Recording from Vinyl into Audacity

Download and install Audacity and also the Lame3 mp3 encoder (needed to save the tracks as mp3)

Then plug in the lead from the Hifi/record player etc into Line input on the pc. (The input should be marked on the pc, its usually light blue)



Next start up Audacity and go to menu edit/preferences.



Now on the Audio I/O page you need to choose the sound input of your PC in the recording section.



Also under that make sure you choose Stereo for Channels.



Close that window and on the main page click the arrow pointing down next to the microphone icon. Click on Monitor Input.



Now play your record or tape and you should see the bars moving to show the audio input is working.



Now your all set to record your tracks. The transport is just like and old tape player, Stop,record etc.

What Is A MIDI Controller

As you can see from the previous few post a Midi Controller can come in many shapes and sizes. From a simple keyboard to a huge mixing desk arrangment. One thing they all have in common is that they can control your music software.

Most modern DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) software has this ability built in and are usually very easy to setup,Take Ableton Live, all you have to do is click the midi learn button, then move a button/knob/slider on screen and finally move the control on the midi controller you want use. Thats it, now when you want to change that control in the software, you just move the control on the controller.

Take the example of my Waldorf Blofeld synth module. Most of the controls on the synth are to be found deep inside a menu driven OS. This makes editing a sound on the Blofeld slow and boring. (althought the Blofeld has a very good interfaces, its just not as hands on as using a midi controller).

Using the Berhinger BCR Ican map each knob to a separate control on the Blofeld. So for example I can control the envelope, filter, FX, etc.

This way I can create new sounds a lot faster and a lot more hands on experience.

Kid Beyond - Whats possible with Midi

A fairly basic setup using Ableton Live, Bomes Midi Translator and A Midi Footpedals.

A Few Examples of What MIDI is Capable of

Dj Controller

A Lava Lamp

Touch Screen

Keyboard

Best MIDI Software

When it comes to software tools for MIDI on the PC, you should not be without Midi-Ox and Bomes Midi Translator. (I,ll cover Bomes Midi Translator another time)

Midi-Ox is and all round Midi tool that can be used for many different fault finding or setup problems. One such problem is checking that an external Midi keyboard or Midi controller is sending Midi messages and that the PC is receiving them.

Open Midi-ox and go to the Options in the menu bar and click on Midi Devices

 

From here we can choose which Midi inputs or outputs. For this test we just need to choose the Midi input that our external keyboard/controller is plugged into. Just click on the input you need in the top left box.

In the picture below I have choosen the Midi input to which my Behringer BCR Midi controller is plugged into. (Note that I,ve renamed the Midi Input to BCR so I can remember what equipment is plugged into which Midi Input or Output, yopu can do this in Options/Customize Port Names)

 When you highlighted your Midi port click Ok and the window will close,enabling that Midi port to be used in Midi-Ox.

Now just make sure the Input Monitor window is open, by clicking View/Input Monitor.

Now when you press a key on the Midi keyboard or use a button or knob on the Midi controller, you should see a stream of numbers in the input monitor window.

The picture above shows that the BCR Midi controller is indeed working and the PC is recieving the Midi signal.

MIDI and PC help

I,ve recently started offering my help with MIDI and PC problems. The sort of problems I can help with are.

• Setting up new MIDI and PC hardware. Do you want to get that new synth, controller or FX box working with you DAW software like Cubase, Reason, Live etc.

• Advice on setting up Hardware only MIDI rigs, maybe you just want your groovebox running in sync with a drum machine, maybe add an MIDI controller to take hands on control of your equipment.

• MIDI explained in simple terms, sometimes all these new technology can be overwhelming. I have over 20 years experiance with all types of MIDI hardware and software. 

• Thinking of a buying some new hardware and would like impartial advice. Tell me what you need and I,ll see about getting you the best piece of equipment to do the job.

Feel free to contact me with any questions.
2000monkeys@gmail.com

Hello World

If you’re as old as me and bought their first synth before the MIDI revolution in the 80,s.You will be familiar to the pain in trying to sync your Moog Rogue synth to a Roland 606 drum machine. Everything was done by control voltages and triggers (CV + Trig). This would mean that you needed 2 cables.-

CV - Sends a voltage signal to control the pitch of a note. A continuous voltage that went up or down depending on the pitch needed (eg. the higher the voltage the higher the note)

Trig - A voltage spike that told the synth when to play the note.

Now this does not sound too bad but the problem was that each manufacture would use their own standards. This caused all kinds of confusion when trying to get a Roland synth to communicate with a Korg synth.

Then came along MIDI and suddenly life became much easier. One DIN cable was all that was needed to send a signal from your sequencer to your synth. And even better it was an industry standard. Now that Korg synth could be sequenced from any MIDI equipped sequencer.

When I bought my first MIDI gear (Yamaha TQ5 sequencer/sound module + Cheetah MS6 sound module), I was blown away by how simple it was to setup and run in comparision to the older CV/TRIG equipment I had owned.

I realize some readers maybe aware of the shortcomings of MIDI (and there are a few drawbacks). But for a technology thats almost 30 years old it is still being used in almost every studio in the world and new equipments is still being made with the iconic MIDI In/Out/Thru sockets.

In the next few blogs I will be showing my present studio setup in regards to MIDI and how it was all setup.