Can anyone please help me on the following:

I would like to send-out the accompaniament, the VoiceL, the VoiceR1, and the VoiceR2, plus phrases and pads (if possible) to sound at the SoundBlaster Live at my P.C.

I am running Cakewalk-8 (which comes free with the SBLive card and brings no manual, and very poor help files).

Using the MIDI song-out template, I do get the demo songs out and they sound quite correctly.

On sending out all sounds, I've tried for days and am only getting way off sounds.

Any one done it who would please brief me onto the solution?

Thanks.

MBL

Get the PSR 740 instument definitions from Cakewalk's website. If they don't have it, I believe you can find it, email me, and I think I have it. Set up Pro Audio 8 with each channel receiving a separate track from 1 thru 16 (as opposed to midi omni). Assign each track to the PSR 740 as the instrument. Record all tracks and see what comes up. If any of the tracks are wrong, you have to look at your Yamaha manual and see how it assigns midi arrangements to each track.
Let's say Chord 1 is on track 4 (for example) and the arrangement you chose has trumpet. Then if the trumpet isn't sounding on that track and instead you hear grand piano, then you have to manually choose the instrument as a patch for that track on Cakewalk.
Make sure that on global options on Cakewalk you choose patch changes for midi options. You can learn a lot from looking at the PSR 740 manual and the Cakewalk manual. They are both very good manuals.
I hope I could help a bit. There is more info at the unofficial psr 740 website. IF you need the address. I think I have it somewhere.

Hi

Address to the Unofficial Yamaha PSR 740 Home Page is http://home7.inet.tele.dk/js/musik/740pages

Cakewalk def. files can be found under menu PSR Links -> Software

Jørgen

Thanks for the good help given to me.

As soon as I gave Cakewalk the PSR740 definitions, sounds from realtime play were correct, including autoacc.

However, I'll continue to see if I can find out:

1. Why the Demo Songs were playing correctly, even with no instrument definition. (Demo songs of the PSR-740 are still being sent to the SoundBlaster-Live as MIDI events, aren't they)?

2. Why we define instruments to Cakewalk and not to the sound-card (or could we?). It seems to me that sounds (voices) belong to hardware and not to software. Am I wrong in feeling that "Instrument Definition" is nothing more than some sort of MIDI-mapping??

3. Why if MIDI is a standard for compatibility we have to define instruments anyway. I had read somewhere that XG superset would be downwards compatible with GM, and that data would be acceptable on GM hardware and sound close enough, but it appears that is not quite so.

4. Even the "XG definitions" that came with the Cakewalk did not do the job (I did try it before asking for help). Only the PSR740.ins definition file did the job! Does this mean that even XG to XG is not quite compatible? There's even a yamaha.ins definition with the Cakewalk, that also did not do the job.

5. If whe have to have instrument definitions for every new model, whre's the standard?? Perhaps MIDI has fundamental limitations and a new standard should come out (better if it is refered to ANSI or ISO first). I don't know of any technical standard that is not periodically revised. At what version of the "MIDI standard" are we? Or was the original one cast in concrete as holy, never to be touched?

Any how, I like the results I got. Now, when I play the PSR-740 I am actualy listening to the PSR-740 speakers, those same sounds fed through the SB-Live into 4 surround speakers with a subwoofer, PLUS the GM midi sounds simultaneously played and independently produced by the SB-Live voices. All of this can be additionally enhanced by SB-Live enviromental parameters. The microphone also mixes in correctly. The combination of the SB-Live hardware voices with those of the PSR740, and the improved sound and (dual-voicing, apart from the PSR's) is more than great for me. I can even change the VoiceR1 at the computer (Cakewalk track) only for the SBLive contribution. On top of that I play the harmonica through the mike.


Thanks to all. I'm happy.

mbl



[This message has been edited by mbl (edited 10-13-2000).]