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Hi,

I have a question which apparently is so stupid that the manual of my newly purchased MIDI-USB cable doesn't condescend to mentioning it:

With some trouble (cable way too short, installation doesn't work as described in the manual), I now did connect keyboard and computer and also managed to install a driver. Now what?? Naturally, I'd like to record something, but I don't have the slightest idea what I'm supposed to do.

Thanks for your help!

Christian

Christian,
You need what is known as a sequencer. Basically, it's software that's designed to record midi and audio tracks. As you're new to this, I suggest that you look into a product known as Cakewalk by SONAR. It's easy to install and quite intuitive. It's also fairly inexpensive - about $400 USD. Cakewalk also has an online forum to ask questions and share info with other Cakewalk users. If your PC has a Soundblaster sound card, you may want to upgrade. Soundcards can be purchased either as external or internal. You can get a decent one for under $100, which will be more than ample until you've become proficient at recording. m-audio makes decent and inexpensive soundcards. Check out their web site at www.m-audio.com and click on Products -> PCI Interfaces.
Good luck.
Roger

Thanks for the info! However, this is a bit of a shock for me; I think I'm going to return the cable.

On the off chance that there's been a misunderstanding, let me state again what I want to do: Play a simple piece (badly, of course) and send this as a file ("listen, Mom, what I can do at the piano"). "Record" sounds too professional, of course.

Can you please confirm that I really need to spend another 500 bucks or so to be able to do this.

there are plenty of free sequencers out there.
mahlzeit has his "red dot" recorder.
I've got ditty
or hit google.

Glitzer,

What keyboard do you have?
Does it have an audio line out? Headphones out? (not as good, but it will work)
Does your computer have a mic input?

Programs to look for:
Red Dot Forever
Audacity
If you want to buy one, look for Music Creator ($40) which is the individual version of Sonar. There is also a version with a MIDI adaptor included for $50.

Also get a cable to go from the Line out on your piano to Mic in on your computer. Or use headphones out on the piano if you must.

Red Dot Forever is a freeware program to record MIDI. However, remember that MIDI is commands to play the music, not the music itself. This is probably not what you want to send your mom. However, it is still good to use. Since you have the cable, you will probably want to learn how to use it.

Audacity will record the sound from the piano, but you need to connect with a cable from audio out (or headphones in a pinch) to the mic in on the computer. The quality of your sound card will greatly influence how this sounds. You might want some other software to convert to MP3. I use wavepad.

Music creator will do both and allow you to combine different tracks (both audio and midi) into one output track, etc. This is the one I use.

Look for threads on the forum that talk about both of these.

Good luck
Rich

It greatly depends on what your keyboard can do already. Can you record your playing, and play it back on the keyboard?

If you can, all you need is to do is to transfer the midi file from your keyboard to the computer via your new cable.

If you can't, then you'll need to send your playing via the cable to your computer, and have it do the recording. That's where the sequencer software comes in. Because you won't want to do any editing (which would be cheating!), I expect the sequencer could be very basic -- i.e. free.

Once you have a midi file, however you get it, then you can just email it to your mom as an email attachment.

Thanks for the additional information.

I have a Yamaha Nocturne which can't do anything (except play). So I guess the way to go is to download a free sequencer and then ask the next bunch of questions...

I am apparently very backward here or why do both manuals consider these things unworthy of mention.

I'm beginning to understand, though, why they don't sell the cables at the local Best Buy.

Glitzer,

To record the sound from your piano you will need a cable (probably from radio shack or guitar center) that has two 1/4" male mono jacks on one end and probably a single stereo 1/8" male jack on the other (this should match your computer).

Plug this into aux out on the nocturne and the mic in on the computer.

Set Audacity up to record, play away, and use Audacity to record the sound.

Save as a wave file and convert it to MP3 to send to your mom.

Check the Audacity website for more tips and tutorials.

The problem with MIDI is if your mom does not also have a nocturne connected to her computer with software as well, she will not hear what you hear. MIDI is just the commands to play this note at this time, not any of the actual sounds.

I would not return the MIDI cable if it works, because you will probably want it later. This would be great for you to record your playing in MIDI then play back the MIDI to record the audio.

The manual hints at this on pages 21 - 22, but doesn't go into detail.

Hope this helps.

Rich

That sounds convincing and more like what I had in mind (I originally thought the keyboard + MIDI cable would be something like the acoustical analog of a digital camera + cable).

On an unrelated note, I also find absolutely amazing that the Nocturne can't keep settings (but goes back to default when you turn it off).

Quite a few keyboards do that. It's actually done deliberately to save on support calls from people who mess up the settings.

Pretty much all devices should be storing settings, and I suspect if some manufacturers decide to leave it off it's to save money. The ideal solution is to simply include a Reset (to default) function.

I agree that the settings should be stored. The only cost to add this feature in a device of the complexity of a DP is in a few hours extra programming. There is zero cost per device. However, support calls require people to man phones which is a real cost. I design electronic devices for a living and know how these companies think.

This might help:
http://www.originalsolopiano.com/how-to-record-piano.html

That looks really useful, thanks!

As for storing (or not storing) the settings, it had occurred to me too that a reset button would do it too. The auto reset might downsize the Indian call center, but it also accelerates the wear and tear of the buttons by a factor of about 100, I guess. (But maybe that's a welcome source of additional revenue, or is this just my paranoid imagination.)

On my Yamaha CP33, you have to enable storing the settings in the options. Maybe your piano has a similar option.

I think it's unlikely I overlooked something. I read the complete manual word by word (because I couldn't believe it first). Also, the instrument has 88 keys (not surprisingly) and on top of that only one on-off switch and three more buttons, so it would have to be something really unexpected ("hold button A for 5 seconds, then turn the piano off and on again and then press B+C simultaneously three times in rapid succession").