Little troubles with connecting digital piano to pc

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bodonski

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I've scoured through the internet, and saw a few posts and videos on this. But none gave me insight as in what to do. I have a Midi cable Midisport UNO.it has this funny little contraption in half length of the cable that displays which outputs/inputs are connected. The thing is, after i connect the 2 midi inputs into the piano and the USB into my computer, all i get is MIDI in and USB lighting up(they have little LED lights). How do i get the MIDI out connected? and the most important question: how do i record? :P
 
MIDI In refers to data going to the computer. MIDI out refers to data going to your piano. You can't have two MIDI In. So, what exactly are you plugging into on the piano?

When recording MIDI, all you're capturing is the midi data, not audio. Midi data is like the sheet music in digital form. What program are you using to record with? You will need to use some form of virtual instrument or a softsynth to generate the audio in your computer.

If you want to capture the sounds from your digital keyboard, then you're going about it the wrong way. You'll need to connect the Audio Outs or Main Outs from your piano to an interface of some kind.

What are you trying to do?
 
Chili said:
MIDI In refers to data going to the computer. MIDI out refers to data going to your piano. You can't have two MIDI In. So, what exactly are you plugging into on the piano?

When recording MIDI, all you're capturing is the midi data, not audio. Midi data is like the sheet music in digital form. What program are you using to record with? You will need to use some form of virtual instrument or a softsynth to generate the audio in your computer.

If you want to capture the sounds from your digital keyboard, then you're going about it the wrong way. You'll need to connect the Audio Outs or Main Outs from your piano to an interface of some kind.

What are you trying to do?
Click to expand...

I was told at the music store that a midi cable allows me to record audio waveform. and no, i didnt mean two midi INs, maybe you misread or i mistyped. What i meant is my piano doesnt deliver any data to the pc. I am trying to use audacity currently.
 
bodonski said:
I was told at the music store that a midi cable allows me to record audio waveform.
Click to expand...

Hi! That's wrong or, at least, misleading.

bodonski said:
I was told at the music store that a midi cable allows me to record audio waveform. and no, i didnt mean two midi INs, maybe you misread or i mistyped. What i meant is my piano doesnt deliver any data to the pc. I am trying to use audacity currently.
Click to expand...

As Chili says, the two are separate so you'll need to figure out which you're after.

Recording the sound the keyboard makes = analog audio = line output->line input via audio cables. (Although some keyboards may have analog to digital built in and have a USB connection.)
Recording midi data (effectively sheet music for virtual instruments) = digital data via 5 pin or USB.

Do you want to record midi data and send it to a virtual instrument, or record the sound that your keyboard makes?
 
I have a Yamaha keyboard and I send the headphone out to 1/4 " jack on my USB Interface, which gives me audio /wav on my software.
For midi I record the keyboard midi on some kind of chip on my keyboard then use a separate program to download it from the chip to my PC using the USB cable.
Unfortunately the software is not compatible with Windows 10 so it doesn't work for midi transfer (I guess I could hunt for a chip reader somewhere though)
 
See what Chili said about midi.

The other thing that will upset you is that Audacity doesn't handle midi. You would need to find a DAW that is midi-capable.

On the other hand, Audacity can record the audio from your keyboard.

What you would need is to connect the audio output of your keyboard (either its line-outs, or maybe its headphone output) to the computer somehow. The best way is by using an audio interface (something along the lines of the Uno, but one dealing with audio).
 
bodonski said:
I was told at the music store that a midi cable allows me to record audio waveform.
Click to expand...

- The guy at the music store is wrong. Go figure.... :rolleyes:
- Don't use Audacity. It is an audio editor, but not a good program for recording and it has nothing to do with midi.
- What digital piano do you have?
 
Very often the only AUDIO output from a digital piano or synth is the headphone jack (and inserting it kills the speakers). This complicates the process of recording the sound and monitoring it at the same time.

A cheap solution is a headphone amplifier/splitter* such as the Behringer HA400. I have one and it is remarkable good for £20. So, "Joe" into amp, split 1 to headphones (or could feed some form of power amp) split 2 goes to the 1/8" input jack on the PC. The latter needs a 1/4" to 1/8" stereo cable.

Better and about the same money is the Behringer UCA 202 (222) USB interface. This would need a lead from the piano's HP jack to 2x RCA "phono" plugs. Cans go into the 202 (1/8") and give direct monitoring.

Best of all, as everyone has said, is a pukkha Audio Interface such as the Alesis i02 (sub $100) or the Steinberg UR22 (bit above $100) . Both interfaces come with a "lite" version of Cubase which is a bit of a trial to learn but is probably THE best software for MIDI work.

*You could make/buy a passive HP splitter but not a good idea and I doubt much cheaper than the Behrry?
Dave.
 
Sadly - this error has been made since the 80's when MIDI was invented.
MIDI - is a connection protocol so send data from one bit of kit to another. No musical or audio data whatsoever. If you buy a proper sequencer that can handle MIDI and audio, then that cable is useful, essential perhaps - so you can play the keyboard, record the data, and then (and this is the important thing) the software in your computer either processes that data and converts it to audio, or it sends the data out to some other device that can do it.

Is your piano good quality? If it's piano sounds are a bit feeble, then the cheap synths that come bundled with things like the lite versions of Cubase probably sound better anyway - plus they have loads of other sounds. As people have said - you don't have a sequencer, just an audio recorder.

You could take the cable back and buy and audio one - use Audacity, but your prospects are limited. You can't fix wrong notes or dodgy timing without playing again. To be honest, I'd shell out for Cubase in one of the starter packages. Results will be much better.
 
I want to record the sound my piano makes.

---------- Update ----------

roland rp 301
 
rob aylestone said:
Sadly - this error has been made since the 80's when MIDI was invented.
MIDI - is a connection protocol so send data from one bit of kit to another. No musical or audio data whatsoever. If you buy a proper sequencer that can handle MIDI and audio, then that cable is useful, essential perhaps - so you can play the keyboard, record the data, and then (and this is the important thing) the software in your computer either processes that data and converts it to audio, or it sends the data out to some other device that can do it.

Is your piano good quality? If it's piano sounds are a bit feeble, then the cheap synths that come bundled with things like the lite versions of Cubase probably sound better anyway - plus they have loads of other sounds. As people have said - you don't have a sequencer, just an audio recorder.

You could take the cable back and buy and audio one - use Audacity, but your prospects are limited. You can't fix wrong notes or dodgy timing without playing again. To be honest, I'd shell out for Cubase in one of the starter packages. Results will be much better.
Click to expand...

i dont wanna mess with midi, i just wanna record my piano works. I don't need to correct them. My piano is quite good and i consider its piano sounds bright and clear. i cant take the cable back and exchange it for something else, because the cable is cheaper than the midi one, and the store owner doesnt return the rest of the sum if i'd buy an audio cable.
 
Keep the midi stuff. It might come in handy one day.

The Roland has 1/4" line outputs. You need to connect these to the computer. You can do this with a cable that goes from the Roland to the computer's input (probably a 1/8" stereo input somewhere). The results may not be that good.

Alternatively, get yourself an audio interface and go through that
 
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