some soundcards don't need that. How can I find out what I do???

HELP!,
Andrew! :)
 
Fisrt off, you cannot get sounds from your external synth into your computer with MIDI cables. MIDI Cables only carry MIDI messages, which you can record with Cakewalk and then send back through a MIDI cable to the external synth. The messages tell it what to play, but they do not contain any sound. To get the sound into the computer to record as audio, you need to pipe the line outputs of the synth into the line inputs of your computer's audio interface.

That said, there are several ways to set up the computer with a MIDI interface. One is a USB interface, as you mentioned. You can also get ISA and probably PCI MIDI interface cards. I believe there are a even a few MIDI interfaces that use a standard serial port to connect to the computer. Then, whatever soundcard is in your PC might have a MIDI interface (if so, it's probably the Sound Blaster type that shares a joystick port; you can get a standard adapter to connect to the D-connector on the card). Finally, if you replace the soundcard with a better one, many come with MIDI interfaces built in.
 
Hey!,

So, what is all this stuff about MIDI and Audio then? What exactly does the line output do...does it put the sound in the computer to record and mix with, sounding just like it would if you put it through speakers? Can I play notes of a sound I create with my hardware synth and record it exactly like how I played it into the computer ready to be mixed with other sounds?

Sorry for all the questions...but I gotta learn somehow!,

Andrew! :)
 
yes Andrew you can record the sound as you play it or you can record the midi as you play it. Both will play back what you played. The difference is that the midi is just a series of instructions to your synth to play back what you recorded and can be edited and changed, whereas an audio recording is a real recorded reproduction of what you played.(??) ;)

The Cake programme you mentioned only records up to 8 audio tracks and unlimited midi tracks, but if you really want to utilise your midi tracks properly you will have to record them as audio tracks and then mix them down to a final wave/MP3 file. Because of this you may find that 8 is too limiting and should perhaps look at the pro 9 version.

cheer
John
 
:)

Thanx for all your help everyone! That MIDI site helped alot too. So, maybe Cakewalk isn't such a good idea now. What about Steinberg Cubasis VST? That one comes with many virtual synths too. This is so complicated!!...all I want to do is make professional-sounding tracks with a computer and it's so hard to figure it all out! Thanx though...I'm learning more and more from these posts.

Andrew! :)
 
I just got the Tascam US-428 with Cubasis. I haven't had much of a chance to learn it yet but it seems like it has a lot to offer, isn't too complicated, and isn't that expensive. If you get one and learn anything about it please email me at wespowell@musician.net with any tips and I'll do the same for you. :-)
 
all I want to do is make professional-sounding tracks with a computer and it's so hard to figure it all out!
Click to expand...

Put that up there with "all I want to do is design professional-looking buildings and it's so hard to figure it all out!" What makes you think professional-level recording should be easy?
 
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