Recording a Keyboard
This is another question we get asked time and time again. How do you record the actual sound of your keyboard onto your computer? Many people get confused about the difference between making a MIDI connection from their keyboard and actually recording the sound
If you do want to record the sound of your keyboard, then a MIDI connection will not do the job. A MIDI interface will transmit your control data (for example which notes you have played, how loudly you played them etc) then this information can be used to play software instruments on your computer.
If you want to record the actual sound of your keyboard on your computer then you need to connect the line out (or headphone out if you have no line out) from your keyboard to the line in of your sound card or external audio interface. If you have a generic sound card built in to your computer, and your keyboard has one line out port, then a will do the job in the first instance
You can try this out and see what it sounds like. You may find the recording quality of your sound card is not great, in which case you can improve the sound quality using a device like the , which is a USB audio device.
If you have a bigger budget and are looking for a Pro solution, then even better results can be obtained by upgrading your , or using an or interface.
Our top-selling PCI sound cards is the . The great thing about these PCI sound card upgrades is that they both also have MIDI ports, so as well as recording the sound of your keyboard through them, you can also easily make a MIDI connection with
Upgrading your sound card is straightforward, but there are also a range of USB audio interfaces which are easy to install, don\'t involve you opening up your computer and are also suitable if you have a notebook or laptop. The most popular USB audio interface we sell is the , perfect for recording your keyboard sounds, and it also has a mic port with pre-amp if you want to record vocals as well.
Then there are some excellent USB audio interfaces which also have MIDI ports as well as line input and high-quality mic pre-amps so you could use them as a one-stop recording solution. Try the
This is a really brief intro to the world of Recording - if you want to know more, then there is a fantastic guide to computer music making written by Cakewalk- The Desktop Music Handbook - which covers MIDI in depth, and also features a great guide to Digital Audio.