Recording Help

[rachellel]

I have a Digital Piano right next to the Computer, and a blue lead from the USB in the PC to the back of the Digital Piano's MIDI In/Out, I have had this sitting here for along time, I plugged it in and put in the CD, i installed the software and found it isn't Compatible with Win. XP.

With this MIDI Lead, how can I use this to record to the computer ? Any way I can.

Please someone help.

[raymond_]

You might need to download an updated driver from the manufacturer's website.

I have a Mac, but my USB to MIDI connector happens to be blue, so maybe I have the same one.  Is the brand M-Audio?    If so, you can get XP drivers here:

https://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=support.drivers

Edirol used to make a blue USB/MIDI interface.  Their drivers are here:

https://www.rolandus.com/products/details.asp?CatID=1&SubCatID=86&ProdID=UM-1EX&PageMode=4

The cable pictured at the top of the page is not blue, but the driver for the blue model is listed.  It was the UM-1X or UM-1SX.

When I bought my cable, I had no idea what MIDI was, and it took some time to figure out that I could not use it to record the resident sounds produced by the piano.  You may know a lot more about this than I did, but in case you don't, I'll tell you that MIDI only enables the computer to register data about which keys are being depressed, at what velocity, if your foot is on the pedal, etc, and then the MIDI program, which has so-called software instruments, uses it's own piano key samples to produce the sound based on that data.   This is fine if the program you are using has a decent set of piano samples.  I use a Mac application called Garageband that came already installed on the computer.  (I think the common programs for PC are Steingberg Cubase and Propellerhead Reason.  If you don't have a MIDI application you'll have to get one to make use of your blue cable.)  The "Grand Piano" sound Garageband produces is poor.  A slight variation in velocity on certain keys causes dramatic changes in the loudness and quality of the sound.   So I ended up buying another interface so that I could record the piano's internal sounds.  It's a USB/RCA interface, and it enables me to connect my digital piano to the computer with analog cables.   I find this much better, particularly because it allows me to record the piano sound I'm used to hearing as I play.  It's the Edirol UA-1A if you're interested in trying that.  One big benefit is that you can use any old audio recording program to record yourself.  You wouldn't need spend money on Cubase or Reason. 

I hope this helps.  Good luck.

Raymond

[rachellel]

Thankyou so much 

[steve jones]

Rachael,

First up, sorry if am repeating anyone, didnt have time to read other replies!

The box you mentioned is a midi interface. Connect it to your computer via the USB, then to your piano / keyboard (both midi in and out preferably). Now, if your piano has audio output (which it should), connect these to the audio inputs on your computers soundcard. Next, check for updates for both the soundcard and mid interface drivers. This will ensure that both are running properly on your current computer / OS.

Now, depending on what you want to record, you will need some sort of audio editing / sequencing program. If you want to record midi files, then a midi sequencer like Logic or Cubase will be perfect. These will also enable you to turn your performance into basic scores (although not as well as specialised programs like Sibelius). If its an audio recording you want, then Cubase / Logic will be fine. But if you dont fancy paying for that software, then freeware audio editing programs like Audicity will be fine. This can also convert your recording into other formats (.ogg, .mp3 etc).

Hope this helps, and merry Christmas!

[rachellel]

Can you please tell me if this works, I will make a recording longer then 1 minute when I download Audicity.

https://rapidshare.de/files/9784611/testrec.wav.html

[jlh]

I can hear the notes, but there is a white noise buzz that's a tad annoying.  You may need to check your connections and/or invest in better quality cords to get rid of that, assuming that's what's causing it.