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Guys,I'm sorry to reopen this thread but I am still unable to record myself playing, and I am determined to try to get on top of this before I get to old to play, which is not far off now.I can't follow the technical jargon because I am not familiar with the technical terms and as soon as I start I run into a problem. For the moment I am not using my interface. It is disconnected. I have looked at the Reaper tutorial and it says all I need is a USB cable from piano to desktop. This I have done, First question is do I need a connection from the headphone jack to one of the blue or green jacks on the desktop. I also get a message saying Midi inputs could not be opened,I.e midi in, midi out.How do I do this and I what is the difference tweet midi 2 and midi 3. Finally is there a sequence to follow I.e must I switch the piano on before the desktop or is this not important.

Also wanted to add that there is a USB slot on the Roland and the simple answer is to plug in a memory stick and record my self but thats not the answer. I want to get a better understanding of the whole concept of recording.

Perhaps a better bet would be to get a book on it, Jack. You'd have pics right there, to see where you're going wrong. From what little I've heard about Reaper, I personally wouldn't have the time or inclination to fathom it out...complicated, apparently.

Hi! Let me try to provide some input...

1. Recording audio will record the sound produced by your DP. So, you will end up with an audio file (wav or mp3). In your setup, you record audio in two different ways.

1a) Record the audio directly on your DP to a USB. This is the best way to do it since it will create a "perfect" digital recording of your performance. Then you can copy the audio file to your computer and process it if you want. Processing can be useful to increase the audio volume (normalize) or cut silence at start and end of the recording. You will need an application like Audacity, Cakewalk or Reaper to do this.

1b) Use an audio cable to connect your DP to your computer. This can be done by connecting the headphone jack or the line-out jack(s) into the line-in jack of your computer's sound card. Then you will need an application on your computer like Audacity, Cakewalk or Reaper to record and process the audio. Note that using an audio cable will transmit an analog signal and may introduce some noise, depending on your equipment.

So, if you just want to record an audio file, I suggest you skip the audio cable route altogether and use the first option as the audio quality is better.


2. Recording MIDI will not record any audio at all. Instead, it will record "messages" that say which notes you have played. Your performance will be recorded as a small MIDI file. To playback that MIDI you will need a MIDI/media player on your computer or an application like PianoTeq or Reaper that will use some sort of "sound font" or digital instrument (VSTi) to produce sound. You can also playback the MIDI file directly on your DP if you want. To record a MIDI file you basically have two options.

2a) Record the MIDI directly on your DP to an USB stick. Then copy it to your computer and edit/process it there using an application like Reaper or Cakewalk (there are other apps that can do this, but let's keep this simple). Or just keep the file as it is and simply play it back on your computer using your media player, Reaper, Cakewalk or even the trial version of PianoTeq. If you want to play it on your DP, then put in on the USB stick and just use the DP's MIDI player.

2b) Record the MIDI on your computer. For this you need to connect your DP to your computer using a USB or MIDI cable (which you have already done). Note that this cable will not transmit any audio at all - it will just carry MIDI data. On your computer you will need an app like Cakewalk or Reaper to "listen" to the MIDI messages and record them. Setting this up in Reaper is a bit more complicated as you have to create a track and link it to the MIDI input. I suggest you look at some step-by-step tutorials on how to properly do this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSuO0V9ZKUo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Cfo2GJXqRU
https://reaperaccessibility.com/index.php/Chapter_3:_recording_audio_and_midi


However, I strongly suggest you first make sure that your MIDI setup is working correctly. For that, you can install the trial and free version of Pianoteq (https://www.pianoteq.com/try), go to the options and select your DP as the MIDI input. Make sure the DP is on before you start PianoTeq and that Reaper and other audio apps are not running at the same time. You should be able to control PianoTeq using your DP via MIDI now (and even record your playing as a MIDI file in PianoTeq). If all is working in PianoTeq, then your USB/MIDI setup is ok and you can start looking at the Reaper tutorials.

I am not sure if you will find this explanation too basic or if you want to go into the technical details...

PS: Reaper and most DAW applications are pretty complicated pieces of software for the uninitiated, especially because the user interface and the basic setup may seem overwhelming at first. If your goal is to simply record and perform basic audio (or MIDI) processing, I would actually suggest you use less sophisticated software. Understanding the basics on how to create, edit and process audio and/or MIDI tracks in Reaper or Cakewalk is not complex - but first you will need to understand how a DAW works and that will require some reading...

Thanks for the reply, arc7urus, after reading your post carefully, I think I am asking the question the wrong way or even maybe this is not the right forum to use. With another set up a while ago I recorded myself playing using Audacity quite a lot and then I used Cakewalk and my Casio and recorded both audio and midi, so I pretty much understand both midi and audio. I don't have that setup available anymore , and My preferred setup is Reaper and my Roland. The problem is that all the tutorials I have watched assume you know how to connect your piano to your computer, and that's part of my problem. When I start Reaper the message I get is no midi inputs and I can't get around this. It was a long shot but I was hoping there would be someone who had an FP 30 and was using Reaper who could explain exactly how to do this. It might be something to do with going to preferences and then following on from there. Pianoteq opens correctly but I don't want to use a plug in. I just want to record the Roland.Also, if I understand it correctly, once everything is setup and the piano and computer are talking to each other you can record either midi or audio. Is this correct.

If you can use PianoTeq without issues then it is likely a Reaper configuration issue. There is nothing special when connecting a FP30 or other DP via USB to a computer since they will use the same universal MIDI driver.

Something you might want to try is to use MIDI-OX (http://www.midiox.com/) to first detect and test the MIDI connection from your DP, then close MIDI-OX and start Reaper. Check if the MIDI ports are now correctly detected from Reaper. Otherwise, I suggest you wait for input from a Reaper PW user and also to post this question to the Reaper forum.

I have just tried something. I connected a cable from piano headphone jack to desktop line in and from desktop line out to amplifier aux. and was then able to record audio, but still no luck with midi. Will follow your suggestion.

Pianoteq can be used to record MIDI.

It was already discussed earlier, but in a nutshell you would hit record, play something, hit stop and choose File -> Save MIDI file.

I guess you are somewhat familiar with it by now.