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Topic: Recording MIDI (Read 4544 times) previous topic - next topic

Recording MIDI

This is the scenario. I had made a cool sounding MIDI arrangement that I want to put on A CD-R. I want to record the sounds from the keyboard, so I have the playback settings to MIDI Out. Is it possible to get the instrument sounds from the keyboard without using a microphone, so it internal, like if you were going to use Sound Recorder to get music from radio stations? If it is possible, how do I do that?

Some Extra Stuff:
My sound card is a Sound Blaster 16 (VERY OLD) (I REALLY NEED A NEW SOUND CARD)
I'm using the joystick port for my MIDI In/Out
I'm using Cakewalk to record my MIDI and make it digital audio.

Re: Recording MIDI

Reply #1 –
I'd answer, but my midi keyboard has never worked, so I really don't know what you need to do.  I suggest you press the Search button above these messages and search for Recording Midi.  You'll find the issues been discussed a few times.  Hope this is helpful.

Re: Recording MIDI

Reply #2 –
Assuming that you've got your keyboard working with your NWC or midi files, here's what you need to do to record it:

Get a cable with suitable connectors to plug into your keyboard's LINE OUT jacks at the one end (these will usually be two 1/4" mono jacks) and your sound card's LINE IN jack at the other (1/8" stereo). If you can't find a cable like this and don't have the interest/experience to make your own, you might be able to use the keyboard's HEADPHONE output (1/4" stereo jack); you can then use the ordinary run of cable with 1/8" plugs at both ends, and use a 1/8" to 1/4" adaptor (just like come with most headphones nowadays) to adapt it at the keyboard end.

You'll then need a wav recording/editing application. The soundrec app that comes with Winwoes is pathetic, and won't work for more than about a minute. A really good one is CoolEdit by Syntrillium Software (Ack! Seems it's been recently acquired by Adobe. Proceed at your own risk), a fairly decent one (with rudimentary editing capability) comes with recent builds of the freeware "Exact Audio Copy" CD ripper. There's a simple one that you can use to replace the existing soundrec.exe at one of my webpages (scroll to bottom of page).

Start the recording application, and hit PLAY in NWC or your midi player, and the wav will record. Hit STOP when done, and save it to disk. From there you can burn direct to CD, or encode it to mp3 using any of available mp3 encoders for archiving (raw wavs are HUGE) or web publishing.

Re: Recording MIDI

Reply #3 –
All I really want to do is put this song onto my CD, I don't make web pages or publish anything on the Internet. Anyway, I will need to buy a cable so I can connect the Line INs and OUTs, because my keyboard has those inputs in the back. I had this one cable that fit into the keyboard, but it wouldn't go into the computer ANYWHERE! I don't even know what it was supposed to do. It came with the keyboard, it is 1/4" in diameter, and it has the same long jacks on both ends. Any ideas?

Re: Recording MIDI

Reply #4 –
That's an audio cable, to go from the keyboard to an amplifier.

Re: Recording MIDI

Reply #5 –
Not every computer has a place to connect a MIDI cable. In particular, laptops do not. Some desktops don't either. If your computer has a joystick port, then maybe you can connect a MIDI cable there. If not, the solution is to buy a hardware device that allows a MIDI cable to be connected to some other port (such as USB). If you have Windows XP, be aware that some older-model MIDI-to-otherPort adapters do not have XP-compatible drivers.

Re: Recording MIDI

Reply #6 –
Two things,

first about the the ports, If the Line IN and OUT in the keyboard is for an amplifier, then what port do I use to connect the Line IN port of the computer with the keyboard.

And second, Robert, I have the MIDI cable already figured out.

Re: Recording MIDI

Reply #7 –
If the Line IN and OUT in the keyboard is for an amplifier, then what port do I use to connect the Line IN port of the computer with the keyboard.

That one would work, but would probably be in mono. I'd suggest carefully reading the instruction manual that came with the synth, to get a deeper understanding of what it's capabilities are.