Old 08-25-2014, 02:09 PM   #1
maurin789
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Default MIDI piano

Hello, newbie here. I have an electric piano that Ive hooked up to my computer with a midi-usb cable and now I cannot figure out how to get what I play on the piano to record in Reaper. Any help?
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Old 08-25-2014, 02:58 PM   #2
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Do you see any midi activity when you set and arm a track to receive midi signal?
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Old 08-25-2014, 03:41 PM   #3
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Yeah, I created a midi track, and armed it, but then when I press record and play the keyboard no sound shows up. I plugged the "in" cord to the "out" port on the keyboard and vice versa. The first time I plugged the instrument in my computer downloaded the software to use it so I think that's fine.
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Old 08-25-2014, 04:06 PM   #4
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Does your piano show up as an 'input device' on the track you are recording on?

Double check Reaper's preferences to be sure Reaper 'sees' your piano.


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Old 08-25-2014, 06:39 PM   #5
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MIDI is not audio. Until. You put some vsti on the track or route it back out to the piano, you will hear no sound.
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Old 08-25-2014, 08:15 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TimOBrien View Post
MIDI is not audio. Until. You put some vsti on the track or route it back out to the piano, you will hear no sound.

OMG THIS SHOULD BE A STICKY BILLBOARD...
I wish I had a dime for every time this comes up....
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Old 08-26-2014, 12:22 AM   #7
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^^^^
Have you thought of making some bumper-stickers?
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Old 08-26-2014, 03:37 AM   #8
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True. There is a reason they are called "soundfonts". But, its still okay to ask. Welcome to the forums, you'll get a lot of help here.

To get sound you need to apply an instrument sound to the track. Trumpet, organ, synth....etc.

Load up a soundfont player as an FX on the track. (there are a lot of free players available)

Find some decent soundfont libraries on line - if none come with your player - and load an instrument into your soundfont player. That is what you will hear on the track when it is armed and you are "monitoring input".

Think of it this way: You can't type a letter or e-mail without a TYPEFONT. Similarly, you can't play a MIDI track without a SOUNDFONT of some sort.

Or, Do as Tim O'brien says if you want to here the sound of your keyboard.

Clear as swamp water, huh?





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Old 08-26-2014, 03:39 AM   #9
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If there's something special about the sound of your electric piano that you can't get with VST, then you'll need an audio output from the piano to a good audio interface.
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Originally Posted by hopi View Post
OMG THIS SHOULD BE A STICKY BILLBOARD...
I wish I had a dime for every time this comes up....
I don't think it would help. But I've adopted it as my signature....
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Old 08-26-2014, 08:20 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by maurin789 View Post
Yeah, I created a midi track, and armed it, but then when I press record and play the keyboard no sound shows up. I plugged the "in" cord to the "out" port on the keyboard and vice versa. The first time I plugged the instrument in my computer downloaded the software to use it so I think that's fine.
I'm having the same trouble (also a newbie). I know I need a vsti to hear any sound but nothing seems to be getting input into reaper. Shouldn't I see little rectangles being recorded when I press the keys on my digital keyboard?
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Old 08-26-2014, 08:30 AM   #11
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Have you Right-Clicked on the Record/Arm button? Drop down to Input:MIDI and make sure to choose yours. At the top of the same window you should enable Input Monitoring.


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Old 08-26-2014, 06:13 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by g8torcliff View Post
Have you Right-Clicked on the Record/Arm button? Drop down to Input:MIDI and make sure to choose yours. At the top of the same window you should enable Input Monitoring.


cliff
Thanks- I just tried that but still getting nothing. Would it help at all if I made a quick video of my ignorance, put it on youtube, then pasted the link here?
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Old 08-26-2014, 08:17 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkStar View Post
^^^^
Have you thought of making some bumper-stickers?
actually sometime ago I did but not latley

have a look www.sockpuckers.com

in this case I'm thinking more along the lines of tatoos... hahahaha
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Old 08-27-2014, 11:35 AM   #14
maurin789
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Okay, so I've gotten it to record and I can see the notes on the midi channel, but I am still confused as to how I make it so that when I play all of the tracks, I can here the sound from the midi one?
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Old 08-27-2014, 02:43 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by grayswand1r View Post
Would it help at all if I made a quick video of my ignorance, put it on youtube, then pasted the link here?
Possibly. Consider putting it in the stash instead of on YouTube. Otherwiae, YouTube ends up full of videos about how Reaper doesn't work. Which it does.
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Originally Posted by maurin789 View Post
Okay, so I've gotten it to record and I can see the notes on the midi channel, but I am still confused as to how I make it so that when I play all of the tracks, I can here the sound from the midi one?
I'm guessing that you can't hear it, because there isn't any sound, because MIDI is still not audio..

A few things for you to consider doing next....

1) Press FX on that track with the MIDI on, and load ReaSynth. Press play. You should be able to hear the synth triggered by the MIDI, and it should sound very nasty indeed.

2) Download some better VST instruments. You'll find some good free ones at KVR.

3) In Reaper, go to Options > Preferences > Plug-ins > VST, and add a path to the folder with your new VSTi in.

3) Substitute ReaSynth with a better VSTi (same process as 1).

4) Read the REAPER user guide (AKA TFM).

Last edited by Fex; 08-27-2014 at 02:51 PM. Reason: Punctuation and stuff.
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Old 08-29-2014, 03:39 AM   #16
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My first reply kind of outlines what you need to do to get some sound. APPLY A SOUNDFONT PLAYER to the track as an FX and pick out an instrument from a soundfont library.

Hang in there, you'll get it.


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Old 12-01-2014, 09:13 PM   #17
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Please make sure you plug the midi OUT cable in to the midi IN port on your keyboard- and plug the midi IN cable to the midi OUT port.

This took me months to realize.
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