I want to transfer some of my SMFs over to audio so I can more easily use them with my SK1. I have the s950 and the BK7m as sound engines. Both will record a SMF into a .wav file. They both will playback wav or mp3, as will the SK1.

My questions are: 1. should I record direct from one of the arrangers to a USB drive and then play as a wav file or should I change the wav to an mp3 file (I have the means to do that). 2. Should I use a different recorder, ala Sonar LE or some other similar program? What additional equipment would I need? Which software program would you recommend? 3. What if I wanted to add some vocals or instruments? Can I do that separately after the instrumental audio is recorded? What would you suggest in that case?

Thanks in advance for your helpful advice.

Cass,

I'm far from being an expert but I like to playback the SMF via the Tyros then record directly to my Zoom H4n as an mp3 file, works for me.

My questions are:

1. should I record direct from one of the arrangers to a USB drive and then play as a wav file or should I change the wav to an mp3 file (I have the means to do that).

I usually simply playback my tweaked SMF files thru my keyboard directly into my Mixcraft program on my PC afterwards EQ, etc, then EQ or add FX, etc, & save to Mp3 or Wav. for playback


2. Should I use a different recorder, ala Sonar LE or some other similar program? What additional equipment would I need? Which software program would you recommend?

http://www.acoustica.com/mixcraft/

there are alot of support and many YouTube instructional videos also..


3. What if I wanted to add some vocals or instruments? Can I do that separately after the instrumental audio is recorded? What would you suggest in that case?


Cass Mixcraft 6 is all you'll need, so easy to use. ....this is a great program for recording at a good price also. Once you record the music in stereo on two tracks in Mixcraft 6.....then you can go back and record as many "Additional" tracks, vocal or instrumental, as you wish to your project and when done save to Mp3 or Wav. Then you can playback with your laptop, Kb, etc,

Thanks Stephen and Donny for your advice. Donny, I pretty much predicted your answer as we've talked about this before. I have Power Tracks Audio 10 and Sonar LE on my PC and would try those first, just because I already have them. Stephen, I like your idea because it's straight forward and I have a Zoom H2. I also realized I have an older Roland BR-532 that would work for me too - just have to dust it off and find some SM cards (lol). So, thanks again guys for looking out for me and the rest of the SZers who benefit from your wise advice.

Cassp, I'm by no means an expert in this, however, if I were in your shoes and wanted to convert my midi files to .mp3s or WAVs, I would merely play them with the S-950 and record them with the onboard WAV recorder at the same time. Then, if I really wanted to make them MP3s, I would just use Audacity and export them in the format I wanted. They'll be on the USB Drive as WAV files, but with Audacity,the conversion is pretty fast, the quality is excellent, you can do some fancy editing and the cost is zero.

Good luck,

Gary

Cass, If you only need to capture a mix in stereo..the PSR will work fine,and remember wave is ten fold size wise...so conversion to mp3 will be needed..

But , if you want to record seperate tracks for vocals, and harmony voices, and maybe extra sounds...and be able to mix them after recording, a DAW is a must..Your PowerTracks will do the job, and you need to save the mix as a PT file, so you can remix anytime you want...Save the prepared file as an MP3 with PT..

The Boss 532 you are limited to 4 distinct tracks at mixdown time...This may be enough for you..

All around I too prefer MixCraft6 as my DAW..for many other reasons..worth every penny..

I found that just recording from my G70 , including vocals to my Tascam DR-07..is fine, I pay attention to the levels and I am happy with the mix...but overdubs..you need a DAW..