I got them laptop blues.......

[al-saqr]

Hey there!

yeah, so I just got the magnificent Cakewalk program,I installed it and started it up.

Then I discovered something horrible.

There is no midi output device to hear the songs with.

I consulted another site, and it tells me that Laptops in general Never have the soundcard needed to play and output MIDI soundtrack.

Five minutes of cursing and shouting later, I came here for help.

I think I might need an external MIDI module, but I have no clue what they are, where to look and how much would they cost.

so I was wondering if any of you knew anything about a good, cheap one, since I'm on a tight budget. I HAVE a Yamaha XG-Capable keyboard, so I don't need synths and anything else other than music output.

thank you for your time.

[OverCoat]

You don't have Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth? Retarded. Something's definitely wrong if you can't see that as an output device.

[Nase]

I have the same problem with the external audio interface of my X-Station. Whenever I want to hear the good ole microsoft gm synth, I have to switch to my on-board crap soundcard.

[chokst~1.bat]

I never really "got" how to hook up midi to my laptop. I have a USB midi cable and installed the drivers, but haven't really figured out how to detect what's coming from my midi cable while playing/transfering notes from my keyboard. Doesn't seem to recognize anything when I press Record and stuff, though I'm not even sure if that's what I'm supposed to be doing.

Meh (goes back to recording everything to the line-in jack with Sound Recorder).

There is no midi output device to hear the songs with.

I was able to add some more that have their own instruments, like this one. I'm sure there's probably more out there.

[Yoozer]

I never really "got" how to hook up midi to my laptop. I have a USB midi cable and installed the drivers, but haven't really figured out how to detect what's coming from my midi cable while playing/transfering notes from my keyboard.

Your interface doesn't have any blinkenlights?

Your keyboard has a MIDI out and a MIDI in. Your interface has a MIDI out and a MIDI in. Contrary to what the labels say, the computer's MIDI out should go in the keyboard's MIDI in. Imagine a highway - 2 lanes. One has traffic coming towards you, the other traffic drives away from you. Away from you means IN, towards you means OUT.

Hence, hook up 2 INs to eachother and stuff will crash.

Use MIDI-OX (www.midiox.com) to check if stuff is actually coming in.

Doesn't seem to recognize anything when I press Record and stuff, though I'm not even sure if that's what I'm supposed to be doing.

What sequencer do you use?

There is no midi output device to hear the songs with.

You will not need an external MIDI module if your laptop's soundcard has a so-called "wavetable synth". It shows up as earlier said, the Microsoft GM Wavetable synth.

External MIDI modules range from a mere $50 to $lots- Yamaha's got modules in the MU-series: http://cgi.ebay.com/YAMAHA-MU-50-MU50-MIDI-GM-XG-Sound-Module-Synthesizer_W0QQitemZ7388198079QQcategoryZ64387QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Roland has the JV-1010 which is really cheap; you should even be able to go lower than that but you'll sacrifice operability and quality.

Try reinstalling the drivers of your soundcard, too, and consult the Cakewalk Manual. Pretty much every software synthesizer out there is able to beat an onboard MIDI synth into pulp.

Speaking of which - do the softsynths work? After all, they also receive MIDI; just not via the cable but internally.

[sgx]

It's always interesting when people call any software by Cakewalk "Cakewalk." They make quite a range of software...

[Argle]

It's always interesting when people call any software by Cakewalk "Cakewalk." They make quite a range of software...

That drives me nuts when people do it, because I can't understand for a second why they do it.

[sgx]

Well, like 18 years ago the company had a different name and their flagship midi sequencer was actually just called Cakewalk. But that was like 18 years ago....

[zylance]

Well, like 18 years ago the company had a different name and their flagship midi sequencer was actually just called Cakewalk. But that was like 18 years ago....

Wasn't it Cakewalk Pro Audio? Or was that later?

[Emura]

I never really "got" how to hook up midi to my laptop. I have a USB midi cable and installed the drivers, but haven't really figured out how to detect what's coming from my midi cable while playing/transfering notes from my keyboard.

Your interface doesn't have any blinkenlights?

I don't think it's true that most laptop sound cards can't handle MIDI sound. My first Windows machine, a 486SX2 with a massive 4 Megabytes of RAM could handle MIDI, so the processing requirements clearly aren't that high.

Maybe my laptop is just special though?

[chokst~1.bat]

Maybe my laptop is just special though?

Probably. Seems to me like old laptops featured alot of things that most newer ones don't. Ever since they started issuing Pentium 3s and 4s, it's been almost impossible for me to even find a laptop with a line-in jack. I've usually ended up finding one after alot of searching, but I'd say only about 1 in 10 laptops nowadays even include that.

Thanks for the midi advice Yoozer, I think. I'm using Anvil Studios, Cakewalk Pro Audio, FLStudios 6, Reason 2.5, errr.... and some stuff like that.

edit: This "installing the drivers" stuff is what's pissing me off. It never seems to work right. Why can't it detect my USB device correctly? Windows is gay.