how do I make a MIDI keyboard play piano ?

[bitslice]

total noob question

I've just bought a 2nd hand Casio LK-45 (for my Mum) and I noticed it had midi ports

As expected it doesn't really sound much like a piano, so I was wondering if I got a Midi interface for her PC and some software, can I rig the PC to make a better job of making a piano-like sound ?

someone in here mentioned the m-audio audiophile 2496 MIDI i/f
and I gather I need some sequencing software too ???
and to buy a sample of a piano sound ???

....OK, I have now reached the limit of my musical knowledge

 

[OzZie]

It's more than possible to do.

You'll need a soundcard like you mentioned. PCI is the most hassle free, but obviously not portable. It also is the cheapest way of doing so, as external units are quite a bit more expensive. Then if the soundcard has MIDI I/O, then you'll need a single MIDI cable to go from the output of the keyboard into the input of the soundcard. If the soundcard doesnt have MIDI I/O, you can get a MIDI - USB adapter for about £20 and still use the soundcard's functionality.

Then you'll need a digital workstation, comprised of a host application and some software instruments. Doing it all for free is also more than capable, by using some free VST applications (REAPER) and some freeware instruments, although of course, going with some real samples is the best way to go about things.

However, the most ideal part of the piano's functionality is the touch responce. If the keys arent velocity sensitive, then it is always going to be impossible to get it sounding nice, as it will just play at full volume for every key. You really need the dynamics of the instrument in order to get it to sound like a real piano. If the keyboard doesnt have this feature, i would say not to bother in all honesty.

 

[bitslice]

Thanks OzZie,
good point about the keyboard velocity

From what I can tell from the vague manual, the velocity value used is dependant on the keyboards volume level, so it's either v=100 or v=75, so possibly not worth it in this case



odd that the manual comes from a nice third party website and not from Casio itself - makes you wonder why manufacturers don't bother to support old products with a whole 3Mb of web space