Recording Directly from Digital?

[instromp]

Reading the book that came with my digital, and to record directly from it, i would need a MIDI program to install on my computer  ...Dont know much about this please inform me   

[bench warmer]

From your DP you could send your Left and Right Line-Out signal to the sound card of your computer and record the Music directly to your disk using the free program Audacity. Then from Audacity you export the piece as a Wav or MP3 file (or play it from Audacity as the orignal waveform was encoded). This is how to have Music recorded. Standard audio cables will make the connection.

You can also get a digital recorder like the ZOOM h4 or h2 which will record directly as a Wav or an Mp3. (you're looking at $200 to $300 here I think). Mic or audio cable will work here.

Now, MIDI is actually 1's and 0's  Data from the DP and is encoded on your computer as a Data file. You need to feed this Midi data file thru another device that will decode the data into music. You need a special MIDI cable or USB-to-MIDI cable for this.

I hope this clears it up a a bit for you.

[Bob]

If you want to record MIDI data you have to hook the keyboard up to the computer somehow.  The old way was using MIDI cables and an interface.  Now they just have a USB connection, so you don't even need the interface.  Then you need a software program that records MIDI data.  Cakewalk (Sonar) for windows, Mark of the Unicorn's Digital Performer for Mac.  Something like that.  And you have to set the software up so it knows you keyboard.  You can import lists of what numbers are what names.  Then it's just a matter of learning the software and playing the keyboard.  Haha... just a matter of... sounds real simple.

If you want to record the audio from the digital piano, you just plug a stereo cable into the headphone jack or the audio L/R outs and into whatever you use to record.  Or some of them have digital outs and then you can record pure digital out of the keyboard into the recording device's digital in.

Of course... that's all overlooking that your keyboard might have an option to record on the keyboard itself, but that would be in the manual.

Most likely I would guess you need at least two MIDI cables (IN/OUT keyboard), a usb cable, MIDI interface, and the MIDI recording software.  Or just the usb cable and MIDI software.

Anyone have ideas for good MIDI software?  I've used Cakewalk and MOTO DP.  

There are free MIDI programs but I think you get what you pay for.  More ability with better software, rather than some freebie offbrand.

Some of those MIDI programs also record audio on your coputer, but that uses more CPU power to record audio.  MIDI data is barely anything.  It's just 1's and 0's information.  Actual audio can take up a lot of space and computing power.

[Bob]

Sometimes those programs are tought to work with.  Latency, having it sound like a maching in the end, computer freezing up or crash.  Lots of frustration possible. 

One of the interesting things I found out is about the path of the MIDI data.  When you start, you take the "Global" setting and turn it off, so the computer controls the notes, not the keyboard.  Otherwise you get doubled notes.  But when you play like that, you hit the piano key, the signal goes from the key to the computer and then from the computer back to the keyboard, telling it to sound the note.  That adds milliseconds, but you can hear it.  I got really frustrated working with them.