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Old 12-29-2013, 01:10 PM   #1
BeaManHogan
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Default Stepping into the world of audio recording and REAPER. I could use some guidance!!

Hello! I'm a musician with a lot of live sound experience (played piano, guitar and bass in several bands, one toured pretty extensively for a couple years) and I'd like to get into doing some composing. Eventually I want to write tunes for video games, but for now it's just for my own enjoyment and to become familiar with the process. I've always been the type of musician to focus completely on my writing and performance and I've done my best to ignore the tech side of music. But I think the jig is up and I've gone as far as I can without knowing some things. Darn. So I have no choice but to ask some embarrassingly basic questions! Haha.

I downloaded REAPER last week and after much reading and youtube tutorial watching, I figured out how to open a MIDI, edit it, and use VSTs and VSTi's. I'm ready to record my own! teeheehee. Now, as I said I know enough to run my instruments through amps and such and I usually ran the mixing board at band practice but I've never plugged an instrument into a computer before. For some reason I'm having trouble wrapping my head around it! So I'd like to run through what I have and I'm hoping you guys will tell me what I need to get.

I'll be starting out creating MIDI files only. For now, all I have to work with is a Dell Inspiron N4110 laptop:

----Windows XP

----4gb RAM

----Processor: Intel Pentium CPU B940 @ 2GHz (I went to Devices & Printers -> selected my computer -> hardware tab and this processor is listed twice. Does that mean it's a dual processor? I'm retarded at computers)

----- I know that my soundcard is an important spec, but I don't see it anywhere. There's something called "Realtek High Definition Audio Bus", is that it?

----Are there any other important specs that I didn't list?

----I know that the computers used in professional studios get insanely expensive, and my computer is definitely not high-end. But what are they paying so much for? Processing power? RAM? Sound card? Is a laptop like this even possible to get started on?

I would like to plug my Yamaha MM8 keyboard (http://www.zzounds.com/item--YAMMM8) into the laptop and use it as a MIDI controller. Here is where I start to get confused. From what I have read I need a MIDI interface between the keyboard and the computer. I want something that I can trust to work and last a while. Do the more expensive models work better, or will this work?

http://www.amazon.com/USB-MIDI-Cable...midi+interface

I still don't fully understand what it is that MIDI interfaces do. I also have this Yamaha MG 166C-USB mixing board:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Yamaha-M...69-i1322412.gc

Could I use this board as a MIDI interface if go MIDI out from keyboard -> 1/4" into mixer, then USB out of mixer to the USB in on the laptop? What if I did USB out of the keyboard into the mixer, then USB out of the mixer and into the laptop? There seems to be many ways to connect these devices, but honestly I'm not sure what each one does. What type of data is sent through a 1/4" cable vs. a USB cable? etc. etc.

What if I wanted to record AUDIO from the keyboard instead of MIDI? Would the mixer be useful in that case? Does the laptop I'm using have enough power for that?

There's mountains more that I don't understand (what's a buffer rate!?) but I think I'll leave it at that for now. If anyone takes the time to look this over and advise me I thank you in advance! Even if you just see one question that you can help with but don't feel like writing a huge reply to answer everything, I'd really appreciate it. I feel that I'm right on the edge of an amazing audio adventure but it hasn't quite started yet! I will continue to do more reading on these forums and try to learn as much as I can. Thanks!
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Old 12-29-2013, 01:36 PM   #2
Fabian
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BeaManHogan View Post
----- I know that my soundcard is an important spec, but I don't see it anywhere. There's something called "Realtek High Definition Audio Bus", is that it?
That is the built-in soundcard, yes. But... to save yourself a lot of trouble, buy a not-so-expensive external soundcard (USB or Firewire) that includes a MIDI interface. This will most certainly solve a lot of the problems that you might encounter with the built-in soundcard; it is not really built for doing useful audio recording. Just google for external soundcards and pick one that's in your price range and with the feathers you want. All of them (I guess) are ways ahead of your Realtek card.
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Old 12-29-2013, 01:38 PM   #3
electricthing
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Hi Beaman,

welcome to Reaper.
That's a lot of questions indeed.

I'll answer some and then give you some links.
Realtek high definition is indeed the audiocard.
You can start out a bit with that and use asio4all driver with Reaper.
http://www.asio4all.com/

If you want to buy a midi interface it would be better imo to buy a audio/midi interface so you only have 1 thing to hook up to the laptop.
If you go for just a midi interface I would buy a bit better.

You can google about starting out with midi, homerecording etc
like;
http://homerecording.about.com/od/ho...the_basics.htm

Since you are a experienced musician I would buy a decent usb audio-midi interface, Tascam, Focusrite etc.

Groove3.com have great tutorials, for 15 bucks a month you can learn a lot about it all, and you can unsubscribe anytime.

have fun and take it slow.

edit,

you already had some answers.....
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Old 12-29-2013, 09:13 PM   #4
Charango
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"I still don't fully understand what it is that MIDI interfaces do"

MIDI carries event messages that specify notation, pitch and velocity, control signals for parameters such as volume, vibrato, etc. These messages are sent to other devices where they control sound generation and other features. This data can also be recorded into a hardware or software device called a sequencer (REAPER) which can be used to edit the data and to play it back at a later time.
I would recommend a dedicated audio/midi interface like the one I just bought a Focusrite Saffire, about 130€ here in Europe. It will be miles better than the Realtek and it will be easier to use. You will have the MIDI in/out for your keyboard's Midi data and the AUDIO in/outs for your Audio.
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