Recording my keyboard

Hi

I use Cubase LE AI elements 9.5 on a hp laptop running windows 10. I am attempting to record audio directly from my Yamaha psr-e333 keyboard to my computer. I have installed the midi driver from Yamaha.

From day one I have struggled with this software, I find it extremely complex, and having watched numerous videos from cubase it still makes no sense to me, there are certain features that do not add up. For example, I have spent a large portion of today trying to record my keyboard, I managed to do it, but it will ONLY play back through the keyboard itself while the rest of the audio plays through my laptop. I also noticed while recording that the audio only recorded if I used the dual feature on my keyboard, i.e. two voices at once e.g. dual piano or piano and strings. That makes no sense to me. Additionally it was recording only basic piano and negating any of the dual voices and sustain, it once picked up just strings on their own, and I dont understand why its removing all of the effects etc from my keyboard.

I tried to use Halion sonic, but then it wasnt picking up anything I was playing on my keyboard, so I dont know what im doing wrong.

Essentially none of this makes any sense to me, and I’m trying very hard to understand the system so that I can use it to record my music, and it would mean the world to me to be able to just sit and record things but my only experience with recording software other than cubase is Audacity… I feel like I need to be sat next to someone who fully understands cubase and go through every detail, so I can actually use it, because I just end up pressing loads of stuff and ending up actually figuring little bits out but that’s highly unproductive and frustrating.

Please help someone!

The first thing you need to understand is how MIDI works, and that audio is not MIDI. If you want to record audio, you need to establish an audio connection.

Ironically I understand what MIDI is and how it works, my point was I cant seem to get it to record. Im fully aware audio and midi are not one and the same. What I did instead was plug my keyboard into my amp and use my amp driver, I.e. I’ve recorded it as audio. However, for future reference I’d like to know how to record MIDI tracks.



Then you should mabe rethink how you phrase your questions.
And which part when trying to record MIDI tracks does not work. How have you set up the Hardware and Cubase?

My mentioning of installing the MIDI software was purely because in my keyboard manual it requests that you download it prior to recording anything, and I did so thinking it would be the easiest way.

Cubase I haven’t set up any particular way, I’m just using it as it came, and in an empty project. As for the hardware, my keyboard was plugged USB directly into the laptop im using. My thing was, when I played back any Midi recording, it would only record any data if I was using more than one voice on my keyboard, and would only play any sound when routed back through the midi driver into my keyboard, so all other audio would come from my laptop.

I’m having similar issues and still looking for the answer. I’m also using LE 9.5. My Yamaha keyboard uses a “USB to host” output for both MIDI and audio. When recording in Cubase, it’s only recording the MIDI. Where can I go to tell Cubase that the input signal I’m looking for is audio and not MIDI?

Hi! Sorry it’s taken me a while to reply, I haven’t checked these forums for a good year now.

Yes I did manage to find a solution to this, despite the initial respondent deciding to be rude, condescending and completely unhelpful when I was clearly a newbie and needed some help that went beyond the difference between MIDI and audio. I have now moved on to Cubase artist 10.5, which I’m pretty sure wouldn’t make any difference, but I thought I’d mention it just in case.

Actually there are a number of ways around this, but I only discovered them once I realised that my keyboard ONLY records as MIDI when plugged directly via USB into my laptop - perhaps this is the same with yours hence the same problem? It’s worth a check, but the way I initially got around it is by using an audio interface, namely the Focusrite Scarlett, by connecting it to my keyboard’s audio output, and then plugging the Scarlett into my laptop via USB, allowing for me to record audio. Another way of doing this is to use something like an amplifier that can connect to a laptop via USB, for example I have a Line 6 Spider V - you plug the keyboard into the amplifier using the audio output/ headphones socket and then plug the amplifier into the computer via USB in order to be able to record audio, much in the same way as using an audio interface, and both can be used to record other instruments audio e.g. guitar as well.
The other way I got around this was by discovering a MIDI VST instrument that I got for free alongside the Focusrite Scarlett, AddictiveKeys, which works whereby you plug the keyboard directly into the computer via USB, record a line of MIDI track under that specific VST instrument, and it comes out sounding exactly like a piano (or organ, synth etc. depending on which AddictiveKeys instrument you choose to use) which can then be further edited and you can change the sound in a whole bunch of ways - pretty cool and sounds great!

Hope this helps! :slight_smile: