Teach an old dog new tricks

Andrew Race

New member
About 6-7 years ago I invested in a small midi studio set up. It consisted of an Atari ST, a very basic sampler and a Kurzweil K2000 keyboard with the sampling option installed. My sequencer was Cubase V3. My keyboard was attached to the Atari via midi cables and the sound came out via my stereo system. My sampler was attached directly to my stereo as well. To download samples, I had to transfer the midi leads to the sampler. A crude set up by todays standards but with the Kurzweil, it was an effective studio. Like all budding music makers (I hope) my first two weeks was spent trying to create the biggest hit ever but not actually learning how to use my equipment properly. Eventually, when everything I did sounded nothing like as good as what I thought I could produce, I decided to learn. Just as I was getting into it, money problems hit and to cut a long story short I had to sell.
I now have a P.C. and a bit of money and an aching heart to do it all again. I'm considering buying Cubase VST V5 (might as well get the best I think), but I'm puzzled how to set it up. How do I connect my stereo to my computer so I can sample records, CD's etc and how do I connect a midi keyboard to it to play in real time? Do I need to adapt my P.C. and if so what with?This might sound a stupid question but I've not really kept in touch with the latest technology and how it works. It seemed to change weekly and not having any 'hands on' experience I lost touch. Basically I'm seeing my computer as the Atari, VST V5 as my old V3 and the rest is a mystery to me. Can anyone help me?
 
You need a good soundcard for your PC that allows midi and sound. The MidiMan Dman PCI card is a good one at around £100. This will make up for the fact that your PC has no inbuilt Midi like the Atari.

You could also ( if your PC is powerfull enough ) go for the VST virtual instruments which wire in directly to VST.

You will need an external mixing desk and connect that into your audio ins on the computer. For getting sounds off a CD you can rip them digitally with a program like Audiograbber
 
Cheers my freind, there's plenty of food for thought there. I have a funny feeling my PC has a sound card capable of handling midi already in it. I also have a line in RCA connection on the back and my manual says I have an input for a games joystick / midi device there to. As usual, the manual I have got for my machine tells me sod all really so a trip to PC World is on the cards.
I checked out the website on your reply and was very impressed with what I heard. It's good to know that people are producing quality stuff with some thought put into it. Good luck for the future.
Once again thanks for the advice

Andy
 
Good luck to you to , and hope to hear some of the stuff you start producing !

PS Cards with game port joysticks may cause you grief in the wonderful world of MIDI.
 
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