Setting up a Keyboard

[Christopher_xo]

Hi guys,

I want to buy a old cheapo keyboard for now, to assist my little recording studio. I'm a newbie when it comes to this.

If a keyboard has an midi outlet then it should be able to connect directly to my pc and then software? when i use a midi converter to usb.

And then use it's instruments to create beats and strings etc with the software's virtual instruments?

 

[shortedaman]

i believe if you want too record your keyboard with its built in sounds you need too record from the audio outs on the keyboard. not the midi in/out's. i believe you would only need the midi if you are planning on using your keyboard too use vsti's. if im wrong, the more knowledgeable people please correct me.

 

[MMensch]

If a keyboard has an midi outlet then it should be able to connect directly to my pc and then software? when i use a midi converter to usb.

And then use it's instruments to create beats and strings etc with the software's virtual instruments?

If you mean the instruments inside the computer, than you're on the right track. However, not all keyboards with a MIDI outputs are created equal and some have limitations that limit their usefulness. Your no.1 priority is that the keyboard outputs velocity, i.e. information on how hard you struck the key. If you're an accomplished keyboard player, aftertouch, i.e. the force with which the key is held down after you struck it, is also nice. I don't make music on a computer so I'm not sure how important it is to be able to select the MIDI channel you're transmitting on, you might want to look into that. And finally, it's useful to have some real-time controls that output user-programmable MIDI commands such as continuous controllers (if you don't know what this means at the moment, you'll find out soon enough). The bottom line is that if you only want to input musical notes, a keyboard like the one in your picture is OK. If you want more functionality, you should probably look into dedicated MIDI controllers which should *not* cost a whole lot more.

 

[gecko zzed]

Hi guys,

I want to buy a old cheapo keyboard for now, to assist my little recording studio. I'm a newbie when it comes to this.

If a keyboard has an midi outlet then it should be able to connect directly to my pc and then software? when i use a midi converter to usb.

And then use it's instruments to create beats and strings etc with the software's virtual instruments?

If it has midi output, you can go to the pc via an interface that has midi or with a midi-usb converter.

You can play keyboard, record the midi on the pc, create your loops and beats in the pc, and playback through the keyboard (again via midi).

If you want to record the results of this, you then connect the keyboards audio outputs to the pc and record.