I have a Yamaha DTExpress drum kit. I want to record beats to my computer. I have a Soundblaster live card. What I have been doing is running the analog out from the eXpress to my computer, but shouldn't the signal be cleaner with MIDI? Or am I way off base here? I have no clue what I'm talking about now.
So, do I take the MIDI out cord and somehow connect it to something then connect that to my soundcard? Then what? Ack! I'd just like to keep everything digital you know. Should I get a new soundcard for this?
Ibrow,
Dont get confused with midi and audio, midi is just data used to trigger audio. Now what you are doing is recording your audio from Drumkit to Soundcard through analog in of soundcard right? Well, if you want to use midi, you have to connect your midi out of the drumkit to a midi in of your soundcard (use a midi adapter in joystick port of soundcard http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--MIMSCMA6 )
Now you can transfer midi data from your drumkit to your computer and you can sequence the beats in your software, but what sound are you gonna trigger is the question........You can use the inbuilt GM sounds of your soundcard (if you are using creative cards) or you can use sound fonts, or you can trigger any modules/synth/keyboards and use their sound (but you have to connect their audio output to analog in of your soundcard) Hope you understood teh whole procedure.
What you are doing now is the best way, if you have some kind of better sounding module or if you think that he soundblaster or any GM sounds you have in your computer is better than the Drumkit sounds, then use a midi and trigger the sounds of them from your drumkit.
You also ask similiar question in Cakewalk forum, so I assume you use Cakewalk, right ?
To make it clear, you'll go :
Yamaha MIDI Out --> Cakewalk MIDI in
Redord your MIDI with Cakewalk. Edit & Sequence as necessary. After all is done, you'll need to record the audio out of your Yamaha back to cakewalk (or any audio recorder).
Cakewalk MIDI out --> Yamaha MIDI in
Yamaha Audio out --> Cakewalk Audio in (Thru Line input of your SB Live!)
Arm blank Audio Track in Cakewalk, hit record. Cakewalk will play your song (sending MIDI to Yamaha) AND record the audio out of your Yamaha back to cakewalk. You'll get audio track of the MIDI. Repeat as necessary, Mix 'em...
Yikes! Thanks for the replies guys. I seem to have it all mixed up. I guess I'll just keep the signal recorded at line level. Just easier I guess.
It wasn't me in the Cakewalk forum BTW. Unless someone stole my ID or something. I tried Cakewalk a couple of years ago when I was just starting out. It was too tough for me to figure out. I gave up on that and used cool edit. Now I am going to be trying Sound Forge. I loved the Demo of that.
Thanks for the help. Someday I guess I'll do some reading and find out just what the hell MIDI is and is good for besides keyboards.
Whew, I've heard similiar question recently in Cakey forum, and somehow I thought it was you Sorry
BTW, MIDI is not audio signal, it's similiar to digital data communication among MIDI devices. It "tells" your MIDI devices to do this and that. The implementation of MIDI is off course not limited in music terms only. MIDI helps you alot on doing music. Have a search on this forum for the benefit of MIDI
I tried Cakewalk a couple of years ago when I was just starting out. It was too tough for me to figure out. I gave up on that and used cool edit. Now I am going to be trying Sound Forge. I loved the Demo of that. 
Sorry