How to connect your MIDI-compatible keyboard to your computer.

It's been said that "To err is human, but to really foul things up requires a computer."

If there's one thing computers do well, though, it's repetition. Give one something to do, and it will do it over and over, as many times as you like, the exact same way it did it the first time. (This is, of course, subject to the stability of the operating system in use on your computer.)

This perfect repetition is an ideal match for the main, and most basic use of the MIDI interface. Given a computer, with appropriate software, and a MIDI-capable keyboard or digital piano, you can record or program musical works that will replay identically every time, just as if you'd recorded them with an audio cassette.

Requirements

The most obvious requirements are the keyboard, and the computer. Not every keyboard will work, though, and not every computer will work, either.

The keyboard needs a MIDI interface connection, usually on the back on portable keyboards and most digital pianos, or underneath the keyboard on some digital pianos. This connection is a round, 5-pin DIN connection. It's got a round shield that's about 1/2 inch (12.5 mm) in diameter, and 5 pins arranged in a 1/2 circle inside this shield.

Most modern keyboards and digital pianos, meaning those manufactured within the past 5 years, have this feature. Some will have two connectors labelled 'MIDI In', and 'MIDI Out', some will have a third labelled 'MIDI Thru'.

The computer on the other hand, isn't so obvious. It also needs a MIDI interface, naturally, but the interface on a computer doesn't look even remotely like the one on a keyboard. Computer technology has come down in price, and one of the ways manufacturers have cut costs in recent years is by eliminating anything not absolutely essential. Since not everyone uses a MIDI interface, this means that more and more modern computers don't even have one. White box clone computers are much more likely to include this interface than brand name systems, though, so if you've got a Dell, you're most likely out of luck. Other name brands, such as IBM or Compaq, you may have what you need, or maybe not. With a generic store brand system, though, you'll probably have all you need.

If you've got a joystick port on your computer's soundcard, you'll probably have a MIDI interface, also, as the two are frequently built into the same physical connector. This connector is a 15 pin 'D-shell' connector. This means the outer edge of the connector, with a little imagination, looks somewhat like the letter 'D'. There are two rows of pins within this edge, one row of 8 pins, the other of 7.

If a connector like this is on the back of your computer, either parallel to the long side of the case close to one edge, or in one of the expansion bays with audio in/out and speaker jacks, chances are this is a MIDI interface. If it's in an expansion slot by itself, or with a second identical connector, it may be a MIDI interface, but it's more likely to be a dedicated joystick port.

There are also various proprietary MIDI interfaces, which have any of a number of connectors. Some have a similar D-shell connector with 9 pins. Some have a 25 pin D-shell. If you have one of these interfaces, though, chances are you'll know about it, as they're specialty items which don't get included in any general purpose computer.

Finally, we need to see if this MIDI interface is recognized by the operating system. In Windows 95/98/Me, this can be done by right clicking on 'My Computer' on the desktop, and selecting the 'Device Manager' tab. Click on the little plus [+] beside 'Sound, video, and game controllers' second from the bottom. If there is something listed similar to 'MPU-401', 'External MIDI', or 'General MIDI Interface', there's a good chance that this is exactly what you need. If there is only a line that says something like 'MIDI synthesis', 'FM synthesis', 'FM MIDI', or 'Wavetable MIDI', this is a music synthesizer built into your soundcard. This will generate sound from MIDI files, but has no way of recording any MIDI data from an external device. This is not what you need.

In Windows 2000, you can check this in a very similar way to Windows 9x. Right click 'My Computer', select the 'Hardware' tab, and then click 'Device Manager'. Windows XP has such a radically different, and some say hideous, user interface, that it depends on how it's configured. If 'My Computer' shows up on the desktop, you'll be able to do the same as for Windows 2000. If not, you'll have to go through the control panel from the start menu. Where it is in the control panel also depends on how the computer is set up, though. If you see a 'System' icon, that's probably what you want. If not, it's somewhere hidden in Microsoft's 'user friendly' control panel. Needless to say, I don't like Windows XP.

Linux has similar things to the Windows device manager, in the newer distributions. Where it is, though, depends on the distribution. I'm assuming, though, if you're using Linux, you've got enough of a handle on your computer to know whether you've got a MIDI interface or not.

If you have this interface, you don't need to spend any money on hardware. If not, you have several choices. You can get a USB MIDI interface, which simply plugs into a USB port, and gives you 1 or more MIDI ports. You can buy an internal card, possibly a sound card, which will give you a MIDI interface. (If you've got onboard sound, this might not be a bad idea anyway, as onboard sound is usually very poor, with one or two exceptions.)

What else?

Finally, you'll need some MIDI sequencing software, and a cable to connect the MIDI interface on your computer to the keyboard. The cable is easy. It's got one end that's got a 5 pin DIN - the male version of the connectors on the keyboard - and the other with a 15 pin D-shell - the male version of the connector on the computer.

These cables usually have a second 15-pin D-shell to connect a joystick to, so that you can still leave your joystick connected when you're using the MIDI interface. This is great for those games that use MIDI music, which almost always sounds much better from a keyboard than through a sound card.

MIDI sequencing software is a little more difficult. What you use depends on your personal preferences. For Windows, there is a shareware program called WinJammer, available for Window 3.1 and 9x/NT, which is quite capable. You can download this for free from the internet, try it out, and if you like it, pay the registration fee. If not, you can find another one. There is also Magix Music Studio, which is a relatively inexpensive commercial product that can also do digital audio recording. This may be more than you need, however, and just end up being confusing with all the extra features. Very high-end users may want something from Cubase, Steinberg, or Emagic, but users requiring such capabilities probably aren't going to need to read this article.

For Linux, there is Rosegarden, which is a similarly capable program to WinJammer, although set up a little differently.

Once you have your chosen software installed on your computer, all that's left is to connect the cables, configure the software to use the correct MIDI interface, and you're good to go.

Connecting the cables is simple. Plug the 15-pin D-shell connector into the port on the computer, and connect the 5-pin DIN cables to the keyboard MIDI In and Outs. Keep in mind, "Out" from the computer connects to "In" on the keyboard, because data flows out of the computer and into the keyboard. Similarly, "Out" on the keyboard connects to "In" on the computer.

Configuring the software depends totally on the software you choose. Magix Music Studio configures the interface automatically on installation. This only needs to be changed if you install a new sound card or MIDI interface board. In WinJammer, select the "MIDI" menu, and click on "Configure". This brings up a dialog with all detected MIDI interfaces, and which one is currently configured to be used with the program. Default is to use no interface, which obviously needs to be changed. Select the interface which you determined matched the external MIDI interface on your computer. This could be "MPU-401", or anything that doesn't contain the word "Synthesis". Click the "Add" button, click "Ok", and you're done.

Now, you should be able to click on the "Record" button in the program, play something on your keyboard, and have it recorded. Hit stop, rewind, and play, and your keyboard should play back exactly what you played. If you get no sound, go back and double check both the MIDI interface configuration in the software, and also that you do, in fact, have In to Out for your MIDI cable connections. This last one is an easy mistake to make. I've done it before myself.

If you still can't get it working, drop me a line at the address on my contact page, and I'll see if I can help you out.