Going midi!

G

GallenWolf

New member
Hi everyone!
I couldn't find a suitable forum to post some noob questions - so hope this forum will be ok!

Of late I've been enjoying the native tunes from africa and north america, and while I can get the main tunes down on my electone organ (Yamaha Portasound PC-50. Also have a Yamaha FC-20 at home. Yeah. Old.) there's no way to get the cool drum beats and other instruments. So I'm looking for a low cost setup to create instrumental music on my PC. Down the line I may want to try to record voice together with the music but that's er... like gonna be later.

From what I've been reading I most probably only need a very basic setup; midi keyboard, a sound card with midi-in and a software sequencer. I'm probably going with Home Studio 2 from cakewalk, perhaps one of the creative 0404 emu cards, and a basic midi keyboard controller.

Does that sound correct? Also, if I were to get a very basic midi keyboard, could I play on the keyboard and allow the computer to control what kind of instrument is output from the PC speakers? Could this be done "live" or do I need to record the midi input first then let the software render the music? Also, if I were to get a small 49 key controller, could the software allow me to shift the notes up/down octaves? Or is a large 88 key controller a necessity? Space is very limited in my room :)

Would also appreciate any suggestions for the software sequencer or soundcard. I'm hoping to spend under 600 on the software & sound card. For the keyboard, as basic as possible, so I'd appreciate any suggestions :)

Thanks for any advice!

Regards,
Alvin
 
Need some clarification first. Do you intend to record your electone and portasound into your PC? When you say you wanted to get drum beats and other instruments, do you mean from the electone and portasound or other sources? Do you intend to record live instruments? Does your electone or portasound have midi out? What PC do you have (speed and RAM)? What else do you use your PC for?

These will make a lot of differences as to how much you need for your setup (and how much it will cost).
 
Hello Cheez,
No, I don't intend to use either of my organs for recording.

With reference to the drums, I was hoping to get them from the software. Is this possible? I.e. I play notes on the midi keyboard, but they are translated into drums in the software.

No, I do not intend to record any live instruments or voices of any sort, at least not at this moment in time :)

Nope, neither of my organs have midi out.

Hmm my home pc is a celeron 2.4ghz with 512megs of ram. I'm using an external USB sound card; no midi in :( It's one of those mini computers, only one PCI slot. Gonna ditch the scsi card for a proper sound card. Main usage is just mail/web/light java programming.

Thanks mate!

Alvin
 
OK. So you want to create music from your PC and with your PC. It is hard to keep it under $600 if you also want good sounds. Know that most soundcards do not come with sounds (unless they are the gaming soundcards eg Creative).

How much can you stretch your budget?
 
Hi Gallen Wolf,

1) Try using the win asio4all driver and see if it works with your sequencer/onboard sound chip.

http://michael.tippach.bei.t-online.de/asio4all/

If it works, you can save on a soundcard until you are ready to do some serious recording.

2) In this day and age, lack of midi inputs is not a problem since you can get a USB compatible keyboard.

They do have their advantages - save money/space by avoiding a midi interface, true Plug and Play, and most are powered via USB (avoiding a huge and ulgy power supply)


3) Unfortunately, the sample libraries for exotic percussion is not cheap and you probably can't get them in Singapore. You can have a look at these:
http://www.audiomidi.com/common/cfm/product.cfm?pid=4610

http://www.audiomidi.com/common/cfm/product.cfm?pid=5901

http://www.audiomidi.com/common/cfm/product.cfm?pid=4844

Regards,
jk
 
Cheez, I could stretch it if it's really needed. But what's needed as a base setup?

jk, thanks for the links. Ok, it's somewhat annoyingly priced. Question is, how do I use them? Are they like plugins for software? I'm pretty sure I've seen this "VST" term used with a few midi sequencers I'm investigating (playing with the fruity loops demo right now - 149USD so I'm gonna figure out a bit more before shelling out the dough).

Thanks mates!

Alvin
 
Some of the plugin comes with a version of Intakt, a software sampler (do note that it can only load its own library and not others).

To use a VST instrument in Cakewalk sequencers, you need a VST adapter, a piece of software that converts the data into a format that Cakewalk sequencer understands.

To use VST instrument in Fruity Loops, you can simply load it into a track.

BTW, if you do not need the full range of feaures of the USD149 FL, you could try the cheaper USD $100 versions and then upgrade as necessary.
 
Ok I *think* I understand it - to play instruments not included in the sequencing software (or is it the software's soft synth?), I can purchase VST plugins and I get new instruments. Is that correct?

Would you think the 100 FL would be sufficient for my requirements above?

Thanks!!!

Alvin
 
Most liekly, it will be sufficient. But you have to assess your own needs as well.

But I'll assume that you are a beginner in the MIDI thingy and do not need complex mixing functions or detailed wave form editing.

ps - I in fact downgraded from Cubase VST/24 (for Win98) to a Cubase SE (for WinXP) when I realized that I did not need the advanced functions.
 
Another cheaper option is to get free sequencer software - if you don't intend to do audio recording and only simple midi. The free software out there are Protools Free (only for Windows 98/ME) and Anvil Studio. They are limited in functions but sufficient for simple sequencing.

VSTis are not cheap. You mention about having not just drums sounds but instruments. So that will mean more money. If you are using Creative soundcards, the good thing is that they use soundfonts. You can get free soundfonts over the web (IMO, they are not very good). But there are good and relatively cheap soundfonts that you can buy from sonicimplants. At about $100, you can get 12MB of GM wavetable; at about $140, you get 24MB of GM sounds. These are not cheapo GM sounds you get in soundcards - they are of high quality. You can check out their demos. I actually have one of their drumsets and their afro-cuban library in giga format - have been using it very often. You can also get individual drum sets if all you want are drums.
 
Hey man,
Checked with Sinamex, no stock :( Also checked with Hung Bros @ sim lim and some of the apple shops but all no stock. Guess I'll have to just wait for one :)

Thanks for all the advice!

Alvin
 
Dear all,
I have acquired my keyboard, it's a M-Audio Keystation 61es. I'm having fun right now (ok earlier on lah) experimenting with the various instruments in Fruity Loops. Works great! Though I'm kinda used to those keyboards that don't have so much resistance when you press down. :?

Thanks for the advice mates!

Alvin

PS: Evidently they just received a whole boatload of Keystation 49e keyboards at S$180.
 
lowjk said:
Some of the plugin comes with a version of Intakt, a software sampler (do note that it can only load its own library and not others).

To use a VST instrument in Cakewalk sequencers, you need a VST adapter, a piece of software that converts the data into a format that Cakewalk sequencer understands.

To use VST instrument in Fruity Loops, you can simply load it into a track.

BTW, if you do not need the full range of feaures of the USD149 FL, you could try the cheaper USD $100 versions and then upgrade as necessary.
Click to expand...

hehehe... intakt doesn't load any other samples?.... do a research dude... it loads aai, exs24 n lotsa more.... juz shows how much u noe...!!
 
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