You're talking two totally different things here.
Let's get one thing totally straight. Midi isn't audio. All that midi
basically is are different numerical values for certain triggered events,
with 1's and 0's attached to it. Basically 0 means the event is off, while
1 means it is on. Every single thing you do with the keyboard is associated
with a midi event, as they are called. I understand this isn't what you're
asking, but to answer your question, I have to define this, so you'll
understand in a second where I am going with this. So what happens with
midi is, these events are sent to your midi hardware or software controller
either on the input, or on the output side. Trust me with this, I am an
audio engineer, so I know what I'm talking about, believe me. I've done
this stuff for years. Not saying I'm God, and know everything, cause I
definitely don't, but this much, I do! know.
OK, so with all of that said, let's address your question at hand... The
short answer is, Garageband will definitely do midi. If you don't plan to
record, but just want to play, then Audacity or even Main Stage might be
your best bet. The thing however is, just know that if you want to get the
sounds from your keyboard, it may take a little more work. First of all,
does your keyboard have built in speakers? If not, you'll need to somehow
get the keyboard going to a line source like the line in of your mac, or to
a mixer etc. I don't know your setup, so it's kind of hard for me to really
determine e everything right up front without more info.
You're going to most likely need a midi to USB converter, because obviously,
the mac doesn't have built in round midi in and out and through ports.
There is a nice device called the midi Uno that would work with this.
Basically, it's a Y cable. One end has 3 of the male round plugs. One for
in, one for out, and one for through. So, you'd connect that end to your
keyboard, and leave the through cable dangling if you don't have a through
port on the keyboard... it won't hurt anything. The other end is a standard
USB plug. That would go into the USB port on your mac. I think they're
somewhere like around $50 or so. Amazong should have them. I've had mine
for about 5 years now, so I can't tell ya if they still exist, but, I'd
definitely look.
If your keyboard actually connects via USB, not the round midi plugs, then
just use a standard plug and play USB cable, and you'll be good to go.
If you want to then play midi with the built in instruments, then you'll
open up your DAW, (Digital Audio workstation,) of choice, be it Garageband,
Audacity, whatever, and you'll want to set your midi output to your keyboard
midi controller. So, if you're using an Uno, or some sort of midi to USB
converter, it should, provided you have the drivers properly installed, show
up in your output list. You'd just pick it, and boom, you're done. Now
you'll play the midi file just like you normally would and it then should
come out your keyboard speakers, or if no speakers, it'll get routed to your
keyboard's line out/headphone out which you then have fed back into a line
in source of some type.
If you wanna record using the sounds in the keyboard, this gets a little
more complecated. Basically, keeping it general, and elementary, you'd
need, even if there are! built in speakers, to connect a stereo patch cable
to the line out, preferred, or if you don't have one, the headphone jack of
the keyboard, and the other end into a channel on your interface/mixer, or
if you don't have one, then directly to your line in on the mac. Fire up
your DAW of choice. Open the midi file, or record it like normal, then in
your project, create a stereo audio track for your final master mix, arm it
for recording if needed, then making sure none of your midi tracks are
armed, so you don't accidentally record over them, hit record in the
software of your choice, and then basically allow the midi to play through
your keyboard, and get routed out the keyboard to the line in of your
mixer/interface/line in jack on the mac, therefore capturing that audio and
recording it to the stereo audio track you just created. Then, once done,
delete all the midi tracks from the project, leaving only the one audio
track, and then mix/bounce/render, however the DAW calls it, it down to
either a wave file, or an mp3. Preferably a wave file, so that it won't be
compressed or with any artifacts. You can later go back and encode that
wave to an mp3 file, if it be needed.
I do offer tech support on this type thing, so if you need help, give me a
call on Monday, and I can definitely help you with this. My rates are $15
an hour, or $25 flat rate for unlimited tech support during business hours
for one whole month. I take PayPal, and I also can over the phone process
Visa and Mastercards if it be a last resort. I prefer PayPal though as the
other way can be a bit dicy for some people. Just know though, it is an
option. PayPal Here is my processor if you go that avenue, so it's totally
100% secure.
If you want to do this and take advantage of my support options, my support
phone number is:
704-594-2225. Hours are Mon-Fri. 8AM to 5PM, closed on weekends and
holidays. These times are quoted according to eastern standard time.
I hope that I've been of help.
Chris.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Devin Prater" <[email protected]>
To: "OS X & iOS Accessibility" <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, April 04, 2015 4:35 PM
Subject: [Mac-access]: midi keyboard usage within the mac
Hi all. I mac a lovely midi keyboard… Well it will be when I find the
midi -to-usb cable… Its a Yamaha keyboard with its own built-in
instruments. I really would rather use its instruments instead of the
garageband ones, and would rather have a program that simply makes midi
files, like QWS on Windows. Are there any apps that can do that for the
Mac?
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