Guys,

I recently purchased a Motif ES7. I am a newbie and would like to know the most practical method for me to be able to get sound on my laptop.

I've got a Dell Inspirion 9100, 3ghz, 1 gig ram, Intel 865 chipset.

On this computer I've installed Sonar 4. When Sonar loads, it displays a message stating no acceptable sound device found. I am guessing the cheesy SigmaTel Audio soundcard that came installed on my laptop isn't cutting the mustard.

What is the most efficient method for me to hit the ground running, being able to lay down some tracks? Down the road, I will want to add vocals and guitar to the tracks, as well as the synth.

Would the best solution be an external soundcard or an audio interface? What about the mLAN16 expansion board.

What I know is that I can't get any sound when I open up sample files in Sonar4. I need you guys to give me some recommendations.

Thanks!

You can get GM midi sounds from your Inspiron sound card if you are using the "GS Wavetable Synth" as your midi sound source. You can also load softsynths and/or soundfonts. The easiest would be the Roland VSC3 or the Yamaha SYX-G50. Your Motif sounds can be recorded into your LT thru any audio recording program - Cakewalk, Sonar, Sound Forge, etc. They will be actual audio, not midi. And, if I'm not mistaken, Sonar4 has its own sound engine.

[This message has been edited by cassp (edited 05-02-2005).]

You're right. Sonar 4 probably won't work with your internal soundcard, in it's present state. You'll need something a little better, with better drivers, but.. you can probably use your internal card for now.

How ? Install Asio4all on your computer, and it will give you generic Asio drivers that work with most modern soundcards. The quality of your internal card will be the limiting factor as far as the sound quality goes, but at least you will have low latency drivers that Sonar can work with. It works for me on my laptop, although I have since installed an external usb driven card as well.

You can get it here... http://www.asio4all.com/

I'm not certain whether you were interested in this part of it, but cassp mentioned it and I'll add a little if I may, because you may want to use other sounds to enhance your ES. ( My setup too btw, but an ES6 with Sonar 4 ).

You can use the GM wavetable sounds available in your computer, but you may not like them very much. It's easy to upgrade, and you can get a much better set for free. SGM120, SGM180, MagicSf2, Personal copy , are among the better freeware soundfonts out there ( there are several other good ones too ).

Do a search in google or Yahoo, and I bet you find them all. You'll need a soundfont host that will open as a vst in Sonar. More good news. You can find freeware ones over at KVR-Audio. You can also find many good freeware and commercial vst instruments and effects plug ins there as well.

AJ

[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 05-02-2005).]

AJ,

Thanks for the info. I downloaded and installed the driver, opened up Sonar4 and setup ASIO.

Now within Sonar4, I have the ability to launch the ASIO control panel...cool.

After performing the steps above, I opened up one of the example tutorials within Sonar4 and executed the "play" command. I still hear no sound on my computer speakers.

Should I being hearing something thru my speakers?

Thanks for your help!

I'm assuming the tutorial has wav file ? You should be hearing it through your speakers. Two things to check. Make sure ASIO4all is setup for your soundcard. Just open it up and assign your soundcard. You'll need to go into advanced options ( press the picture of "Einstein"..lol )

Second, make sure that it is assigned corectly in Sonar. You should be selecting ASIO devices in the options - audio menu. Also, remember, any soundcard settings you change don't take effect until you close and then reopen Sonar.

I just finished cleaning up my laptop and I am restoring several apps, so right at this exact moment, I don't have ASIO4all up and running. Give me a day or so and I hope to have it all back. Then, if you still need any help, I can better walk you through it.

Regards,

AJ

[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 05-02-2005).]

AJ,

You were right, I evidently didn't open the right file type up. I tried another Cakewalk folder and once played, heard sound thru the speakers.

Woo who!!! Exciting stuff.

Here's another question for you. In order for me to record a CD of sounds sounding exactly as they sound on my ES7, what do I have to do? I am guessing that with my current setup, if I hook up my ES7 to my laptop and record some sounds, the sounds that I hear on my computer speakers will be the sounds from the ES7 as interpreted by the soundcard on the laptop, correct?

Pardon me for being a bit of a stosh, but I am brand spanking new to this. It's all terribly intriguing!

Pretty much yes. That's the way it will work. You'll mix your tracks down in Sonar and save them to a wav file, and then burn that wav file to an audio CD ( or send to cd as a wav file if you want to store data instead of an audio cd ).

AJ

[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 05-02-2005).]

...and so a new label was born...

Cool, you fixed it!!! This nice guy could help you so much better than me. I don't work with Sonar4 and I also don't use a Motif. My knowledge is more computer related and I can support you for general questions - hardware and software related.

I hope we will hear some more of your further experiences with Sonar4 in combination with Motif (and maybe mLAN16?)...

------------------
Greetings from Frankfurt (Germany),
Sheriff ;-)

[This message has been edited by Sheriff (edited 05-02-2005).]

Me too Sheriff. I'm very tempted to go to the mlan system myself. Best of luck with your setup hauschild, and let us know how you make out with it. I like Sonar 4 with the Motif.

The bundled SQ01 DAW that comes with the ES isn't half bad either, when you want simpler. All of my Vst plugins work well in both.

AJ

Thanks for the assistance, gentlemen. I am sure you will be hearing from me quite often in this forum with my newbie questions.

Here's a non-technical question I've been thinking about lately...Since the synth craze of the 1980's and the proliferation of computers since that time, why does this MIDI stuff seem like such a big secret?

Years ago, I would have suspected that integrating synths with computers would have been more mainstream by this time, yet it still seems overly complicated. Am I nuts, or is there some truth to what I have observed. If so, why is this the case?

Just something for ya'll to chew on and comment on.