Exporting Midi Sounds produced by external synth to PC

Steinberg Lounge
#1

Hey guys,

Im gonna have to apologize in advanced because Im very new to Cubase and my description of this problem may not be up to snuff. However, I will try my best to provide as much information as I can so maybe someone can help me out with this problem.

I am the new proud owner of a Yamaha S90XS and have been attempting to record the midi files to Cubase. This works fine, I can record the midi and play it back. What I am wondering is what it takes to now record the audio from the recording midi. Ive heard and tried things like audio mixdown but even with a friends help who has a good amount of experience with cubase is confused. I am connecting my computer to my synth via usb to port cable. I wish there were more intricate details I could provide, but I would really like to understand why its not as simple as it seems to be.

Thanks guys,

Kurtis

#2

First of all I would advise to read up on all of the manual. Some things are just too much to explain in a forum post. All will depend on what cubase version, audio interface etc (please put that info in your signature)
I have some hints though:

  • you can record the output of the keyboard to an audio track (should be possible in any cubase version)
  • more advanced would be to install your keyboard as an external instrument using a MIDI Device (there you go :slight_smile: ), so you will simply have your keyboards output in the cubase audio mixer and thus in the mix (only possible in cubase top versions: C5, C4, SX3…)
#3

Here’s what I’ve done in the past:

Play the synth and record the MIDI
Make any edits in Cubase and verify by playing the MIDI back to the synth
When you’re satisfied, create a new audio track (mono or stereo depending on the synth); solo the MIDI track; enable record on the audio track and press Record.

This assumes that the audio out from the synth is somehow connected (either directly or via a mixer) to the audio card that Cubase is using.

The advantage of doing this is that the MIDI is saved for later. So if, at the end of the song’s development, you decide that a different voicing would sound better you still have the source. Or, like I did, if you later buy a good soft-synth (e.g. Kontakt) then you can route the MIDI to that later to create a better sounding mix…sometimes even years later.