Am I able to remix?

[Yoozer]

The weird thing is that it doesn't have a full set of MIDI tones, apparently.

I can't find the manual on the Casio site, but if it's not, you won't find the term "General MIDI" anywhere. Some keyboards have these presets hidden in some obscure way, others just pick what's closest (or in your case, the number of the other preset).

Therefore, a whole lot of the tones listed in Anvil Studio are changed to other tones when they're played on the piano. When I play a MIDI file through Windows Media Player, though, they sound fine.

That may also have to do with the way the Casio receives Program Change data. Basically you can order a MIDI device to jump to another preset; most (professionally made) MIDI files have program change data included so the song makes the playback keyboard jump to the right presets. But that's a guess, and it depends on the General MIDI compatibility.

[Harmony]

My keyboard's a Casio CTK-531.

I have the Casio CTK-551 and if your 531 is similar to mine (they look similar from the photos on the website) then I’ll confirm that it doesn’t have a General MIDI soundset, which means that Casio put whatever sounds they wanted in whatever order. That will make it a little more difficult to properly communicate between your sequencer (Anvil) and your keyboard, but it's possible. My Casio receives program (instrument) changes just fine, but I think your problem is how the Casio uses the info it gets from the midi file. When you play midi files in Media Player, it’s probably using your onboard sounds which are general midi, so everything sounds as it should. In Anvil, if you’re playing using the keyboard sounds (not general midi), Anvil may say that program 065=orchestra hit, but the Casio might have program 065=violin (or whatever). Thus, songs written for general midi might be all jacked up when using the Casio to play them. To fix that when writing your own midi files, all you have to do is use the numbers on the keyboard itself to set what instrument you want in Anvil, not whatever Anvil says. I can’t be more specific since I don’t know Anvil, but it shouldn’t be too hard.

As far as quality, I actually think some of the Casio sounds are cool; mine has a “pearl drop” and “funny” preset that are fun to play with. However, as you’re discovering, some of the sounds on your soundcard are probably better than those on the Casio. Here’s a song I made a while ago with the only the sounds from my Casio and SoundBlaster Live. Not bad if I do say so myself…and I do. So to answer your original question, yes I think you can make good remixes with what you have right now. Ultimately though, I agree with others that have said that your best bet is to go get some of the great free stuff that's out there and not use either the Casio or your soundcard’s onboard sounds.

No problem, except that I've got high standards

That’s not a problem, since the J’s shouldn't be concerned with their own standards, only those of the site

That's because they know their job and the site's content depends on the influx of new people. A part of those will already have experience, the rest will have to grow.

Yeah, but their job isn’t to help every noob in noobtown (that's your job ). When it comes to the panel, It looks like I'm harsher on the inexperienced than you. I think that the panel can help a musician grow through criticism, but again, that’s not its job, and IMO those who are unsure of their abilities and have not received feedback from somewhere else should steer clear.

Asking girls out for the prom is more intimidating.

QFT

Basically, the question in the topic of this thread is the wrong one...."How can I make a remix that's going to be accepted here" isn't the right question either

No offense intended anyone, but I wholeheartedly agree.

brandon, you are the man.

I also wholeheartedly agree

[Zephyr]

Not to interrupt, but on the topic of newb friendlyness, this site is decent, but I think that it could be better, I'm speaking as a freshly graduated newb, there's a threshold there that is difficult to pass before everything is easier to understand. I'm decent at figuring things out for myself so I did that mostly, if I ever had a question I would come here and ask it, and then get a good answer. From what I've seen, all it takes to get help is to have a rather specific question that has a distinct purpose. We've all had to deal with the "how do I remix" newbs, and I can say that there is very little we can do to help them other than to learn an instrument or music or something and try the sequencer demos, but sometimes there is the occasional jerk that comes along and makes someone angry.

Now that I've written it I don't really see a point that paragraph other than to promote newb friendlyness, if any newbs need help doing things in FL Studio, PM me, I'd be glad to help any way I can.

[Yoozer]

if any newbs need help doing things in FL Studio, PM me, I'd be glad to help any way I can.

No, don't, because PMing or mailing is exactly what ruins the usability and the public display and searchability of information.

I think the Guide topics are interesting, it's just that a forum is not a great way to convey and sort information. Also, starting posts, no matter how great and elaborate - if they are 5 years old they turn off newbies looking for info.

[Zephyr]

Quite right actually, I hadn't thought of that, don't PM me, start a topic. We should really get around to compiling a database of a bunch of newb topics/help sometime.