I know nothing. Please help.

D

dishwasherrat

New member
I have searched high and low for answers to the following problems, but have only ended up in frustration. I hope these boards can help.

Caveat to the easily annoyed: forgive me if my post is all too familiar. I just want to record like everybody else here and, right now, I am completely dismayed at the prospects.

The wind-up: I am using Adobe Audition 1.5 on a Windows XP machine. I have a Yamaha PSR-295, MIDI-compatible keyboard. It has a USB connection. When I plug it into my computer (a Dell Inspiron), I am able to hear it over the computer's speakers when I am using an outside, non-Audition-based "synth" program (AddSynth 1.0); however, when I arm a track to record and press the Red record button (for recording over playback of the first track), none of the played notes are recorded to the second track.

Can anyone help me figure out what I need to do/am doing wrong?

I also own Acid Pro 5 and have a similar problem, except I can record a track when using its built-in VST. The only trouble is, on playback, the recorded music from the keyboard isn't played through the computer's speakers, but rather through the keyboard's speakers, which, as far as I can tell, is completely useless to me in making an MP3 or anything else of the recorded variety.

I am new to all of this and am looking only to do very simple two-track recordings, so please speak down to me. Assume I know nothing, because I don't.

I record vocals/music via mini-disc and import those to the first track. Fine, no problem. But I am having zero luck in creating any secondary tracks with the aid of my keyboard.

I would be indebted to anyone who can help me get started taking advantage of the otherwise obscene amount of money I've spent so far in trying to make very simple, lo-fi recordings.

If I have left out any pertinent information essential to your being able to assist me, please let me know.

Many thanks,
dw.
 
This isn't too hard to fix up.

First thing, you've got to learn the difference between MIDI and audio. MIDI is what's flowing in and out of the PSR by way of the USB cable. You can't hear MIDI data; it's bits of info. Audio is what you can hear, the kind of thing that powers speakers.

Ok, so what's this mean to you? First, when you play on the keyboard for recording on your computer, you have to make a choice. Do you want to record the sounds you're making, or do you want to capture the note-numbers, duration, and strength? That last stuff is what MIDI does for you.

If you want to record sounds, you have to get an audio cable and plug one end into the PSR and the other into your computer's "line-in" port. If you don't have a "line-in", use your "mic-in", but do line-in if you have a choice. Then use Audition to capture the sounds of your playing.

If you want to record MIDI data, you'll need a MIDI sequencer program like Cakewalk. Then when you play, your data goes out of the PSR thru the USB into the computer. That lets you keep your performance but you can change the sound simply by telling the sequencer to use another instrument, like Cool Flute instead of Grand Piano. But to get from the sequencer over to Audition.. well, let's just say I've typed enough for this post.

By the way, you might look at a beginning "Home Recording" book. Just a thought, but it could help making some sense of it all.

Feel free to ask any followups! Hope this all helps,
-Hugo
 
Hugo,

Thanks a lot. I think I've already learned a lot.

Now that I understand the difference between MIDI and audio, I need to ask my second stupid question: What is the purpose of recording MIDI? Or, rather, practically, how and why is it generally used?

For my purposes, I think I just want to record the audio, which as I now understand it will require an audio cable. I have two basic ports on my PSR: USB and Phones/Output. If possible, I would like to still be able to hear my keyboard through its speakers as I'm playing, but perhaps this is not possible? If, in fact, I am meant to use the Phones/Output jack, will I then hear my music over the computer's speakers?

Which brings me to the next issue: My laptop doesn't have a line-in, though I've often wished it did for the purposes of importing analog audio. Alternately, I have USB, FireWire and S-Video ports. Not sure if those can be of any use or if there are any digital adapters I can buy for creating an alternate line-in. (I may be thinking out of my ass on that one.)

I might be interested in this Cakewalk stuff. Of course, I'm clueless about that, too. I like the idea of being able to record with different sounds (i.e. AddSynth), as if my keyboard didn't already have a thousand voices, but is a sequencer the only way to record these PC-based sounds?

Aaargh. I'm confused again.

Mostly, I'll be more than happy to just record with the sounds my keyboard makes, but if you can explain it to me somehow, I would like to understand a little better about VSTs and such. That obviously opens up the possibilities, which can't be a bad thing, I'm just really disoriented about how to get the sounds an outside program (synth) makes onto an Audition or Acid track.

Of a home recording book, is there one in particular you might recommend for my purposes?

Thank you for your help!

Cheers.
 
MIDI's used for a few different reasons. The most common is so that one individual can play numerous parts, in essence playing an entire arrangement. Then they can take those parts and try various sounds with them, such as substituting one type of organ for another. It's also handy for making minor corrections. If you hit a wrong note, you can slide it back to the right spot using a sequencer like Cakewalk.

Anyway, to record audio you need a 1/4" stereo jack on one end to plug into the PSR and an 1/8" stereo jack on the other, for the computer. You could also get a cable with 1/4" plugs at both ends plus a 1/4" to 1/8" adapter. The problem is you don't have a good input at the moment. There are other approaches like you mentioned, but the best might be to go with an add-on sound card that goes into a PC card slot. E-Mu makes a good one, the 1616M, but it all depends on your budget how far you want to go with this stuff.

For the moment, I'd just go in the Mic jack until you know a bit more. And yes, you'll then have to listen to your synth through the computer speakers. That'll probably make you want to buy new speakers, too :)

The Everything Home Recording Book by Marc Schonbrun's a good book. Here's a link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593371381

You should probably read that before you make any more major purchases. I think it'll really help explain how all this stuff works together, including things you've asked like VSTs and how to get MIDI sounds into Audition.
 
Thanks a million, Hugo. I'm off to Radio Shack now.

And about that E-Mu: Holy shnikes! A week ago, I was using a tape recorder! But you know your stuff, so thank you again.
 
Great news!

I bought the audio cable to run from the PSR to the mic-in and, voila, it records!

But . . . (isn't there always a but?)

I can't hear it. I can only hear the keys on playback of the recorded track.

Here's hoping you can help me out one more time on this one. I'm so close; I can feel it!

Thanks if you can,
dw.

(EDIT: I couldn't help wondering if the reason I'm unable to hear anything is because I'm using the mic-in. I'm guessing, but perhaps a line-in route would allow me to hear my keyboard as it's played? To that, and since I don't have a line-in jack, any thoughts on this device?)
 
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You should be able to hear the sound as you play. Check your audio mixer settings, both in the operating system and in Audition. Something may be muting the output during record.

You can also try downloading Audacity, a free (and easy to use) recording application. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
That'd give you another program to try; it may help.

That little device looks interesting. But I'd hold off on buying it now unless your computer won't let you listen while you play. You might end up going a different route once you learn a bit more. There's a chance you'll actually want to get a mixer instead so that you can sing and play while recording.

By the way, what's the brand and model of your computer? I'd like to check the specs so that I'm sure about the sound problem.
 
Hugo, I'm driving a Dell Inspiron 5100 with Windows XP SP2. I'll try and take a look under the hood to see if I can't figure something out with the mixer settings, but as far as I can tell the mic isn't muted. That mixer idea sounds like a possibility; we will see.

Thanks for taking a look at the specs for me. I'll keep fiddling around.
 
Ok, the computer's fine and you shouldn't be having a problem from that end of things. So far, you've been able to record (without hearing what's happening) and you've been able to play that recording back.

To put it in recording terms, for some reason you can't monitor while recording. That means there's probably a setup problem.

Try this Flash tutorial from Adobe and see if it helps.
http://studio.adobe.com/us/tips/tip.jsp?p=1&id=532&xml=aud15swfdevorder

Let me know if that does the trick or we have to try something else.
 
I hate to be difficult, but I'm afraid that tutorial didn't help much as it didn't explain why I should select which devices for use. So my prioritizations are completely arbitrary. And really, I don't see any devices listed that sound like sound cards or anything similar to those in the tutorial.

The only two devices available under the "Playback Devices" and "Recording Devices" tabs are SigmaTel Audio and Wave Mapper. Currently, under both tabs, SigmaTel Audio is listed first and Wave Mapper second as "Used" devices, with the latter marked for [EV]/Edit View.

I feel so stupid, but Audition is still recording the keyboard. As before, I can only hear it through playback.

Thanks as always for your help.
 
Alrighty, let's look at something else. This may or may not work on your machine. It depends on the driver software for your audio stuff. Double-click on the speaker symbol in the task bar; it should be on the lower right side of the screen. That'll bring up your mixer, the control for your audio.

Under Options, select the Properties choice and click to show your recording selections. Again under Options, select Advanced. There may (or may not) be a check box there for controlling your monitor output. If it's there, click on the box to change it. BEWARE, though, that if you do this and have a mic plugged in you're going to get a lot of feedback! For the synth, though, it may just solve your problem.

Hope this helps. Let me know.
 
I don't think I see a check box for controlling monitor output.

Here are the windows you referenced as they appear on my system.
 

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Nice shots; thanks, that helps.
When you look under the Options in the function menu, do you have an Advanced section there? (as opposed to the mic's advanced setting)
 
Ok, let me scratch my head over this a bit and get back to you. In the meantime, can you try Audacity? I don't have Audition, so there may be a setting within it that I don't know. Speaking of which, have you looked in its help under "monitoring"? You never know. Turning off monitoring is common because of the feedback situation.

Hang in there, we'll get it. :)
 
Well, Hugo, you've been about as big a help as anyone could be, and I appreciate it. If you think of anything else, and certainly a solution, I'll be indebted.

I downloaded Audacity and like Audition and Acid Pro, I was able to record without any hitches, but still no live monitoring of the incoming keyboard. Just in playback.

I searched for "Monitoring" settings in the Preferences and Help of both programs and still nothing. This is so strange.

I've gone ahead and ordered the iMic, hoping its status as an external sound card might benefit us a little more richly than whatever crappy factory sound card my laptop came loaded with. This is just wild. I hate being so close, but I'll be insanely happy once I'm able to hear my keyboard.

Hell, if worse comes to worse, maybe I'll just buy a splitter for the back of my keyboard so I can run it to the computer as well as my headphones.

Whatever works will make me happy. Thanks again!
 
Okay, I got the answer. The problem is actually the driver for your audio hardware. Dell turned off the ability to monitor while recording because they were worried about the feedback issue.

You can turn it back on by modifying the Windows Registry. It's not hard to do, but you must be sure to be careful. But this method will work. I found it on Dell's Support Site. Your 5100 has the same driver issue as the 5150 discussed.

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_audio&message.id=17209

Look at jk79's answer dated 03/12/2004 03:58pm

If you need help with modifying the Registry, let me know. I'll give you a walk-through.
 
I found the DisableMicFromPlayback. I've changed it to 00. Will restart shortly and let you know how it goes. I'm very excited!

Do you think the feedback issues will be avoided when I start using the external sound card, such that I can use my speakers instead of headphones as suggested in the Dell thread?
 
Hope it's working for you!

What you're going to find is that you'll want to have one mic, maybe two, plus your synth, all running into your computer. You're going to end up with a preamp/mixer. A nice one will let you monitor your music using headphones. And that'll take care of the feedback issue. It'll also take care of some latency issues.

What I'm saying is that yes, you'll get feedback when you try to record with a mic and you have the monitoring on. Unless, of course, you're very lucky and/or careful.

Did you order that book, by any chance?
 
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