Output Volume Control

[ronmadow]

Recording single track from MIDI Keyboard - seems to be recording fine, but can barely hear output. How do I get the output louder (speaker volume on max).

On the record line the device is showing as Yamaha USB In 0-1: All Channels.

Audio output from other programs (Finale PrintMusic) are fine. In fact, I can record perfectly into Finale.

Actually, upon further review, I'm not sure I'm getting anything from the keyboard. This is very frustrating. I see changes to the recording graph, but the VU never wavers.

Thanks,
Ron

[Art Evans]

I'm not clear what you are trying to do - are you trying to record midi data from the keyboard, and therefore you'd need to have a VSTi instrument on the track, or are you trying to record audio, in which case you'd need a line-out from the keyboard to the line-in of your soundcard, and make appropriate selections in Reaper to get the output from your soundcard to the track?

[JohnB47]

Just to echo Arts question, what is your Midi output set to?

If you are not sending your output to a synth (using the 'fx' button on the track) then you must send it to the appropriate 'Midi hardware output' for your setup (using the the 'IO' button for the track).

On the other hand, you might want to choose the output as the keyboard itself, which you have to have set up in preferences.

Cheers.

[ronmadow]

I'm recording from a midi keyboard... Yamaha P70. I know it works because I can score in Finale and Sibelius. I just can't seem to record in Reaper... or at least, I don't think it is because my output is silent.

The track shows that I'm recording from my midi device - at displays Yamamha Midi 0-1 all channels.

I want to find the best and easiest way to record from the P70 into Reaper and save the file as a .wav file.

[Art Evans]

First of all then you've got to decide how the midi will be turned into audio. You'll need an external device and you'll need to route the midi data to it from Reaper, or you'll need to use a virtual instrument on the track, and that's well covered in the manual. Follow the steps and let us know whether things then don't work for you at any point.

[ronmadow]

Art,

Thanks for the advise.

First - I have an external device - a Yamaha P70 Digital Piano. It has Midi In and Out. I have a connector for it to my laptop. It works perfectly with my composition software.

Second I'm not sure what you mean by how the midi data will be turned into audio. I presume I can Render it as an audio file as I have been able to do this with input from the internal mic on the laptop.

Your point "you'll need to route the midi data to it from Reaper" this is what I am using the P70 for. AND this is where I'm having problems.

On the track by the VU it shows that my input is coming from a Yamaha Midi. and I have selected All Channels. None the less, it does not seem to be recording from the P70. I can't find the proper settings to get it to record the midi data being sent from the piano. After I "record" the track "appears" to contain some blips in the graphic part of the track data. Upon playback there is no sound.

Understand, I am new to recording, but not to conputers. As I said, the connection of the P70 to the laptop works in other applications. And so does the internal speaker system. I have literally spent several hours pouring through the manual, trying different settings. I can record audio data theough the internal mic. I can Render it to a .wav file. But I can't get it to work with the P70 as my input.

I would appreciate any help you can offer.

Thank You,
Ron

[Art Evans]

Well, I've found the keyboard on the net, and indeed it has the ability to send midi data out - which is purely data indicating which keys you have pressed, how hard, how long for, and so forth, but that data has to then be passed to something that's going to act on the key presses and produce a sound.

The keyboard will do that either if its keys are connected to its sound generator - which is probably the default way of playing it not connected to anything - or, if midi data is received at its "midi in" socket (there's probably a way of switching it to that mode referred to in its manual).

So you need to connect the midi output from Reaper to the midi in of the keyboard (as well as the midi out from the keyboard to the midi in of Reaper), and that should enable you to hear the keyboard as you record the midi stream in Reaper - and when you play back the recording in Reaper, it will generate the appropriate audio in the keyboard.

You'll need to have a look at Options > Preferences > Midi devices, and set the input and outputs there. And click on the I/O button for the track and specify that you want the midi output to go to your keyboard. And right click on the record enable button for the track and specify that you want to record midi from your keyboard.

Do now look at section 3.20 of the manual and work through the setups and examples given there - do exactly what it says (including using Reaper's built in virtual keyboard to begin with, while you get your head round the concepts) and really, it should all fall into place. You'll see that you can use your keyboard's midi audio generator, or the PC's built in audio generator, or a VSTi virtual instrument to generate the audio - but you have to set Reaper up to use one of these alternatives, as indeed you'll hear nothing till you do.

[Staccato]

Hi, MIDI is data, not audio. So if you record MIDI, it then needs to be converted to sound. You could either use a VSTi on the MIDI recorded track, or route the recorded MIDI back out to your keyboard and let the keyboard turn it into sound.

Or, you could just use the audio outputs of your keyboard, and record the keyboard's audio output instead of the MIDI data output.

The key is selecting the desired input source in the Track Control section. Right-click on the meter to see the options. If the desired input source does not appear, the audio/MIDI device preferences may need to be configured.

Then hook your synth to the corresponding hardware input port, arm the track, and hit Record. HTH