How do I record MIDI songs?

[Major Minor]

I have downloaded various MIDI songs that I can play along with. I load them into my DGX-660 via USB stick. How do I record my performance?

 

[Biggles]

Page 39 of the freely downloadable manual shows how toplayback songs and page 44 how to record.

 

[SeaGtGruff]

I think you can record your performance to a USB flash drive as an audio (WAV) file, but I don’t think (although I’m not sure) you can record the audio while playing back a MIDI song and playing along to it. In fact, I don’t think you can record a multitrack User Song (which is stored as MIDI data in the keyboard’s own internal memory) and then record it to an audio file as it plays back. I think all you can do as far as recording an audio file is record your live performance.

However, if you connect your keyboard to a computer using a TRS (stereo) audio cable going from the keyboard’s PHONES/OUTPUT jack to the computer’s LINE IN jack, you can use a DAW or other audio software to record the keyboard’s audio output. This lets you play back a MIDI song file, or an internally-stored User Song, plus your live performance as you play along to those two types of songs. A lot of home keyboardists like to use a free program called Audacity for this, which is very similar to a DAW except it doesn’t include all of the other features (especially the MIDI-related features) that a proper DAW has.

If you have a tablet or smart phone, there are audio apps that let you record, although the quality of the results can vary depending on whether you’re able to connect your keyboard to the mobile device using a stereo cable or must record using the mobile device’s built-in mono microphone.

There are also standalone audio recorders you could use, either an analog recorder (such as a tape recorder) or a digital recorder. Some people find standalone audio recorders to be simpler to use than having to learn how to use audio recording software.

 

[Major Minor]

Thank you very much to both of you. Michael, I think you 're right that you can't record to the internal memory of the keyboard if it's a 'playalong' MIDI track. I'll have to try the other methods you recommended.

 

[happyrat1]

What Michael overlooked is the ability to hook up to a computer via MIDI USB and run a sequencer software like Cakewalk by Bandcamp which would allow you to not only import and play back MIDI files but even remaster them to add your performance as another MIDI track in the song itself.

Cakewalk is FREE (as in Beer!!!) software available at this link.

BandLab - Make Music Online

The cloud platform where musicians and fans create music, collaborate, and engage with each other across the globe

www.bandlab.com

Gary

 

[tjw]

run a sequencer software like Cakewalk

I've been a Cakewalker for 32 years. I've had about 6 different keyboards, a bevy of rack-mount boxes, soft synths, etc.... and a few minutes would be all it takes for me to play, modify, embellish, edit any of the pieces I've kept through the decades. The hardware abstraction of DAWs like Cakewalk, and the rather universal application ability of the exported files, collaboration, etc, is very worth the pain of the learning curve. Which, I must say, this software is incredibly well-represented with tutorial books, tube, forums.....it's sure a different world than it was in 1987.

There are many good DAWs besides Cakewalk. I've never tried any of them. There's never been any occasion in which I couldn't do what I wanted to do with it.

I recommend this approach.