Making my Midi Keyboard 'talk' to my PC

L

larry_emder

New member
Hi all,

I recently bought a Keyboard (Technics P30) and a Midi to USB cable, in the hope of achieving the following:

1. Being able to notate what I play on the Keyboard

2. Being able to use the keyboard to trigger samples, and sound like different things (A hammond organ, a bass, a drum kit.....whatever) - is this even possible???

Unfortunately i have no idea how to do either.

What program(s) can i use to allow the computer to transcribe what i play?

And what program will allow me to use the keyboard to trigger sounds on the PC???

Thanks VERY much if you can help.....i've tried searching elsewhere and as yet, no one has provided a proper answer! I have a feeling this will get way over my head, but i'll give it a go anyways :p
 
Most recording programs that support MIDI will allow you to do this. I am most familiar with Cubase, as it is what I use for recording. Although I don't do a lot of MIDI, Cubase is a very powerful MIDI editor. You can "record" your midi performance, edit it in the software (to correct timing and performance mistakes), and play it back through virtual instruments (often called VSTi's) or a midi sound module. Cubase will also show you a "score" view with notation that you can print. There are other programs, such as Sonar, Reaper, etc. that also support MIDI, so you should check them out.
 
larry_emder said:
Hi all,

I recently bought a Keyboard (Technics P30) and a Midi to USB cable, in the hope of achieving the following:

1. Being able to notate what I play on the Keyboard

2. Being able to use the keyboard to trigger samples, and sound like different things (A hammond organ, a bass, a drum kit.....whatever) - is this even possible???

Unfortunately i have no idea how to do either.

What program(s) can i use to allow the computer to transcribe what i play?

And what program will allow me to use the keyboard to trigger sounds on the PC???

Thanks VERY much if you can help.....i've tried searching elsewhere and as yet, no one has provided a proper answer! I have a feeling this will get way over my head, but i'll give it a go anyways :p
Click to expand...

this is one of the cheaper notation software programs i've seen:
http://www.finalemusic.com/songwriter/
this company also makes other notation/composition programs of varying levels of sophistication and pricing.

after you hook your keyboard up to the computer via the midi cable, and make sure that the computer "sees" the connection, you need to make sure that the keyboard and computer program accepting the midi are set to the same midi channel(s).

you can use any number of software programs to trigger sounds. you need either a standalone program (one where you open the program up on your computer, and it acts like a sound module-- playing back notes you trigger off of your keyboard), or you can use a program ("softsynth"), in a format, such as vsti or dxi, that requires something like a recording program to host.
you'll need something like a recording program, or a hardware or software sequencer if you want to record midi notes played for playback.

some recording programs come bundled with a bunch of starter softsynths, and you can find a bunch of freeware ones on the internet by doing relevant searches (e.g. "free vsti", "free dxi", etc.)
 
Thankyou!

Are there any free programs out there that will do notation?

One more question:

The midi to USB cable has a midi in and midi out cable, along with the USB connector on the other end.

Do i plug that cable that says 'Out' into the 'Out' of my midi keyboard.......or is it the other way around???

Thanks.
 
You plug the midi out of your keyboard to the midi in of the interface cable.

If you're going to be using your keyboards internal sounds you will need to plug the midi out of the interface into the midi in of your keyboard as well.

If you are going to use the sounds inside your keyboard it's very important that you find the 'Local On/Off' page and set the Local to 'Off'. This will break the connection between the keyboard and the sounds inside, and is important to keep transmitted midi information from looping back on itself.

Also, depending on the software you use you may need ASIO4all if you encounter latency problems.

I don't know of any freeware programs that will do notation, but there may well be. You will need to google them for yourself.

.
 
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