Recording from a keyboard

September 19, 2006 4:21 PM

What is the best way for a non-techy, older guy to record from a keyboard, either using a MP3 player/recorder, or very simple PC program?

I need to help a semi-pro pianist to record from his Yamaha P80 keyboard. Maybe some sort add on to an iPod? Or, as he has limited computer knowledge, an easy program which can run on a P3 W2k box with USB1. My mates use Cubase on Mac's, which isn't a lot of help !
The outputs on the P80, if this helps are "L&R unbalanced audio, stereo headphone;L & R RCA audio; MIDI in/out; serial computer port"

posted by bluefin to sports, hobbies, & recreation (9 comments total)

You could patch in from audio out jacks to the line in of his PC, then use Audacity (free, pretty easy to use) to capture the sound. It could be a pain to set up the first time, but after that it would be easy.

Re: iPod - the new 5G iPods have the ability (with a 3rd party mic) to record in high-quality modes, but the older ones do not. So, unless you have a snazzy new iPod, expect nothing better than a dictaphone.
posted by rossination at 4:50 PM on September 19, 2006

By "record" do you just want (a) a wav / mp3 file of the piano playing, or (b) do you want the possibility of multiple tracks / post-processing / mix down?

You want a cable that goes from stereo RCA -> 1/8" jack. The two (red and white) stereo RCAs will connect to the "L & R RCA audio" outputs of the keyboard, and the 1/8" (headphone-style) jack will plug into the Line Input socket on the PC's soundcard.

Now, double-click on the "speaker" icon down in the window's task bar. Go to:

Options --> Properties.

On the window that pops up, check the "recording" option, and in the "list of volume controls" make sure there's a tick in "Aux In" or "Line In".

Click okay, and you'll be back at the sound mixer. Make sure the "select" box for "Line in" or "Aux in" (probably Line in, but different sound card call it different things) is ticked, and make sure the volume slider is turned up. This is the control you'll use to make sure the volume is correct.

Now, open your recording software of choice. If he wants option (a) then just use the Windows Sound Recorder.

Start --> Programs --> Accessories --> Sound Recorder

And hit "record".

If option (b) you might want to install Audacity instead.
posted by Jimbob at 4:56 PM on September 19, 2006 [1 favorite]

Basically, what Jimbob said.
posted by rossination at 4:57 PM on September 19, 2006

Go with the L & R RCA audio, buy one of the Y adapters that turns the two into a single connection that you can then run into your computer's line-in or microphone port. From there you can capture the sound with any number of windows programs.

Argh. On preview, what Jimbob said.
posted by PWA_BadBoy at 5:22 PM on September 19, 2006

Jimbob, thanks for the thorough, quick answer. Initially he just wants to record a MP3/WAV and if that’s successful, later on he might try post-processing. As he is just using an old IBM thinkpad laptop, will the quality of the poor soundcard affect the quality of the sound and so does this eliminate this method?

Rossination, thanks for eliminating the iPods, I searched thro all the add-ons and that explains why the only method I could find involved booting Linux. I also found this
fairly recent review for recording mp3 players which I will go through to see if one is suitable
posted by bluefin at 5:23 PM on September 19, 2006

[Bluefin - I am a music student and know several people with the audio players that you linked to. They are generally quite happy with them].
posted by rossination at 5:29 PM on September 19, 2006

As he is just using an old IBM thinkpad laptop, will the quality of the poor soundcard affect the quality of the sound and so does this eliminate this method?

I admit to getting fairly noisy recordings from laptops. One thing to check - I've often found that laptops only have a Microphone input, rather than both Mic and Line. While it is possible to plug the keyboard into the Mic input, the results will be noisy and difficult to control distortion.
posted by Jimbob at 5:38 PM on September 19, 2006

I've had pretty bad luck with noise in the audio in/out on pretty much any type of computer. There is all sorts of RF noise inside most machines which sometimes causes ugly sounds to come through when recording.

If you have any budget, you may want to consider an external USB sound card. You don't need anything particularly fancy for very reasonable sound quality. For a single stereo pair at CD quality (significantly lower than studio quality), you can spend anywhere from $50 to $500. In my experience, even the cheapest units are a dramatic improvement over the built-in soundcard in most machines. I believe that this is because the analog to digital conversion is better isolated.

Most of the units also do a great job of plug-and-play so you won't really have to worry about configuring the computer. As long as you set your input levels so they never hit red line, you'll get a great recording.
posted by Mr Stickfigure at 8:09 PM on September 19, 2006

In reviewing MP3 recorders make sure you can export the files to your computer.

An external USB-connected audio input may be cheaper and more flexible, as Mr Stickfigure notes above. It's what I use (I'm on a Mac so I do recording on noncompatible software so I can't advise about that). Try googling "USB audio interface" for various options. I noted that the "Behringer UCA202 USB Interface" is among the cheapest and offers free recording software on the Behringer website if he's on Windows XP.

Otherwise googling "windows audio recording software" yields a host of cheap and free options. With a USB interface he might have best luck plugging directly into the keyboard, presuming it has signal out jacks - you can convert pretty much anything to anything with a plug or two from radio shack. Otherwise a microphone is needed, and the one in his computer (presuming there is one) is unquestionably the worst available choice.
posted by nanojath at 9:41 PM on September 19, 2006