Many thanks to the kind people who responded to my problem.
I was bothered by the thought that I wouldn't be able to hear my music in
order to proof it. Then, shortly after I sent the email I realized the midi
card was only needed to allow me to enter music from my small Roland
keyboard. I would still be able to hear the music from the computer's own
sound card, but I would have to relearn how to input using the computer
keyboard.
This was some relief, but I would still prefer to use speedy input. Your
responses have opened up avenues of possibilities for me that I will
explore, for which I am extremely grateful.
Once again, many thanks,
John Hughes
John Hughes wrote:
Has anybody had any experience with the Virtual Sound Canvas?
My problem is that I have just received a new computer from Dell and was
surprised to see that there was no way I could transfer any of my
existing sound cards into it. The slots did not match a midi sound card.
I thought something external like the Roland Sound Canvas might solve my
problem, but when I tried their web page all they had was the Virtual
Sound Canvas. A software application.
If anyone has had any experience with this application, I would dearly
like to know if it works as well as a real midi sound card.
Mant thanks in advance.
The Virtual Sound Canvas ships free with Band-in-a-Box, and it comes in
two different versions.
There is the stand-alone version, which has some latency issues, and there
is a DXi version, which won't work without a DXi host. finale is not a DXi
host, so you need to find one (I believe there are some free ones but I
can't name any) and run it and a virtual midi interface such as midi-yoke.
You would select one of the midi-yoke midi-out ports in Finale and then
select the same number midi-yoke midi-in port in the DXi host program and
the midi data from Finale playbace will run through the DXi host program.
I have seen this module, the Ketron SD2 at
http://www.ketronus.com/product_detail.php?id=53 and listened to the demos
at http://www.ketronus.com/demos.php and it sounds pretty good.
You will also need to buy a USB/midi interface, but M-Audio sells the
MidiSport Uno model for around $45 which should work.
Of course, once you get a midi interface, you can use any module, and
since external modules tend to need electrical power, there are many more
things to choose from, such as the Kurzweil PC2r (with orchestral ROM
installed - I don't think it's available without that option so you should
be all set) which will sound a whole lot better.
But there are many find soft synths which might run just find on your new
computer, and there are soundcards which should fit. Garritan, makers of
GPO, is fine, although buying all the samples necessary for any situation
can be expensive.
You might do well to contact Dell and discuss the soundcard issue with
them.
My advice is not to waste your money on the Virtual Sound Canvas --
there are many more options than you've mentioned, and lots better things
to choose from.
--
David H. Bailey
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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