Reaper to Keyboard Problems

[Reist]

I finally figured out how to record midi via usb into reaper - it's actually a lot easier than I thought. I can now quantize, open the piano roll and play back using vstis - but (as can be expected) - the free vstis I downloaded don't sound as nice as the samples on my keyboard.

How do I send the midi back to my keyboard from reaper? Or is there an alternative path I could take to get my keyboard samples to my computer? If any of you know how, any help would be appreciated.

[AJOwens]

I think you need to set up a send from the recorded MIDI track to your MIDI hardware out, and physically connect your MIDI out to your keyboard MIDI in. Then you need to set up an audio track to receive from your keyboard's audio out.

I'm away from my studio for the weekend (in beautiful NYC) but when I get back I'll try to set this up and post the screen shots.

[Reist]

I think you need to set up a send from the recorded MIDI track to your MIDI hardware out, and physically connect your MIDI out to your keyboard MIDI in. Then you need to set up an audio track to receive from your keyboard's audio out.

I'm away from my studio for the weekend (in beautiful NYC) but when I get back I'll try to set this up and post the screen shots.

Aight, thanks AJ.

Does it change anything that I'm using USB, not midi cables?

[AJOwens]

That makes it even easier -- I think! This is a situation I can't duplicate in my own setup. I have a USB-connected controller, but it doesn't generate its own sounds. I also have a MIDI keyboard with built-in sounds, but it doesn't have a USB connector.

Obviously you don't need another cable -- your USB connection does it alll. You should be able to play back your recorded MIDI through the USB to your keyboard, and record its analog output. What I don''t get is what happens when your keyboard is sending MIDI to your PC and also to its own internal sound generator, AND your PC is sending the MIDI back to your keyboard.

But what the hey, try it. You can select a MIDI send in the track I/O controls. That should make your keyboard play (assuming the USB MIDI out is enabled in your preferences). THen it's just a matter of setting up a plain audio recording channel for the keyboard sounds.

[AJOwens]

OK, I'm home and I tried this out with MIDI cables. Here's what works for me.

[EDIT: This kind of works for me. I'm using a Yamaha YPT-210 for this test. No matter what sound I select on the keyboard, whether during recording or playback, it always renders the recorded MIDI as a Grand Piano sound. This is not what I expected! What happens with your keyboard?]

[2nd EDIT: It seems that, to change the output voice of my Yamaha YPT-210 keyboard for MIDI playback, I have to open the MIDI editor, choose Bank/Program Select from the pop-up menu available in the lower left corner; then double-click in the CC Lane (the blank area below the key lane area) to open the Bank/Program Select dialog box. Here, I have to ensure that the Bank is set to <user> and the Program field is empty (not that I can always control this); change the Program number to some other number (not the number I'd punch up on the keyboard voice selector pad), and then click Send Now. The settings for this dialog box behave a little strangely, in that they open with seemingly unpredictable defaults, but with fair regularity they come up with <user> and a blank Program field, and then changing the number works, although what sound you get for a given Program number is not documented anywhere. Thank goodness I don't plan to use this keyboard as a sound source. I hope you have better luck with yours!]

[3rd EDIT: It's not so bad. You can insert a control code event in the CC Lane to change the voice, and then come back and edit it. (To insert an event, you click OK instead of Send Now.) By inserting more than one event, you can even change the voice during the MIDI sequence. Pretty handy, actually. It's just a matter of writing down what number gives you which voice -- and in my case, it turns out this is listed in the back of the YPT-210 manual, after all the translated sections.]

[4th EDIT: You can even record MIDI on multiple Reaper tracks, and then have the keyboard simultaneously play back different voices for each one. To do this, in the Track Controls io > MIDI Hardware Output section, change the channel send (say to Send to Channel 1 for one track and Send to Channel 2 for another track). Then alter the voices to your liking as explained in the 2nd and 3rd EDITs.]

NOTE: I'm using an M-Audio Delta card, so my MIDI ins and outs are labelled Delta AP MIDI. Substitute yours accordingly.

First, make sure you're set up to use your MIDI ins and outs:

1. Open the REAPER Preferences dialog box (Ctrl P).
2. From the Audio section, select the MIDI Devices page.
3. In the MIDI Hardware Settings, ensure that your MIDI device is enabled in both the upper pane (MIDI inputs to make available) and the lower pane (MIDI outputs to make available).

Then set up your recording tracks:

1. Create a track for your MIDI recording.
2. In the track controls, Select in> MIDI Input > Delta AP MIDI > All channels.

(Now you can record MIDI from your keyboard. I think you got this far already.)

3. In the track controls, click the io button.
4. In the Routing for Track n dialog box (where n is your track number), set the MIDI Hardware Output to Delta AP MIDI.

(Now your keyboard can play back the MIDI as audio.)

5. Add a new track for your audio recording.
6. Set up the new track to record from your keyboard's audio out jacks.

You're in business!

To record a performance in real time, simply enable recording on both channels.

To record the MIDI first so you can edit it, enable recording on your MIDI channel only. Then disable recording, and use your keyboard as a monitor while you play back and edit the MIDI. When you're ready to record the audio, just enable recording on your audio track, and then play back the MIDI track.

Let me know how it goes!

[Reist]

3. In the MIDI Hardware Settings, ensure that your MIDI device is enabled in both the upper pane (MIDI inputs to make available) and the lower pane (MIDI outputs to make available).

That was the kicker - I've got it working. Thanks, AJ.