what to have in a new computer.....
Hi all, until my computer died recently, I imputted each note with the mouse. A long and laborious task.
Now I need to replace the computer.
Up in the loft I have an ancient yamaha mini keyboard that has midi out (as far as I can remember).
So my question(s) relate to what soundcard should I get and... Do I need a soundcard with a midi socket?
Suggestions and pitfalls to watchout for greatfully accepted
Comments
Be advised that when you use a musical keyboard to enter notes in Musescore, whatever you play is not written down in real time, with the (often) varied durations of the individual notes correctly entered. What I mean is that you still have to first specify a note duration, then enter it with the musical keyboard. Please see:
http://musescore.org/en/node/22411
However...
If, for instance, you are entering something like a bluegrass (5 string) banjo part, which often consists strictly of passage after passage of single 16th notes, a midi keyboard could save some time, because the note durations are all the same and the notes can be entered in rapid succession.
Midi keyboard entry usually eliminates specifying which octave a note is in. Depending on how many white/black keys your mini Yamaha has, you may still need to specify an octave if a note is out of its range.
#1 Suggestion:
Try using the computer keyboard for note entry without relying so much on the mouse. (It won't be 'long and laborious'.)
Should you wish to proceed with the Yamaha keyboard, a midi to usb interface is commonly available in stores, so you wouldn't need a midi socket on your computer or soundcard.
Regards...
Mouse input is indeed laborious. But you don't need a MIDI keyboard to change that. You just need to read the Handbook on note entry, or watch the tutorial videos, to see how to use your computer keyboard. Eg, shortcuts 4 for eighth note, 5 for quarter note, 6 for half notes, then just type the notes using their letter names. Many times faster than mouse input. And about as fast as MIDI input.