Re: OT: Question about a MIDI keyboard and USB port
El 17/03/2012 0:07, Cotty escribió: On 16/3/12, Carlos R., discombobulated, unleashed: I have seen that MIDI to USB converter cables are easy to find, but knowing nothing about MIDI my questions are: What more is needed for his intended purpose? A Mac. End of. -- Thanks for your help, Cotty ;-) Anyway, he bought an Asus notebook (very good, by the way), without asking me first. But now, seriously, being as he is a computer illiterate person, I would have told you to go for an Apple computer if he had asked for myu opinion before buying his laptop. He's hopeless at using the thing and an Apple would have easier for him to learn. Carlos -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: OT: Question about a MIDI keyboard and USB port
El 16/03/2012 20:14, steve harley escribió: on 2012-03-16 6:56 Bruce Walker wrote He might consider someday moving up to a keyboard with a USB connector that supports MIDI over USB. Pretty much the modern standard. Look around the M-Audio site. there are several USB-based keyboards that are reasonable quality and they are so inexpensive that buying a midi converter could be a waste (unless the Casio keyboard he has is very good); M-Audio, Akai and a few others make 2-octave keyboards for around $50, and 3+ octaves with a somewhat better touch aren't much more (i haven't owned an electronic keyboard for a while, but i've been planning to get one) when i work with non-expert computer users (which i do on the side professionally, and as a service to friends), i find keeping things simple is key; this is especially true with older people who tend not to practice enough to retain detailed procedures; to that end, a USB (rather than Midi) keyboard means less wiring, and i expect Windows is like OS X in that you could just plug in the USB keyboard, launch some equivalent to GarageBand, and start playing ... Thanks for you advice, Steve. In fact, I have also thought of the same solution, but first we'll try the MIDI to USB converter, which can be had quite inexpensively (about 10 euros) and if it doesn't work well enough, I think he'll go for the USB keyboard. Carlos -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
OT: Question about a MIDI keyboard and USB port
I know this a completely off-topic question, but I bet there is someone in the PDML who can help a friend of mine to solve his doubts. He's 75 and a computer illiterate. I've been helping him to grasp the basics of Internet and Windows use since last summer. So far I've taught him how to browse web pages, send e-mails and now I'm trying to introduce him to the basic administration of folders, files and disk space. I haven't been very successful so far and I'm beginning to think he should have bought an Apple computer instead. He's also a classical music fan and a bit of an amateur musician and having downloaded a programme which allows him to play music using his laptop keyboard, now wants to go a step further and link his Casio MIDI keyboard to a USB port of his laptop and use it to play music, as it is much more comfortable than using his laptop's keyboard. As I am his computer advisor, he asked me if that was possible. I have looked at the instruction manual of his Casio keyboard, and it has both MIDI IN, OUT and THROUGH connectors. I have seen that MIDI to USB converter cables are easy to find, but knowing nothing about MIDI my questions are: What more is needed for his intended purpose?, Does he need any special software or controllers?, Do I have to perform any configuration changes for Windows 7 to recognize his MIDI keyboard? Thanks to all on his behalf, Carlos -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: OT: Question about a MIDI keyboard and USB port
MIDI is a world of weird, but I'd advise you/your friend to get one of these: http://m-audio.com/products/en_us/Uno.html M-Audio stuff has excellent cross-platform compatibility, in general, and excellent software support. Any decent music package will automatically detect the MIDI driver that comes with the device and talk to your keyboard. If the keyboard is an older one, or a less popular one, you may have to fiddle around to map the MIDI commands and such, but it can be done with patience. I have one of the older 2X2 Midisports and I used it under Windows before moving exclusively to Mac. It worked just fine with the Mac driver. Ignore the MIDI-through jack, by the way. Only useful if daisy-chaining devices and nobody does that anymore. Full in/out channels are just too cheap to need daisy-chaining (plus stock serial MIDI runs insanely slowly, about 38Kbps). He might consider someday moving up to a keyboard with a USB connector that supports MIDI over USB. Pretty much the modern standard. Look around the M-Audio site. On Fri, Mar 16, 2012 at 7:36 AM, Carlos R. crls.p...@gmail.com wrote: I know this a completely off-topic question, but I bet there is someone in the PDML who can help a friend of mine to solve his doubts. He's 75 and a computer illiterate. I've been helping him to grasp the basics of Internet and Windows use since last summer. So far I've taught him how to browse web pages, send e-mails and now I'm trying to introduce him to the basic administration of folders, files and disk space. I haven't been very successful so far and I'm beginning to think he should have bought an Apple computer instead. He's also a classical music fan and a bit of an amateur musician and having downloaded a programme which allows him to play music using his laptop keyboard, now wants to go a step further and link his Casio MIDI keyboard to a USB port of his laptop and use it to play music, as it is much more comfortable than using his laptop's keyboard. As I am his computer advisor, he asked me if that was possible. I have looked at the instruction manual of his Casio keyboard, and it has both MIDI IN, OUT and THROUGH connectors. I have seen that MIDI to USB converter cables are easy to find, but knowing nothing about MIDI my questions are: What more is needed for his intended purpose?, Does he need any special software or controllers?, Do I have to perform any configuration changes for Windows 7 to recognize his MIDI keyboard? Thanks to all on his behalf, Carlos -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- -bmw -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: OT: Question about a MIDI keyboard and USB port
Thanks for your advice, Bruce. This is the kind of solution I was looking at, but I wasn't completely sure whether it would work. El 16/03/2012 13:56, Bruce Walker escribió: MIDI is a world of weird, but I'd advise you/your friend to get one of these: http://m-audio.com/products/en_us/Uno.html M-Audio stuff has excellent cross-platform compatibility, in general, and excellent software support. Any decent music package will automatically detect the MIDI driver that comes with the device and talk to your keyboard. If the keyboard is an older one, or a less popular one, you may have to fiddle around to map the MIDI commands and such, but it can be done with patience. I have one of the older 2X2 Midisports and I used it under Windows before moving exclusively to Mac. It worked just fine with the Mac driver. Ignore the MIDI-through jack, by the way. Only useful if daisy-chaining devices and nobody does that anymore. Full in/out channels are just too cheap to need daisy-chaining (plus stock serial MIDI runs insanely slowly, about 38Kbps). He might consider someday moving up to a keyboard with a USB connector that supports MIDI over USB. Pretty much the modern standard. Look around the M-Audio site. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: OT: Question about a MIDI keyboard and USB port
You're welcome, Carlos. I've got a whole bunch of older MIDI gear, synths, keyboard controller, and it all talks nicely to any music workstation software I've used, like Cubase and Logic. Best of luck! On Fri, Mar 16, 2012 at 9:50 AM, Carlos R. crls.p...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks for your advice, Bruce. This is the kind of solution I was looking at, but I wasn't completely sure whether it would work. El 16/03/2012 13:56, Bruce Walker escribió: MIDI is a world of weird, but I'd advise you/your friend to get one of these: http://m-audio.com/products/en_us/Uno.html M-Audio stuff has excellent cross-platform compatibility, in general, and excellent software support. Any decent music package will automatically detect the MIDI driver that comes with the device and talk to your keyboard. If the keyboard is an older one, or a less popular one, you may have to fiddle around to map the MIDI commands and such, but it can be done with patience. I have one of the older 2X2 Midisports and I used it under Windows before moving exclusively to Mac. It worked just fine with the Mac driver. Ignore the MIDI-through jack, by the way. Only useful if daisy-chaining devices and nobody does that anymore. Full in/out channels are just too cheap to need daisy-chaining (plus stock serial MIDI runs insanely slowly, about 38Kbps). He might consider someday moving up to a keyboard with a USB connector that supports MIDI over USB. Pretty much the modern standard. Look around the M-Audio site. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- -bmw -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: OT: Question about a MIDI keyboard and USB port
on 2012-03-16 6:56 Bruce Walker wrote He might consider someday moving up to a keyboard with a USB connector that supports MIDI over USB. Pretty much the modern standard. Look around the M-Audio site. there are several USB-based keyboards that are reasonable quality and they are so inexpensive that buying a midi converter could be a waste (unless the Casio keyboard he has is very good); M-Audio, Akai and a few others make 2-octave keyboards for around $50, and 3+ octaves with a somewhat better touch aren't much more (i haven't owned an electronic keyboard for a while, but i've been planning to get one) when i work with non-expert computer users (which i do on the side professionally, and as a service to friends), i find keeping things simple is key; this is especially true with older people who tend not to practice enough to retain detailed procedures; to that end, a USB (rather than Midi) keyboard means less wiring, and i expect Windows is like OS X in that you could just plug in the USB keyboard, launch some equivalent to GarageBand, and start playing ... -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: OT: Question about a MIDI keyboard and USB port
On 16/3/12, Carlos R., discombobulated, unleashed: I have seen that MIDI to USB converter cables are easy to find, but knowing nothing about MIDI my questions are: What more is needed for his intended purpose? A Mac. End of. -- Cheers, Cotty ___/\__ || (O) | People, Places, Pastiche -- http://www.cottysnaps.com _ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
