MIDI Interface

So, I have a MIDI keyboard, but I need an interface for my computer. Any recommendations?

i say go with flstudio 9 its rather expensive but i think its worth it ive made some rather catchy beats with it

TheOvermind wrote:

i say go with flstudio 9 its rather expensive but i think its worth it ive made some rather catchy beats with it

i use reason myself, ive tried flstudio, i feel like that samples in reason and its processing is more built around musicians and more realistic. not that i use it for such ventures lol. ive tried both i prefer the feel of reason as a midi composition software, also i started with racks and a standalone recorder and reason lets you wire signal paths and racks like real life. i love audacity for recording samples and fast mastering of live tracks. anyone running osx or linux try ardour for some cool shit, but thats designed more around recording live stuff, tho it has a great sequencer. those are my three softwares of choice. i never just use one.

one thing i gotta give flstudio props on is the level of modifications and detail of it that it can do to a sample, but i prefer reason still.

I would check out what Newegg, Microcenter, and TigerDirect carry. Then I would hit my local Guitar Center and ask the geeks there. Then I would flip a coin based on my budget.

Good luck

Her_Sir wrote:

one thing i gotta give flstudio props on is the level of modifications and detail of it that it can do to a sample, but i prefer reason still.

true on alot of what you said i have never tried reason i will give it a shot but i like flstudio because of how semi complicated yet easy it is once you figure it out ill get on that trying reason

are you just trying to use the midi keyboard for vitrual instruments? or do you want to use it for live work or drumming? what exactly do you want to do? then i can suggest stuff

Her_Sir wrote:

TheOvermind wrote:

i say go with flstudio 9 its rather expensive but i think its worth it ive made some rather catchy beats with it

i use reason myself, ive tried flstudio, i feel like that samples in reason and its processing is more built around musicians and more realistic. not that i use it for such ventures lol. ive tried both i prefer the feel of reason as a midi composition software, also i started with racks and a standalone recorder and reason lets you wire signal paths and racks like real life. i love audacity for recording samples and fast mastering of live tracks. anyone running osx or linux try ardour for some cool shit, but thats designed more around recording live stuff, tho it has a great sequencer. those are my three softwares of choice. i never just use one.

one thing i gotta give flstudio props on is the level of modifications and detail of it that it can do to a sample, but i prefer reason still.

I use a couple different DAWs already, but I'd still like to give Reason a look if you still don't mind burning me a copy. What I'm mainly asking about, though, is the actual hardware interface.

Her_Sir wrote:

are you just trying to use the midi keyboard for vitrual instruments? or do you want to use it for live work or drumming? what exactly do you want to do? then i can suggest stuff

I'd like to use virtual instruments, but mostly I'm just trying to get my foot in the door. Afterward, I'll figure it out and make use of whatever I can. I don't see how that affects which interface I should buy, though.

wtf? Who gave you the neg rep? lol

hey whats reputation and how do i get some, i deffinately have zero.. anyways um im using flstudio9 right now to make music for my newgrounds

TheOvermind wrote:

hey whats reputation and how do i get some, i deffinately have zero.. anyways um im using flstudio9 right now to make music for my newgrounds

You get rep from people voting your comments up or down. Doesn't seem like anyone's really making use of it though, lol.

FLstudio9 and Reason are just DAWs, right? I'll test them out at some point, but I'm going to work with what I have for the time being. Just looking for advice on hardware at the moment.

TheOvermind wrote:

Her_Sir wrote:

one thing i gotta give flstudio props on is the level of modifications and detail of it that it can do to a sample, but i prefer reason still.

true on alot of what you said i have never tried reason i will give it a shot but i like flstudio because of how semi complicated yet easy it is once you figure it out ill get on that trying reason

reason is pretty easy too, but depending on ur genre it might not do much. i can do dubstep and dnb but there are some drum machines and things that are better. and its samples for the more tech genres is small. however it has amazing synths, good live drums out of box, and excellent sequencer and amazing effects, i prefer them to a lot of rack fx i have used. reason is good for jazz, classical, and if u get good kits and some more effects racks it will do anything. i like slayer, pendulum, and carl orf and it does all of that well.

HeyVanity wrote:

FLstudio9 and Reason are just DAWs, right? I'll test them out at some point, but I'm going to work with what I have for the time being. Just looking for advice on hardware at the moment.

reason is like garageband on steroids. has all the instruments and everything u need to mix stuff with a keyboard. however: dont rely on it to record line it or any live instrument, u have to use a partner software to do stuff and its not good at that. daws are like logic, pro tools, ardour, audacity, cakewalk etc, and those often dont have plugins or antyng to record stuff with.

Can't just use your own VSTi's?

lol, I know what DAWs are. I don't have any experience with reason, though. I just figured I'd use my own VSTi's in Reaper or Ableton Live. Any reason that wouldn't work?

HeyVanity wrote:

lol, I know what DAWs are. I don't have any experience with reason, though. I just figured I'd use my own VSTi's in Reaper or Ableton Live. Any reason that wouldn't work?

as long as u got a midi sequencer should be fine

Her_Sir wrote:

HeyVanity wrote:

lol, I know what DAWs are. I don't have any experience with reason, though. I just figured I'd use my own VSTi's in Reaper or Ableton Live. Any reason that wouldn't work?

as long as u got a midi sequencer should be fine

Would that be an entirely separate program? Pardon my ignorance, but I'm not sure what a sequencer is. Kinda limited myself to live instruments up to this point.

If you're talking about the keyboard then I'm not sure exactly what it'll do. It has MIDI in and out, but I'm not really sure what you need in order for it to qualify as a sequencer.

HeyVanity wrote:

If you're talking about the keyboard then I'm not sure exactly what it'll do. It has MIDI in and out, but I'm not really sure what you need in order for it to qualify as a sequencer.

the sequencer would either be built into the daw or the vsts. ur keyboard is a midi input device

Her_Sir wrote:

HeyVanity wrote:

If you're talking about the keyboard then I'm not sure exactly what it'll do. It has MIDI in and out, but I'm not really sure what you need in order for it to qualify as a sequencer.

the sequencer would either be built into the daw or the vsts. ur keyboard is a midi input device

Wouldn't need a controller of any sort?

All of this sounds pretty overwhelming so far, lol. Just hoping to power through and get it all worked out as easily as possible.

the keyboard has a controller built in. only time u need a standalone controller is if u have things that are midi that connect via quaterinch, like a drum trigger or the sort. does your keyboard output in usb?

No USB for my keyboard. Only 1/4" and MIDI in/out. That's why I was saying I need an interface. So, if my keyboard works as a controller already, then what would I be able to do with it? Would that work for something like creating my own beats?

HeyVanity wrote:

No USB for my keyboard. Only 1/4" and MIDI in/out. That's why I was saying I need an interface. So, if my keyboard works as a controller already, then what would I be able to do with it? Would that work for something like creating my own beats?

sorry i thought ur keyboard had a usb out. get something like this and that should do the trick:

http://keyboards-midi.musiciansfriend.com/product/M-Audio-USB-Uno-1X1-MIDI-Interface?sku=701379

Cool. I might grab one of those next quarter.

"So, if my keyboard works as a controller already, then what would I be able to do with it? Would that work for something like creating my own beats?"

^

u can do anything midi with it, including beats, just need to hook it up to pc with the thing in link i showed u

Her_Sir wrote:

u can do anything midi with it, including beats, just need to hook it up to pc with the thing in link i showed u

Awesome! Thanks alot, neckbeard. Lot of questions, I know, lol.

its all good i like to help