Keyboard Midi Playback/Composition - recommendations?
Carlo
I have a G4 iMac to which I'd like to connect a keyboard, but I'm not
sure what keyboard to get. I don't need a fancy keyboard but I do
plan on using the keyboard without my computer so I've ruled out
master keyboards (Roland A37, Edirol PCR XX, Oxygen8, etc...).
The keyboard needs to be able to read in midi files from the computer
and play them back while not connected to the computer. The ability
to select which tracks are played would be cool so that I could play
some parts myself.
As far as composition goes, I wouldn't mind doing that on the keyboard
while it is connected to the computer but being able to do it all on
the keyboard and then upload it to the computer later would be a plus.
I'm confused as all keyboards come with a midi in/out but it is not
clear whether the playback/composition of midi files can happen
independent of a computer or not.
Any suggestions or recommendations would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Karl Ostendorf
JB Seattle
price--rather awesome board for composition.
JB
"Carlo" <ka...@ostendorf.com> wrote in message
news:45f38f9b.03121...@posting.google.com...
Günter Nagler
> The keyboard needs to be able to read in midi files from the computer
> and play them back while not connected to the computer. The ability
> to select which tracks are played would be cool so that I could play
> some parts myself.
>
> As far as composition goes, I wouldn't mind doing that on the keyboard
> while it is connected to the computer but being able to do it all on
> the keyboard and then upload it to the computer later would be a plus.
>
> I'm confused as all keyboards come with a midi in/out but it is not
> clear whether the playback/composition of midi files can happen
> independent of a computer or not.
For such usage I would recommend keyboards that are called workstations.
They can be used to play and record with or without computer and some
have integrated MIDI sequencer which is easier to use for composing than
software editors. For song transfer most have a disk drive, for
stage it is comfortable if it has a harddisk so that songs and settings
can be set quickly, loading data from a floppy disk takes minutes.
MIDI cable is usually only used for playing/recording music notes but
not for transfering midi files to keyboard memory or harddisk.
Playback of your own midi files can only be done without keyboard if it
has a disk drive (floppy, zip, jaz ...) to store and exchange the files.
The keyboard type is not depending on the computer system used, they all
speak MIDI language, MIDI in, out, through is standard for professional
keyboards, important that it is General MIDI compatible to load
purchased midi songs or midi files from friends with other keyboard and
save your own songs also as midi files.
In past I did good choice with Korg workstations, see their current
models at http://www.korg.com
You should check interesting keyboards in your music store, good
sounding is surely the most important part of keyboard. Let them show
that the keyboard can play your own midi files well and how long it
takes to load midi files from disk.
Carlo
mighty fine keyboards, they're a little out of my range.
I've looked at the Yamaha PSR-290 - a popular model. After
downloading and perusing the owner's manual it looks like it can do
all that I want it to do, namely, accept midi files from a computer
for playback and the ability to compose without a computer but to
later upload the resulting midi back to a computer.
The only problem I see with the Yamaha is that there is no support for
OS X - they offer a program to exchange files with a computer (Song
Filer) but it is only for Mac Classic. Because of differences in MIDI
between OSX and OS9 it's not clear wheather I'll be able to run the
program in OS X within the Classic environment emulator or whether
I'll have to boot into OS9. If it's the latter, then forget it. I'll
test that out tonight (without the keyboard - just to see if the
program will start).
So I've also been looking at the Roland EXR 3. This appears to be a
model available only in Europe (at least Germany). Roland claims good
support for OS X, whatever that means. One plus is that the EXRs
offers a USB interface which would mean I wouldn't have to buy an
extra MIDI interface.
I'm not sure what software I'll have to run on my iMac to be able to
exchange MIDI files with the EXR. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
--
Karl Ostendorf
JB Seattle
living in the Ford motel again. One of my friends has one and I am in love
with it.
JB
"Noel" <no.t...@I.dont.want.your.spam> wrote in message
news:q5p1uv0kbk8n6iqf8...@4ax.com...
> On Wed, 17 Dec 2003 00:38:08 GMT, "JB Seattle" <shno...@hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> >Check out Korg Karma. www.americalmusical.com has some at a good
> >price--rather awesome board for composition.
>
> some features you just won't find elsewhere.
>
>